just.program

Hi All,

My wife just traded her '07 Mazdaspeed 3 for a '00 MB CLK430 Cabriolet. We had Sirius in her Mazda from the factory but alas the CLK430 does not have that option installed. I do not know if Sirius/XM was even an option on this car from factory. I have tried Google'ing for answers but come up with nothing helpful. A search on this forum came up empty as well. My question is whether or not Sirius/XM was an option for this year model and if so do you know of a place to source the factory tuner? If not, has anyone installed a Sirius tuner behind the ashtray cover to hide the tuner? She doesnt care if we have Sirius but I do. We travel at Christmas time and the total mileage of the road trip to see family is 2900 miles. She sleeps through most of it and I drive it all. Sirius is HUGE for me when we do that. Thanks in advance to everyone who responds.

Also, thank you to the members of this forum who have written information about the AC system in these cars. The dealer we traded with is a family friend and told us up front that the AC 'just needs a little freon'. After much research we were able to determine that all sensors were working fine and the freon levels were perfect. The compressor was going out and since he had agreed to fix anything that was wrong with the AC system we came out wonderful on the deal. She now has ICE COLD air in her car and with 105+ degree heat outside its awesome. The point is that the members here helped us without even knowing it and I just wanted to say thanks.

bobbyjo9

Correct me if im wrong but i dont think sirius has been around for 10 years. there are multiple threads on upgrading the sound system ranging from mild to wild so you will have to pick how far you wanna take it. Do your research though... the system in your merc is very specific and totally integrated. Im just saying its more involved than just swapping out the deck.

just.program

You're right. Considering I work in the residential/commercial/military integration market you would think I would have remembered that?

Yeah, we arent interested in doing anything more than adding Sirius to her car. I can grab a tuner online or just move the tuner from inside the house to her car and get a new one for the house. Yeah, I am familiar with the proprietary integrated systems in luxury cars and their unwilling nature to be tampered with when wanting to upgrade. The tuner should be cake. Have it installed in the ashtray compartment and run the headphone out to the auxillary jack in the glovebox, add the antenna onto the trunk next to the GPS antenna and call it a day. Thanks for the reply. None of my research came up with anything, like I said, and I was in hopes that maybe there was a '01 or '02 tuner that would work with the '00 models. Oh well, not a big deal.

Now to search for a way to adapt the existing phone cradle, which looks like it might fit some ancient flip phone from the late 90's, to work with our Blackberries. I've seen some Bluetooth pieces but need to determine what exists in the car and how many parts I have to buy.

Thanks again and looking forward to participating here, and getting the wife to participate as well. We both had BMW's in the past and went the Mazda route on a recommendation from a few friends. Not bad cars and a lot of bang for the buck but certainly not German. I'm going to hang onto my RX-8 for a while longer as its still fun to sling into a corner When its time for it to go to a new owner then it will either be another M3, an SL55 AMG or Porsche 911 (996 Model - I love the curves on those cars even though they are aging a bit).

MarcusF

An Alpine x305 or 305s (single DIN HU) works with a Bluetooth adapter and is XM or Sirius capable. There are two Sirius adapters available; one that allows you to control a Sirius dock and play radio through the HU, and another to get the Sirius signal and play it through the HU. It talks to USB devices making the CD changer (even more) obsolete, and iPods/iPhones. The S model will play Pandora Internet radio through an iPhone. Here are my notes on the x305 I installed (when it was first introduced, the x305 cost less than $300 and was Bose capable for $15)

For $100 more, a W203 touch screen is available, but it won’t talk to USB devices or iPhones, but it is Sirius ready, NAV capable, will work with a rearview camera (for backing up), play DVDs (movies), CDs, and talk to an iPod. If it hasn’t been already, it’s due to be replaced very soon.

bobbyjo9

Marcus does have a good option for you if your willing to ditch the command. Im just nostalgic and like the somewhat antiquated system for what it is. I know what you mean about the cradle. Its probably the old timeport or startac system... both obsolete. Good new is that if you had a working phone system before the upgrade is quite easy. You'll need a "blue label" PSE, bluetooth puck and tail, and your ready to go. Not the cheapest or easiest solution but will retain the stock look and full integration.