HI all...anyone do a self install for a Sirius tuner? Can you offer any tips / tricks / gotchas?

I finally assembled all of the MB parts and wanted to hear / see what people experienced as they did it themselves...

Car is a 2005 E500 4Matic, H/K sound, DVD Navigation...

I will post pictures and my observations once I get it done this weekend but would love to do it right the first time!

Take care...

 

I did an 05 SLK 55 with HK and command. I didn’t want the factory to do it before delivery because of the antenna issue. I used the MB kit and bought a small Sirius antenna and mounted it under the non-functional air intake on the left side of the hood. Because the new Sirius antenna is a single lead and the older MB Sirius kit uses two leads I had to get a splitter from Crutchfield to convert. I had to modify the connectors a little to make it fit (just change the plastic connector covers on the splitter using the covers from the MB antenna). The hook-up of the MB hardware is straight forward. However, I found out that you have to add a fuse (forget which number) and there is a fiber optic connection the has to be made in addition to the connection at the receiver. On the SLK these are both behind the vertical panel that is between the passenger compartment and the truck. After that it is off to the dealer to have them turn on the SAT function. The installation took me about an hour and three-quarters. Half of that was routing the antenna wire to make sure the top mechanism didn’t get it.

 

I intalled a Sirius receiver on my 05 W211 a few months ago. It's an easy installation and took me about 1-2 hours including the small aftermarket antenna that I mounted on the roof. As you probably know, the Command doesn't need to be re-programmed to see the Sirius receiver. Good luck.

 

how much is the mb sirius tuner from the dealer?

 

I paid $500 for a slightly used receiver. I believe the cost from a dealer is around $900 or so. I've seen used units on Ebay for around $500-600.

 

I paid $581 plus tax for the SLK factory kit. I also paid $40 for the smaller antenna and $20 for the splitter. I think the list on the factory kit is just under $700. My dealer gives a MB club discount on parts.

 

Finally got a chance to install the tuner. I will try to capture some of the lessons learned here - please PM or reply with any specific questions or additions. Hopefully, this will help others!

First off, it took about 2 hours and was not really that difficult in retrospect. While I was doing it, I took my time since I really did not want to break anything! Everything in the car is right there and it is literally plug and play. Also note that it worked without having to go back to MB for programming.

0) Car: W211, 2005 E500 4Matic with premium H/K sound, DVD Nav, dynamic seating and ride
1) Parts: Tuner from SUNMAN; MB SDAR install kit (6-7-83-0069) from dealer @$150; Terk Sirius antenna splitter from Crutchfields @ $20; Extra Sirius anntenna from another car that I had

Here we go...

2) Take the trunk trim off: entire right side (two pull plugs on top, two TORX screws on bottom), liner around lock bracket (at entrance of trunk)from the light to the light (about 6 pull plugs) and bottom liners (down to the spare)
3) CAREFULLY cut the wire ties and tape holding the orange fiber cables and power supply. Don’t forget the plastic wire holder on a screw on the trunk deck - this is where the bottom on the bracket will go. I did not use the pre-installed antenna cables...push these aside
4) Prep the bracket and unit. Mount the tuner on the bracket. On the blue antenna plug on the tuner, shave one of the little lines off. Plug the Terk splitter into the tuner. White to white. Curry to Blue.
5) Take off the bracket holding the silver air compressor (I think that is what it is - I called it a giant bulb). Four 10mm bolts. Careful here - there is a thin airline at the top. You probably do not want to break that.
6) Mount the Sirius bracket and tuner to the car. Only goes one way. See picture below. If you look at it, the left bottom fits over a screw already mounted on the deck and you just use a nut to lock it in. The bottom right goes behind a brace in the car and you use a screw to lock that in. The top fits into a bolt already in the car that has what I believe is a grounding wire. Just unscrew it, slip the bracket on and then rescrew.
7) Plug in the orange fiber / power cable into the tuner. Careful not to bind or break the fiber.
8) Run your antenna wire. Lots of debates re the best location. What I did was run it through an opening on the top right side of the trunk (has a plastic cover and then a rubber plug) and mounted the antenna on the bottom of the rear glass with double sided tape and glass glue. (Works fine, BTW). Plug it in to the tuner.
9) Reattach the silver bulb thing (I am so technical).
10) Time to put the tuner in the MOST ring. Look in the back of the trunk and you will see a black case - the electronics brain. Unscrew the two 10mm bolts and prop open the case (I could not get the case top off and since everything I needed was right in front, I did not force it.) See picture below for reference. Look for the orange fibers and the yellow fibers. The orange are not connected (one is in a connector on the right side and one is open on the left side). Unplug the right side yellow fiber from its connector and then connect it to the orange connector on the right side of the box. You should not have to pull it - it should be just long enough. Connect the open orange fiber to the yellow connector on the left side.
11) If all is well, you should now be able to see that the system recognizes the tuner (it might say acquiring signal, might be downloading stations or might be at the preview sations 184). Check your audio and DVD to make sure that everything works as it did before plugging in the Sirius tuner. If so, you can put everything back together.
12) You then have to activate your tuner with Sirius and you are good to go. :p

Here are some pictures for reference:
1-Pre is the side of the car before I messed with it (Notice the giant silver bulb)
2-This is what the tuner looks like mounted
3-This is the electronics box - note the yellow and orange fibers.

Good luck!

 

How much did you pay for the tuner? is SUNMAN a store???

thx

aceman

 

is sunman a store. haha. Actually no. It's me. Let me know if you need a Sat tuner. drsunilpatel@mac.com

 

What's in the factory kit that costs $150? I thought most Sirius tuner's could be purchased for around $100 or so, about the same price as an XM universal tuner. I guess I'm confused on the parts you need. Help would be appreciated. $5-700 sounds pretty expensive for just the parts for a Sirius installation. Thanks.

 

They have the word "Mercedes" emblazoned on the side so they are "extra special". <g>

 

This worked great. I just installed Sirius satellite on my 2005 e320. These instructions were right on the money. Thanks.

Oh and the MB radio came with 6 free months and discounts.

 

Just a note regarding E-class: if yours is a 2006 it's a bit more difficult as the wiring from front to back is not there.

Changed again for 2007 as everything is there, including the antenna.

The installation talked about here works with command and displays everything on command screen--not something a cheapo tuner will do.

 

would you guys mind helping me with a 2005 clk500 (conv)? I would like to know what to order - which tuner part number - and how complex that is. thanks!

 

Has anyone done one on a 2006?

I drew the short straw and don't seem to have the required hookup. How hard is it to do? Do I have to make a fiber and wiring run from the front to the back of the car? I don't even know what parts I need. Thanks

 

OK, I am most of the way done on my 2006. There was no prewiring so had to do it the hard way. I have the optical loop done and I have the power and ground done. I still need to do the antenna and the pink wire.

If anyone else has done this, I'd be interested in the installation of the pink wire. Most people have hooked it up to the VCM. I have the VCM in the car and was wondering if wiring it up to the same VCM pin would affect the VCM. Also, is there room enough to add that wire in the same pin size? Did you guys put in a new pin and put both wires on the same pin or somehow cut into the wire and solder to the wire?




Another question is the antenna. I have the original trunk mounted antenna, but I see that people have put it under the rear shelf. I assume that has to be done from the inside of the car with the removal of the C-pillar moldings and the rear seat to get the rear shelf out. That means that the sheld and the window would be blocking the signal. The shelf should have no effecr, but I think the glass might not be good. Some people have installed it on the front of the car but I just don't want to take apart that mush to do that. The other alternative is to just install it on the trunk like the dealers did

 

I think I have most of it done. It would have been finished if the retrofit power harness was still available. The system was able to get a signal and get a subscription but I have no sound with Satellite. I have sound with regular radio, phone, etc. The part I still need to connect is the pink wake up wire. I have no idea if the pink wire is a wake up for the sat radio in general or just the sound. The radio screen is fine - I get the sat radio screen and the channels come up and I can tune it but just no sound. I don't know if this is a symptom of the wake up wire or not. I'll get this done in the next few days. I hope that will fix it.

 

I just got it all done except for the antenna. I have it hooked up and everything works, just going to decide where I am going to have the antenna be. I am considering the original trunk placement and am also considering under the parcel shelf.

I made a spare power harness for installing the 2006. Those things are just not available and I had some extra parts from a W211 so I made another of the one I made to work in my car. It's really the only slightly tricky part but only of you want it to be clean. It is very easy to do if you want to cut ends off of the wires and just connect them all together.

Don't be intimidated by this job. Even on a 2006, it's not all that hard. I love hearing the sat radio coming through.

 

Hi,
I realize this post is old! But i'm hoping someone can help, i just followed all these steps up until the yellow / orange connection, i don't think mine has that, is that possible?