Some facts about SIRIUS factory installation
04-16-2005, 02:00 PM
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04 C320 Coupe MT
Some facts about SIRIUS factory installation
I'm really new to this forum, and I have seen a bunch of different threads about the antennas and things like that, however I wanted to share some of the information I have that will hopefully clear up some questions and misconceptions some people have.
First of all the new antennas (single line) are available. Here are the factory part numbers: (I put these in another thread, but I don't know if everyone saw them or not, so here they are again)
B6 783 0080 Black
B6 783 0081 Pewter Silver
B6 783 0082 Iridium Silver
B6 783 0083 Alabaster White
B6 783 0084 Primed
Those are the only colors that they come in. There is no problem painting a colored antenna another color. For example, if you have a granite colored car, and you only can get the black antenna, there are no detrimental effects from taking the cover off and getting it painted granite and then installing it on your car.
This antenna can be retrofit to any previous factory installation. There are two brass washers included with the new antenna and depending on the sheet metal thickness of your decklid or roof, you would use the appropriate size washer. This brass washer will take the place of the previously installed plastic washer that was used with the old antenna.
The next issue is wiring the antenna. The old antenna had two leads that went to matching leads that connected to the control unit. One was blue (satellite) and one was white. (terrestrial)
The new antenna has only one line that transmits both signals. So if your car had the prewiring for the two line antenna, you would also need to install this splitter, part number B6 783 0058.
So, what happens is that one of the leads in the vehicle's wiring harness would no longer be used. In other words, the new antenna goes to one lead, you attach the splitter (at the control unit) to the other end of the same lead and connect the two ends of the splitter to the control unit, now leaving one lead unused.
If we are talking about an S class, there is a hitch. It seems that there was a mistake at the wiring harness factory (no, that can't happen, can it??) and the plug housings of the leads near the control unit were switched. The end result being that you would have connected the antenna to one existing lead, and the splitter to other dead lead, leaving no reception at all. The solution to that is to simply switch the plug housings on the end of the leads (blue and white) so that the antenna and splitter are both connected to the same line. MBUSA says that they are going to create a adaptor harness to cure this problem, but that sounds silly to me.
As far as I know, there will be a control unit introduced at some point that has a single line connection on it, so that there will only be one line from the antenna to the conrol unit with no splitter required. I haven't seen any of these yet, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
One other point about the new antenna. If you are installing the new antenna from the beginning, there is only a 14mm hole required, with no washer to be installed.
One final word about retrofits from the old antenna. The old antenna will leave an outline impression in the paint that you will see. Don't panic and get your decklid / roof painted. After a week or so, the impression will go away, at least that is the experience I have had with four vehicles.
I hope this clears up some questions that have been out there.
First of all the new antennas (single line) are available. Here are the factory part numbers: (I put these in another thread, but I don't know if everyone saw them or not, so here they are again)
B6 783 0080 Black
B6 783 0081 Pewter Silver
B6 783 0082 Iridium Silver
B6 783 0083 Alabaster White
B6 783 0084 Primed
Those are the only colors that they come in. There is no problem painting a colored antenna another color. For example, if you have a granite colored car, and you only can get the black antenna, there are no detrimental effects from taking the cover off and getting it painted granite and then installing it on your car.
This antenna can be retrofit to any previous factory installation. There are two brass washers included with the new antenna and depending on the sheet metal thickness of your decklid or roof, you would use the appropriate size washer. This brass washer will take the place of the previously installed plastic washer that was used with the old antenna.
The next issue is wiring the antenna. The old antenna had two leads that went to matching leads that connected to the control unit. One was blue (satellite) and one was white. (terrestrial)
The new antenna has only one line that transmits both signals. So if your car had the prewiring for the two line antenna, you would also need to install this splitter, part number B6 783 0058.
So, what happens is that one of the leads in the vehicle's wiring harness would no longer be used. In other words, the new antenna goes to one lead, you attach the splitter (at the control unit) to the other end of the same lead and connect the two ends of the splitter to the control unit, now leaving one lead unused.
If we are talking about an S class, there is a hitch. It seems that there was a mistake at the wiring harness factory (no, that can't happen, can it??) and the plug housings of the leads near the control unit were switched. The end result being that you would have connected the antenna to one existing lead, and the splitter to other dead lead, leaving no reception at all. The solution to that is to simply switch the plug housings on the end of the leads (blue and white) so that the antenna and splitter are both connected to the same line. MBUSA says that they are going to create a adaptor harness to cure this problem, but that sounds silly to me.
As far as I know, there will be a control unit introduced at some point that has a single line connection on it, so that there will only be one line from the antenna to the conrol unit with no splitter required. I haven't seen any of these yet, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
One other point about the new antenna. If you are installing the new antenna from the beginning, there is only a 14mm hole required, with no washer to be installed.
One final word about retrofits from the old antenna. The old antenna will leave an outline impression in the paint that you will see. Don't panic and get your decklid / roof painted. After a week or so, the impression will go away, at least that is the experience I have had with four vehicles.
I hope this clears up some questions that have been out there.
