rory breaker

So I guess we need extra equipment, and the 06 C55 isnt "satellite ready"?

What exactly do we need? I thought I could just call up and get it, if not, I certainly dont want any damn extra antennas, boxes, wires, etc. How dumb.

JDC55

You will need at least the tuner box and an antenna as for the rest I have no clue. My 05 was prewired for Sirius and I have been loving every minute of it.

rory breaker

So mine is prewired for Sirius as well...that means I still need a tuner box and antenna?

spr

I installed and added mine myself. All you need is the reciever an antennae and the mounting bracket and nuts.

rory breaker

And the antenna, you have to drill a hole to mount it?

I am looking to a) not have any holes drilled and b) not have any sirius boxes/receivers/cords/anything on my dash or on my windshield. I just want to click "SAT" and have Sirius come on with no other BS. Looks like this just isnt the way it works, correct?

spr

I did all factory parts except for the antennae which I got from circuit city for 30 bucks (sirius) and stuck it right on top of the metal support under the rear parcel shelf (it's magnetic). I drilled ZERO holes and there is nothing to see Everything is factory and fiber optic. Everything also only costed me under 200 bucks getting the OEM reciever from ebay. The entire install took me 30 minutes and I also got the 6 mo free even on a used reciever! hahaha

rory breaker

So essentially, the wiring is in the trunk. You bought a receiver, plugged it in the trunk. Bought an antenna, stuck it in the trunk. Turned it on, clicked "SAT" on your stereo, and it works.

Do the songs/artists/channel/whatever show up on your head unit and dash display?

Also, if my car is Sirius ready or whatever, I guess I still need the reciever from ebay?

spr

a little more complicated but yes. Do a search.

JDC55

I opted to have the antenna installed on the trunk after speaking with my friend who works for Sirius. He said the trunk is the best spot for the antenna even though it may not be the best looking location. Helped me with getting the tuner box for my car so all I paid for was the install and the antenna

kfehling

Rory,

I think putting Sirius in you '06 is a bit more complicated than what JD has done. If your 06 is like mine, manufactured after 6/06 (by AMG not just MB), then it is NOT prewired for Sirius and the dealer will tell you that it cannot be added (as will MBUSA if you call them as they did to me). I went to a local car radio shop and they got all the wiring, boxes and antenna to install in my car. It took them a couple of days and me a few thousand bucks to have it installed but it is worth it. I had the Stilleto installed to the side of the radio and hated it. This is much nicer and it is fully integrated into the COMAND unit. All factory settings function normally. It was well worth it. I am not sure where you are located (I am in Santa Rosa, CA) but can pass along the contact info for the shop that I used. They can at least tell you what parts are needed and how complicated the install is so that you can contact your local shop for the actual work. Let me know and good luck.

Kurt

JDC55

From what I have found out and a few people have mentioned the '06 is not pre-wired and will require a bit more work than the pre-wired '05.

blown93lx

Do a search for SUNIL (Sunman) he quoted me MUCH less and does trips around the US randomly..

rory breaker

OK I really want to do this now.

Does anyone have a writeup of what is needed, and a walkthrough on what to do?

I want to do what the guy above did, where he just wired the receiver in the trunk, attached the antenna to the metal bar in the trunk and called it a day. No drilling, no cutting, no removing panels or anything.

Anyone have a walkthrough/list of exactly what specific parts/models are needed?

'06 C55, when I press SAT it doesnt give me a code or anything, however the car is "prewired" for Sirius. SPR's setup above sounds perfect.

spr

Didn't I do a write up somewhere else? You of course do have t remove the rear panel to get to the amp and replace that bracket to hold the sirius box. I used the phone power wire and then spliced in the fiber stuff there as well as at the pass. tunnel. Easy enough. I didn't have another power cable labeled sirius or sat in that area on my 05 btw-. If you were in SD I'd just say come over and I'll do it. It honestly takes 20 minutes from start to finish . The dealers rape you hard, and there is ZERO reason to put it on the trunk or outside the reception is NOT any better as I have compared-

blown93lx

I had SUNIL retro my MY07 for integrated SIRIUS. I have no wires anywhere. I press the SAT button and the sirius plays through the factory navigation and allows for the steering wheel buttons to be used. I love every minute of it and was definitely worth the money.

I did have to have the SIRIUS antenna painted to match the car (mounted on trunk) but maybe your car is one of the 4 colors they offer pre painted.

If you were in Houston, I would consider yourself very lucky

Good luck

rory breaker

Nope, I looked for it, maybe you did and Im just too slow to find it but I did a thorough search on here and on google to see if anyone did any writeups first. How do you know what wires to splice?

Is your 05 wired different than my 06? I wonder if its different. I wish I was in SD too, I'd be over there with a case of your favorite brew in a heartbeat!

To the other guy...what does Sunil charge?

spr

Here are the 2 how to's that I used. I remember that I did it the second way and it didn't work. The first way that says it works but needs coding worked for me without coding. My dealer subsequently coded it correctly for free and said that I would have "full functionality". I noticed no differences or menus. I have heard about a signal menu however- anyone know about this?? I was told that's the difference in coding. I also used a regular sirius antannae from Circuit City (single cable) however, I had to get the right nuts for the mounting bracket to mount the sirius module as the ones in the "kit" were the wrong size-

Sirius install #1

Moviela -> RE: Adding MB Sirius Satellite receiver to 2005 C230 (3/20/2005 7:29:58 PM)

I really like the factory Sirius receiver. It takes 20 minutes to install, and part of that is waiting for the paint to dry.
The List is 679, dealer cost is 483, so demand a discount. Remember th price includes 14 months of service.

My C240 is a 2005 Wagon, so the antenna goes in the roof. Drilling a hole in a new $40,000 car is a bit scary, but I did it. I then used factory primer to prevent rust around the hole. MBZ suggests a thing called a unibit to drill the hole. Since it has to be EXACTLY 20mm, I looked for the unibit. Metric unibits are hard to find and cost $50. I used a chassis punch from Mouser Electronics (20mm $19.50.) Using a 20mm drill will dimple the panel, and result in an out-of-round hole. A chassis punch makes a clean smooth hole. There are two step washers supplied with the antenna, make sure you use the right one for your sheet metal thickness so your antenna does not pop off on the freeway.

Make sure the dealer gives you the correct "kit" because the bracket AND the fiber optic connector is different from car to car. 2005 cars use MOST (Meadia Oriented System Transport) to carry the signal from the receiver to the head unit. There are a lot of D2B units out there that won't work in a 2005.

You need to install a fuse in the fuse panel (supplied) and bolt the unit to the bracket. Find the SDAR fiberoptic cable in the rear and snap the DC power connector into the fiber optic cable housing. Plug it into the receiver. Connect the two antenna wires to the antenna. You need to fiddle with the fiber optic connections depending on what options are on your car, Harmon/Kardon audio, Teleaid, and integrated telephone. If you just have the stock radio, no phone, no teleaid Use the SDAR connector as it comes, and change two fiber optic cables on the right side of the transmission hump under the shifter. Just peel back the carpet to see the orange fiber optic cables. HU means head unit, and SDAR means Sat Digital Audio Radio. Connect them to loop together.

Next you need to connect to the STAR DIAGNOSE computer and tell the system you have SDAR. It will not work unless this is done. It should take the dealer 10 minutes to acomplish this (including car wash), so don't pay more than $50 or a half hour. Call the number on the HU screen and give them the ESN (electronic serial number.) Give them your Email address and ask for a password. so you can hear the music streams on your computer.

There is an INF button on the HU and it will display the title and artist on the HU. The instrument cluster will display the channel on its little display. You can program the preselect buttons on the HU, just like for AM/FM.

Here is a tip, every time you start the car the radio looks for the Sats. Don't move the car until it finds the signal, or it might never come in until you restart the car. If you are in a garage, when you get outside turn off the motor and restart. It will ususally find the signal in less than ten seconds.

Oh, I tried an RF unit, the sound was terrible. I tried a unit connected to the AUX input of the HU, it was crap, could not stay locked on the signal. I tried to use an antenna hidden in the grill on the hood, it was not good at all. I painted the antenna to match my body color, but it just did not look right, so I blasted it back to black, now it matches the stock phone antenna.

Yeah, its expensive, but it is gooooooooooooood!


The MOST ring needs a little different setup for the HK (some people say that stands for Hissing und Krackling) sound system. Follow along carefully....The HK Sound system control module has a MOST connector with two orange fiber optic cables in it. If you look at the end of the cable you will see numbers moulded into the plastic connector housing. 1 on the left and 2 on the right. Remove the cable (labeled SOUND) from cavity 2. Careful here, as both cables are labeled SOUND. There should be two cables harnessed in the same leg as the sound MOST connector, They are labeled SOUND 1 and SOUND 2. You want to insert SOUND 2 into cavity 2 of the MOST cable housing.

Install the Sirius unit as described above, then remove the carpet from the right side of the transmission tunnel, the carpet is mostly vertical. Just on the passenger side of the shifter. There is no glue or screws. The fiber optic cables from the rear pass through here on the way to the Head Unit. Now there is just one change to make here. Connect the SDARS OUT > HU/CDC IN. Leave the other connections alone.
Careful with the fiber optic cables. They are made of glass. Don't bend them tighter than a 1 inch radius, kink them, or run them over sharp edges. Don't touch the end, or allow the glass to get dirty.

Oh, don't forget the fuse. It comes in the kit, a 7.5 amp fuse. It goes in the rear SAM fuse and relay module. Push it into slot number 16.

Took me about a half hour to figure it out with a laptop, a scope, and a photometer.


Alright, some people have asked so I'll try and flesh out the steps I took to get the MB Sirius box retrofit into my '06 C230. I'll admit that there's better ways to do this, prettier, more proper ways certainly, but this is how I did it. Most car audio shops should be able to do this in an hour or so as long as you tell them EXACTLY how to hook up the fibre optics.

Some of this might be a little vague and I can't include pictures right now because my car is in a garage across town, and I apologize for that, and some may not be the same as what you'd have to do because of differences in your setup and mine. But hopefully this'll give you a good idea of what's involved.

#2
As a base point, here's what I was working with:
'06 C230
COMAND + Nav
CD Changer
iPod adaptor
aftermarket amps/speakers/sub

So mine is a pretty simple setup because I didn't have the telephone module, and don't really plan on ever installing it. This makes things easy.

The first step is to go and get the install kit. My invoice shows it as part # 6-7-83-0051. I just went in and asked for the Sirius install kit for an '05 C-class and, after 2 tries, managed to get the right kit. The first one they ordered for me only had the bracket in it, so make sure they order the entire kit. Just be adament that the kit has a bracket, antenna, fuse, clip of some sort, and the actual black box itself.

Once you've got the proper kit, the install itself is pretty straight forward. As buddypetty posted above, the kit requires a ground wire, +12V, and a wake up as well as a fibre optic connection. IF you don't have the telephone option, this becomes trivial because everything you need is in the trunk where the kit installs.

In the trunk, on the right side near the opening, pull out the two plastic clips around the opening, the one clip down in the side pocket next to the wheel well, and the clip up near the top of the trunk where the trunk support passes through the carpeting. Carefully pull back the carpeting to reveal the area directly behind the wheel well where the kit is to install. Regardless of whether you have the telephone kit installed or not, you should see a bracket mounted just behind the wheel well which you'll need to pull out and replace with the bracket in the Sirius kit.

Now comes the trickery. For the fibre optic connections, you've already got the TEL IN/TEL OUT fibres sitting there not being used, and you can get them to fit to the Sirius box if you unclip one or two of the zip ties holding them down fairly easily. What I did, since I was too lazy to order the proper connector for the 4 crimped wires + the fibre, was to simply make a connector for the wires, and leave the fibre lines connecting seperate.

If I'm remembering properly, I believe there was one of the 3 or so spare connectors hanging around for the telephone module that had 6 or 8 original connecting pins on it. I cut the wires heading into it, except for the brown ground wire because i wanted to use it for the new Sirius ground, leaving some spare hanging out because I was interested in the crimps mostly. I cut the actual connector itself down to 4 wires, so that it would fit on the pins on the Sirius box without interfering with the fibre connections. So now we've got a connector that fits, and a ground wire that should be in the pin 1 position.

For the other two wires, I cheated. Since I already had amps and a line-out LC7 sitting in the trunk, I spliced off the +12V and wakeup lines that it was putting out. BUT, they should be easy to run in theory. The wakeup you could pull off the cigarett lighter in the ash tray and run the wire back. I say use that one because I'm sure that's a wakeup signal, whereas the other wires sitting near the box I've no idea what they are. The +12V you could pull from most anywhere, just get a voltmeter and poke around for a wire and splice off of it.

Oh, almost forgot the antenna. You'll need one of these:
http://www.autotoys.com/x/cust/produ...productid=4310
That'll go from a new style antenna to the old style connectors that the Sirius box requires. You'll also need a new style antenna. Crutchfields, best buy, circuit city, etc. should be able to help you with that. I installed my antenna under the rear parcel shelf peeking out at the bottom of the rear window. The cable from it runs out one of the two cutouts in the top of the trunk near the center and down to where the Sirius box is installed on the right. I have nearly flawless reception with this setup.

I think the only thing left is the fibre connections. On the Sirius box, there are two fibre connectors. TEL IN (that I'm using) goes into the left most connector (furthest from the 4 crimped wire pins) and TEL OUT into the other connector. Now just go to the passenger's side of the transmission tunnel, slide the seat all the way back and pull back the carpeting on the side of the transmission. You'll see the main fibre connection points, and in my case I had simply HU OUT going to CDC IN. For how I installed, I simply changed the connections to be HU OUT to TEL IN, and TEL OUT to CDC IN. That was it. Once that was done, I hit the power on the COMAND, heard the CD Changer come on (which I learned was a good indication on whether everything was plugged in correctly as it won't show up if there's something wrong with the Sirius box) and hit the SAT button. Once the "Acquiring signal..." message went off it flipped over to traffic/weather channel and I called and got it turned on. Simple really.

Like I said at the beginning, this is merely how I got it working in a "works but not necessarily in a pretty way" fashion. Note that I didn't have to get anything programmed, so maybe I got lucky in that respect. I don't know, maybe you could take this to a dealership as proof that it's possible and tell them you want it installed properly. But for me, this worked, and this is how I did it, and your mileage may vary. Good luck.

rory breaker

dude you are AWESOME. thanks for posting that!!!!!!!!

jmorris644

Anyone know the part numbers for a 2006 C55 sirius kit?

Thanks

Joe