zoink

Hi,

I have the big (hockey puck size) sirius antenna on the trunk (see below). I think MB has the one that is a lot smaller....

My questions:
1. Is it an easy DIY to replace? I'm hoping it's just a Plug and Play (not plug and pray - unscrew the existing antenna, take off the wire and replace it w/ a new one)

2. Where to get one other than stealership? I've been looking at eBay as well as googling it, no good source.

3. How much is it?

4. Is there any difference in terms of reception quality?

Thanks.

rob13572468

you can get the factory small antenna... price is about $180. you can also get an aftermarket antenna for about $30. removal of the original antenna requires pulling the liner on the underside of the trunk and unbolting the original antenna from the underside.

zoink

Thanks. I searched from internet, it seems the aftermarket one would have a cable outside, not through the hole underneath the antenna.

As for uninstalling the antenna, really? I have to go from underside? I thought I only need a torx wrench from the top. No?

my06clk

NO. You have to remove it from the bottom. But it's easy. BTW the small antenna is only $90 bucks from the dealer. I recently posted to a thread about this in the w220 area.

the part number for the low profile antenna in Black is B6 7 83 0080

zoink

Mind sharing me the thread? I tried to find it using your profile.... but the closest one was only about W210.

Thanks.

my06clk

yes here it is.. It was from another forum that;s why you couldn't find it.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...e-antenna.html

zoink

Alright.... now I'm completely confused.

Two conflicting information...
Another dealer says the antenna is interchangeable.... not a problem.
One dealer says the antenna is not interchangeable... the plugs are different. They said that the system w/ big a$$ antenna like mine is 1st Gen, while the smaller one is for 2nd Gen. So if I want to have the smaller one, I need to replace the entire system

my06clk:
Did your W220 have the big a$$ antenna like mine?

Or anyone w/ '05 E-class has a smaller antenna? Or had it replaced w/ the smaller one?

rob13572468

no the whole system does not need to be replaced. i have changed and custom installed a bunch of smaller antennas on every MB model. the biggest issue between the two gens is that the fist gen had dual leads going back to the SAT unit. 2nd gen had a single lead on most vehicles. because of this is requires a bit of handiwork changing connectors on the end of cables and such. you will need to get an antenna combiner and plug it into the sat unit, then plug one of the two wires running to the trunk into the single end of the combiner, finally plug the new antenna into the the other end of the same wire.

alternately you can opt not to trunk mount at all... an aftermarket SAT antenna can be mounted in the induction cowl on the hood and wired back to the SAT unit in much the same manner. many people prefer this method since you have clean lines and no antenna showing though the hole will need to be patched and the trunk repainted.

either way this is not just a simple replacement which is why the dealer is not going to be helpful. MB tells them it wont work so they tell you the same but it can be done. its really a job for someone with experience with mercedes though there is no reason why you cannot do it yourself assuming you have some technical background and are reasonably handy.

zoink

OK.... I'll forget about it..... I'm not that handy

Anyone who is in Bay Area and can help w/ this, please let me know

my06clk

Do yourself a favor and stay away from the second dealer. He is dumb as hell!!!
I removed that big POS. antenna, and put on the smaller one and went about my way.

zoink

So based on your experience the antenna is completely plug and play, huh?

As for the plugs, I haven't checked it myself. Are the plugs itself near the antenna? In other words, the cables / wires that come w/ the antenna are pretty short?

I must admit that I'm a complete dummy.... so if it's as simple as plugging off the old antenna and plugging on the new antenna w/o opening parts other than the trunk inner liner, I could certainly do that But if I need to open other than the trunk inner liner to find the plugs, I personally don't think I'm handy enough to do that...

rob13572468

its not always plug and play, although i agree that the dealers do not have much of a clue in these matters. the key thing that you have to check is whether or not your replacement antenna has 1 or 2 leads... here is the deal....

all sat radio antenna modules are actually 2 antennas in one. there is a satellite antenna that receives the signal from one of the satellites in space. there is also a terrestrial antenna that receives signal from repeaters that are on the ground in most metropolitan areas. the repeaters provide a boosted signal in areas where sat reception is lost due to obstructions like buildings or bridges. both antennas sit inside the antenna module you see on your trunk.

the older style antennas including the big ugly puck on your trunk all have 2 leads coming from the housing which run all the way back to the SAT receiver which also has two inputs on it. there are connectors on both leads at about 12" from the antenna module and then connectors at the receiver (and some models have additional connectors in between).

the newer systems have a single lead coming the antenna module running back to the sat receiver which has a single input. the antenna has switching circuitry that effectively combines both signals onto the single lead and allows the receiver to pick which one has the best signal at any given time.

between the old and the new systems there are a number of production runs that mix the two because of a surplus or shortage of new or old components so in some cases an old receiver has the two inputs which hook to a splitter which hooks to a newer single lead antenna. what some people have done is to take a new single lead antenna and simply plug it into one lead while leaving the other unconnected. this will kind-of work but you will have no terrestrial signal. the proper way is to use the splitter.

if you want to be sure, go to the parts dept and have them grab the aforementioned part number from the back and check to see if it has 1 or 2 leads. then pull your trunk lid liner back and verify that your antenna has 2 leads (it should). if it does then you need to get the splitter as well. i have also heard that MB offers on some vehicles a small 2 lead replacement antenna kit for some vehicles though i have never seen it. if that is the case then you should be able to drop in replace with that antenna.

zoink

Thanks for a super clear explanation....

my06clk: Not mean to discredit you... I assume you had the ugly antenna like mine also before... and when you replaced it w/ smaller one, did yours come w/ 2 connections or just 1?

I feel there may be some time when the big a$$ antenna was produced w/ only 1 lead. Kind of transition time...

The best way is for me to look at my own, or at least ask the parts department to show both antennas, and witness myself whether the big a$$ antenna has 2 leads or not.

If let's say mine has 2 leads from the unit, and if I leave 1 unconnected, which one would give me a better / safer bet? Connect the one for satellite or connect the one for the repeater? Any color indicator on the cables?

I honestly rarely listen to satellite radio.... and if I do listen to it, I mainly hear it from suburb areas (no super tall buildings). So yes, outside look is quite important to me... especially this car doesn't have the ugly antenna painted If the smaller antenna does affect the satellite connection, I can always reinstall it later

rob13572468

one lead will be male and the other female. depending on the new antenna it may not even fit. here are a number of pics i just took to illustrate (being an engineer means having whole sets of equipment lying around). the first 3 are the entire sat antenna system from your car. then the splitter that i talked about and finally the 2nd gen (small) antenna from an 07 SL that i have at my lab.

as you can see the new style antenna (at least for 07) uses a standard FAKRA connector instead of the standard metal mini plug. if the part at the dealer has the blue end on it then you will need an extension cable to be run all the way to the SAT receiver plus the splitter.

DarkStar

Rob, while we've got your ear on this...are the newer style (and smaller) antennas known to have better reception? Also, MUST they be mounted on a metal surface for proper reception? Thanks for all your informative posts on this subject....DarkStar

rob13572468

actually the smaller antennas are more sensitive to reception issues than the larger ones though they have come a long way... you will typiclly lose 1-2 db of gain with the smaller antenna but overall signal will be as good or better because the newest generation antennas have better sensitivity and rejection circuitry. this comes in handy in places like cities where the buildings wreak havoc with the downlinked satellite signal. at any rate its less of an issue now since sirius has added many additional terrestrial repeaters with stronger overall coverage. many people who spend most of the time in big cities do not realize that theyre receiving the terrestrial repeated signal a good percentage of the time.

on the subject of placing the antenna on metal, yes it is important, though it depends on the particular model. S-band antennas are less reliant on having a ground plane (the reason for the metal) than normal antennas like a unipole fm antenna. additionally some models (like the big ugly puck antenna) have a metal base that is sufficient. the newer, smaller antennas do however benefit from a ground plane though it does not need to be large. often 4-6 sq inches is normal though i have seen larger pieces. the CLK with its composite trunk lid is a good example. pulling back the trunk liner reveals a metal plate of about 10 sq. inches with an unlabeled antenna that looks identical to the terk piece in one of my above posted pics. when switching to a smaller antenna and particularly if the antenna is custom mounted it is a good idea to provide at least a minimal ground plane for the antenna. this can be an ordinary piece of ferrous metal larger than about 2 x 2 inches. if the antenna is magnetic backed it can be simply stuck to the metal. if adhesive is used then it is a good idea to ground the metal plate itself (solder or bolt a wire to the plate and then to a ground point on the vehicle).

lkchris

Here are part numbers for the small antenna used on '06 W211.

You can check prices here (leave off the B):
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=213951

B6 783 00 80 prepainted 9040 Black

B6 783 00 81 prepainted 9723 cubanite silver

B6 783 00 82 prepainted 9775 iridium silver

B6 783 00 83 prepainted 9960 alabaster white

B6 783 00 84 in primer

jbondox

411

The second lead for the terrestrial signal isn't their anymore, because there is no more repeaters for satellite anymore. just sat only. there is quick disconnects on the underside of the trunk lid, when you take the bubble of antenna off that you have now, the new one has the same but one wire, plug it in and get a sat channel. don't worry about hooking up the second one, unless you plugged the wrong one in the first time around. for those that talk about repeaters and the better signal, obviously someone hasn't been to the Sirius training seminar just kidding, I was like WTF also, it is all satellite now

zoink

I think I've got to do it to figure it out... can always sell it at eBay if it indeed doesn't fit.

So last questions before getting one...
1. Is the plug near the antenna or near the SAT unit? In other words, is there any parts I should open other than the trunk liner?
2. Is the plug the same? Or should I get an adaptor?

Once again... thanks for responding... we'll see how it goes.

rob13572468

no that is not correct... in fact sirius is actually in the process of upgrading their current terrestrial repeaters as well as attempting to get permits to build additional ones.

http://www.wcai.com/pdf/2007/fcc_March19a.pdf

the single wire system is an updated antenna technology that combines both signals via a switch. the switch actually picks the antenna based on the input activated by the receiver unit. now the recievers have only one input as the circuitry to do this as well as the splitter itself has been moved inside the unit. as i said you can hook onto one lead or the other but you will not have proper operation.

rob13572468

the plugs are 8 inches from the antenna. get the new antenna from the dealer and see if it has two leads. if not then you need a splitter.

jbondox

Then I stand corrected, my info came from Sirius themselves, at the trainer. I am wondering if it is for traffic updates though?

jcsprecher

The newer antenna has only one line that transmits both signals. If your car has the prewiring for the two line antenna, I believe that you simply hook the newer antenna into a small inline splitter (1-line into 2-line) -- part number: B6 783 0058.

This is what I did on my car. It was very simple.

jbondox

Yeah the Sirius tech was saying most is GPS, but they still do repeaters, my bad... must of been daydreaming

mbnj

Regadring reception with newer antenna: Does this do anything to improve the drop out situation. My wife's car is driven almost always outside cities and we suffer from blockage from trees, foliage, and nearly all overpasses?