mclaren

Has anyone added a satellite radio to their C230k? Just curious...

benzomonterey

if you click on search and put in XM radio you will find some other posts about this. I know at least one member has put the Sony in his car. I am going to be installing the pioneer unit in my car with the head unit going in the ashtray.

avlis

I know the head unit will fit nicely in the ashtray, but where do you plan on putting the tuner?

The only place I see room is in under the seats. I have power seats so I'll have to make some "paper-dolls" to check the clearances.

Are you installing it yourself?

benzomonterey

I will either mount the tuner in the hatch area, or in the glove box. I am not sure I might just do it myself.

avlis

Do you know if the cable is long enough to reach from the hatch to the ashtray?

I'd like to install my own as well.

I was thinking of getting the glass mounted antenna. Any advice on antennae?

benzomonterey

I am assuming the cable is long enough. I have only seen one installation so far, it was a Volvo S80 and it was trunk mounted. The only question I have about the antenna is the fact that it has to go between the hatch top and the roof. I wonder if it screws up the seal. I have only seen the terk antenna.

heres a good link to look at all the antenna's, since I have tele-aid on the back I don't want to look like an FCC vehicle with a buncha antennas.

Antennas

dfwryan

I managed the Dallas launch of Xm Satellite Radio. I had the Pioneer FM Modulator installed. The tuner fits nicely in the compartment on the left side of the truck/cargo area. Since I have the Panorama sunroof, there was nowhere to install the antenna, so I just used velcro and laid the antenna on the cargo area cover, It looks pretty good and works great. The people doing the install said it would not work since the antenna is supposed to be touching metal, but I assured them it would work, and it does!

Lynn

Some disussion about Todd's Sony XM receiver:

https://mbworld.org/forum/w203/board/index.shtml

Pics of Todd's receiver

http://www.usstock.com/xm.htm
http://www.usstock.com/XM2.htm

Buellwinkle

Will the Sony XM radio fit in the hole under the standard radio?

Lynn

I am almost certain that it will not. The actual radio fits a cradle, and together they are fairly thick.

Buellwinkle

Oh well, actually I'm thinking about it more for my daughter's Mustang as there's only one radio station in the college town. Anyhow, I came across this great XM forum, lots of help and advice.


http://www.clubxm.com/

peet

That sony 'universal' design is a POS. It is too big to be truly portable - do you want to carry the base and accessories? It doesn't really fit the design of any car I've seen. It is too big to put into small nooks, it is too small to mount in a DIN slot.

I wrote sony a year ago and told them that they should make one of these interface via the unilink CD changer bus. But they shrugged it off. So anything I can do to help you steer away from them - let me know

P

Buellwinkle

Ideally we need something that can be used in the car and in her dorm room. There's a 2nd generation unit coming out soon from Delphi called SkyFi that is supposed to be better than the Sony unit. People with the Sony unit seem to stick them sideways on the right side of the console area and it looks fairly clean there like the old days when people had permanently mounted cell phones there. The Pioneer unit is popular with the radio under the seat and a think remote control unit mounted somewhere by the dash but it's too much work to move it indoors. I'll wait for SkyFi no matter what, sounds like the ticket.

kens

Information on the SKYFi is finally out. Check out the General XM Discussion area on the www.clubxm.com forum for links to information and photos. It's a great looking unit that seems to address a lot of the complaints about the first generation units (poor displays, no direct tuning, too few presets, etc.). There's even a boombox the head unit fits into.

Buellwinkle

Wow, that's what I need, $129 msrp, a large display and it's flat so you can mount it anywhere. Forget that Sony!

GTIDAN

Ahhhhhhhh ha.............Finally something at Circuit City I can sell you Carl. We carry that item now....

Buellwinkle

I'll have to come by and take a look. When are you getting your system done and which receiver are you getting?

GTIDAN

I'm getting the Pioneer unit which will be installed in the trunk somewhere. The controller will go inside the ashtray. Remember the deal I told you about for CC employees? Well right now the unit is on back order. For the price I can wait. Not sure how long but hopefully will receive it soon. I plan on having the Audio 10 installed at the same time.

The guy in Germany just emailed me that he has received the $$$$ and will be sending out my radio. I asked him if it's possible to get a manuel in English. In the meantime I downloaded one from PEET. Did you get one with your radio? Also did your radio operate OK or did you have to have your unit relooped (whatever that means)

I also received my Phillips Vison Plus bulbs today. According to the manuel there is some kind of clip that needs to be removed before you can take out the bulb. Any suggestions other than be careful. Like is there a trick to it?

I'm going to take before and after photos and will post them on the this site soon.

a1phanumrc

It's late, so i'm not going to go long on this... just quick thought when i had my coupe and XM radio...
I tried Both the sony then the pioneer units in my car, and decided to keep the pioneer. I cut the rubber on the pod to make it only 1 inch (looks stupid as long as it is), and put the unit in the ashtray, drilling a hole behind it, looked great. Now the problem, I like music, i like music Loud or at least Somewhat loud and bottom line the FM transmitter just does not put out much power, so the max i could get out of it was what most cars sound like only halfway up. (also yes i had the unit set to max volume) I turned around and gave it to my mom for her CL and she loves it, maily because she hates loud music, more background. So unless you have a full system with amps, this will not please you... look into sirius system with minijack out for comand users, that's what i have in my current C. cheers

avlis

DO NOT follow the manual's instructions for changing the bulbs.

1. Remove the large round black plastic cap by turning ~1/8 turn.
2. Reach into the headlight housing and grab onto the base of the electrical connector.
3. Turn it ~1/4 turn.
4. When it releases, pull it out. The bulb is attached.
5. Pull the bulb straight off the connector like a Christmas light bulb.

Remember not to touch the glass part of the bulb.

GTIDAN

Thanks for the info Avlis

Do I understand you correctly in that I DO NOT undue the wire clips before removing the bulb? But rather only after I have pulled the bulb from the housing.

I'm a little confused. Isn't the wire clip holding the bulb in place?

Just want to do it right the first time..........thanks

Dan

avlis

The manual says to pull the connector off as one of the first steps. I stood in front of my car pulling on those damn connectors for 10 minutes. I then started picking and poking at the metal clips only to find out after a 1/4 turn the connector with bulb attached pops out of the housing. There is no un-doing of any metal clips.

To add to the confusion: the 1/4 turn mechanism is metal and I quess you could call it a clip in German-ese. And once it's removed you'll see that it's snapped onto the plastic connector body with tabs, but you don't have to unsnap that part. The bulb just slides out. You'll see.

GTIDAN

Thanks Avlis
I feel a lot more confident now. Will tackle it this weekend....

Buellwinkle

It took me over 2 hours to do so make sure you are not in a rush.

avlis

2hrs?
I did this during my lunch break. And that includes reading the section in the manual 3 or 4 times. Maybe I got the "quick-release" headlight option.