scorchie

There's very little difference.

I've seen installations with the XM/Sirius antenna under the dash, and it works fine.

The problem with the OEM setup is that the receiver has two connectors on it that are difficult to obtain (well it has been for me). That makes getting an aftermarket antenna difficult, or even moving the stock one very far becomes difficult. Some people have a line on where to get adapter cables, but they're not sharing the info.

-s-

trimtack

Just spoke with Terk, the antenna used
on the Mercedes. They will have available
in July, the SIRI-MINI. Mercedes will not
be carrying it at this point but who knows
what they may decide to do. The size
is 1 1/4" long - 1 3/8" wide - 1/2" high.
You will not be able to do a simple switch
from the hockey puck to the mini. There will be a wire change.
You can check out the specs on their website www.terk.com
Model xmicro even though it says xm it
will be the same. Can be painted with non metallic paint . Hope this helps somebody
as trying to get my new 2004 S500 done
is a battle with Mercedes.

Barry45RPM

I had emailed Terk a month ago to ask them if they made the antenna for MB & they told me THEY DO NOT MAKE THE MB antenna, but advised that their mini would be available for Sirius soon.... I wonder why the differing info????

trimtack

Their tech support # is 1-800-942-8375.
Another company for paint matching the
antenna could be www.paintscratch.com.
When I see the size of the mini and the
antenna that is currently being installed
I would think MB would make the change. I must say, Terk tech support was very up front on the fact that MB at
this point will not be taking on the mini
but will be available through their dealers.
I think I will wait a few months to see
what develops.
Unfortunately, I live in an area that has
no real MB dealership. I have been talking
to MB in Fort Lauderdale and think they
are taking the bull by the horns and doing
a work around.

scorchie

Ummmmm Terk DOES NOT make either of the Mercedes antennas.

The large one for your S500 is made by WISI. Interestingly (to me at least), the guts are made by Tyco. So WiSI is just making the base and packaging it.

Yes, most SIRIUS antennas now use the single wire connection, so you will need a splitter ($20). Also, most of the antennas use a different connector than what's at the end of your pre-wired antenna connectors.

I have a small antenna available now with the necessary wiring, and I will start putting it in the cars of people that would like a stealth installed installation.

The good new is with the smaller antenna, it can be located at the VERY REAR of the package shelf in the center. This allows for nearly unobstructed view of the sky.

Also, this whole thing about "ground planes" that have been discussed in this forum. It's a bunch of conjecture with no basis in reality. Satellite signals are different than regular RF. If one examines the satellite antenna, there is likely sufficient ground plane in the antenna itself to enable proper reception. Case in point: The CL antenna is mounted UNDERNEATH the composite deck lid structure. The composite is relatively transparent to the satellite signal, thus no ground plane is provided (except for the whole car which is at a lower level than the antenna).

-s-

trimtack

Thanks for this information. It seems to
be almost impossible on the east coast
to get straight facts. Would you know of
any dealerships willing to do the same type installation as you are suggesting?

scorchie

I hear that Steve (MBenzNL) is making a trip to the east coast in July... maybe you could get him to do it for you? I know he has all the proper parts and equipment available to him. He could even get the satellite radio installation kits.

-s-

Barry45RPM

When & where? I'd like to meet this kind of MB Genius. Its incredible, the amount of knowlege about the cars he has.

new-c320

Sunman

Do the comand (01-03) requires firmware update for sat radio ??

Or is just enabling the blank button ??

rmklaw

I mounted my Sirius antenna on the hat shelf of my CLK (on the inside of the glass and have excelent reception. The dealer said that the reason they started mounting the antennas outside on the trunk lid is because the MB electronics has been experiencing some interference from the Sat antenna. I have not had any problems.

Wolfman

In my opinion, the MB Sirius antenna and installation is absolutely unacceptable. It is unnecessarily big and clunky and should be factory mounted on the rear shelf or within the tonneau cover of the SL (under the leather).

Unfortunately, MB is generally behind the times when it comes to audio, video, navigation and communications

What I was curious about is the Maybach. I have been driving it for a bit and it has Sirius. There is no visible antenna and I thought the trunk is not made of any composite material (like the CL). Interestingly enough, the car maintained good coverage even inside the garage (with open garage doors but the house has 4ft. overhangs). Does anybody know where the antenna is mounted?
Btw. the car has a fantastic sound system. Sound quality of the Sirius is awesome, CD's sound even better and the surround sound for DVD just plain unbelievable! Watching the Matrix was just a pure joy...

Also, I know that it is been mentioned here before, but did anybody actually have Sirius installed on an '03? I assume it just needs just a firmware upgrade on the comand unit (plus of course, all the cabling)...

Thanks,

Wolfman

trimtack

I have a 2004s500 and have been told
that because of the infrared glass, an
interior installation is not possible. There
is a mini antenna becoming available
which is extremely small and can be
painted. I have been talking with Aaron
at Atlanta Classic Cars who is really up to
date on all the related problems with the
Sirius.

kyee

I have a 2004 E500, and just had the antenna installed under the rear deck on Friday. Reception is great, and there is no hole on the top of my trunk.

Strangely enough, even though I had the SAT button on my audio system, the car was NOT prewired for satellite. The installer had to go thru some extra steps to get everything connected. "Scorchie" did a great job. If you're in the Bay Area and want the stealth Sirius antenna installation, be sure to look him up.

trimtack

Does the E500 have infra red glass?

kyee

I don't know if it does or not, sorry. Would that info be posted on the MB website?

trimtack

Just spoke with dealer in Atlanta and they
can do a stealth installation on the S500.
Can be mounted in the grill, housing the
windshield washers. I will be getting the
installation first week of July and report
my results.

scorchie

I have it in a 2003 W211 and it required a new head unit (2003 in general did not come with COMAND).

Other models may vary.

The cabling is one of the biggest problems, and that's pretty much across the whole model line. The cable for the OEM antenna is near impossible to get. I investigated aftermarket antennas but decided that there were several factors that make it a less than ideal solution. To properly connect an aftermarket antenna to the Mercedes receiver, you need an ACL for an older antenna, or an ACL and splitter for a newer antenna. The use of multiple connectors coupled with the extra long cable included on new antennas, results in significant signal loss.

I really like the antenna for the CL/CLK cab. However the price is very expensive.

-s-

scorchie

No US-spec W211 comes with IR glass from the factory. It would have to be retrofitted, which I hope to do... and at which time I will have to find a new home for my antenna. But I am already thinking about it!

My G500 has the GPS antenna in the headlight trim ring, and it works GREAT. I will have to do some more thinking on the W211. I am considering under the panorama roof.

-s-

Buellwinkle

There's no reason the antenna can't be mounted inside. I've had my XM antenna mounted in the hatch area of my coupe for about a year and now I moved it to my sedan and stuck the antena under the dash pad between it and the center vent box. It's 100% invisible and works fine. The latest antennas are super tiny, a little larger than 3 stacked quarters and have better reception than the old PC mouse size antenas. On my 2004 C230 I bought last weekend, the dealer wanted $997 for the Sirius setup, ouch.

BoSoxFan

A question -- I read on one of these threads that the sat signal is only blocked by ferrous metals but should pass through aluminum or non-metallic materials. According to a review I read in Road & Track yesterday, MB changed both front and rear lids to aluminum in either '03 or '04 in the E to reduce weight. If this is true, could the antenna be placed under the rear lid? That would reduce some of the potential line-of-sight problems of a rear package shelf placement.

kort677

Placing the antenna under the trunk lid does not work in the current e class, do a search for T-Bones install, that places the antenna in the trunk, in a spot under the rear deck and that works well

BoSoxFan

Check. I had already read about T-bone's method and plan on doing that myself. But, I'm intrigued by this ferrous vs non-ferrous issue. Maybe it was a dumb question.

flkp

I have seen the new TERK antennas and they are small. BUT; they provide one lead. The Mercedes has 2 (I think) How dou handle this? can they be spliced? Is there an adapter?

scorchie

Satellite signals at this frequency and low power must be blocked by the aluminum trunk lid, because cars with a composite trunk lid (such as the CL and CLK cab) have an under-lid mounting; cars with aluminum and steel trunks must mount above the trunk. Talking about OEM installation here.

-s-

scorchie

_ALL_ new Sirius antennas (from the last 2 years or so) use a single lead.

The Mercedes system uses an output from the original Sirius receivers, a blue and white lead.

There is an adapter to go from dual lead system. It is splitter from Terk (SIR-SP). I have tested using this system. Note that the splitter has a white and curry lead, which is not compatible with the blue and white lead. (The curry and green connectors were later than the blue and white.) To get from the blue and white to curry and green, you need an ALC. The later Sirius receivers might have had a curry and green set of leads, because they had ALCs built in to the receiver.

I see two problems with using the splitter:

1) They are near impossible to find. Try Circuit City and Best Buy brick & mortar stores. After they tell you they don't sell them, try to find one online...

2) The number of connectors required is high. I was looking at the FAKRA SMB data sheets (those are the connectors used), and I believe at 2.8GHz (or thereabouts) the loss per connector could be 8dB! That's a lot of signal degradation when you figure in at least three connectors in the signal path.

A third thing is that the splitter is an additional $20.

Some people I have spoken with do things to force connections, bypassing the FAKRA connector. Such as hooking the curry/green connector on the splitter straight into the blue/white connector on the receiver; or sliding the curry sleeve back on a curry/white antenna and hooking it directly to the receiver. Since I think this is bypassing important parts of the system (that's why those connector prevent that kind of connection), then why not get a single lead antenna and just hooking the one connection to one connection on the receiver... probably because it MIGHT work, but it isn't operating optimally.

Therefore, I highly suggest using an OEM antenna, or at the least, a discontinued aftermarket antenna with dual leads (either with ALC if the antenna has curry/green connectors, or no ALC if it is blue/white).

-s-