TPAbnz

A friend at the dealership said he went to install Sirius in a new E-Class and the pre-wire was gone! He said MBUSA advised that it was deleted from cars with build date after 06-01-05. He said if you want Sirius and have it incorporated into Command, it needs to be ordered and can't be retro-fitted.

CE750

Wow! I just squeaked by with a Apr '05 build date! I'm still scratching my head as to whether it's worth the $1000 cost.. and how much of that I'll get back at re-sale.

JWS3

the thought of paying over 1K for about the same damned radio service as I could get for $99 at any electronics super center.
I expect to pay a premium for MB parts, etc, but 1K for Sirius?? Does it come with pliers to pick your underwear out of your butt after they bend you over and ram it home? Hmmmm......

shorthair

Yes, and for those with extra tight butts, needle nose pliers can be ordered at no additional charge.

thearle

Today is July 27. Something doesn't add up.

If your W211 build date is 06-01-05, that means the chances of your W211 has NOT reached US shores yet. It takes around 60 days to for the car to be built, wait for the ship, then for the ship to load, ferry and clear the VPC.

If your friend's car is an off-the-showroom floor vehicle, then PDI also takes another day-or-two, and showroom prep would be another day or so.

So, how did your friend discover the missing pre-wire by bringing his car to the dealer for a Sirius install?

TPAbnz

He is the accessories installation manager for the dealer.

fubar

I am liking my March build 350. Better seats and Sirius retrofit. Don't give a crap about resale, just use that stuff every day!

fubar

CE750

yeah, it completely doesn't pass the reasonableness test.. I mean, $1400 for DVD NAV installed, $400 for ipod installed... all make sense.. but $1000? for a $99 piece of hardware and 2 hours labor?

MJ1133

Nevada Jack

SIRIUS on the new R Class is $500 installed at the factory only and the antenna is integrated into the rear trim over the rear window. It includes a 3 or 6 month subscription also. Is this $1000 an after market or MB accessory for the E?

I thought about it on my present E 320 but the antenna solution was terrible.

CE750

the $1000+ is when the dealer installs it... out of 15 cars in the show room when I bough mine, 0 had Sat radio standard from the factory that I saw.
So unless you order it, it's effectively a $1000 option.

Nevada Jack

Yeah...that is rip off city. On the R you either order it from the factory when built or you have no other option. I think most models will follow in this direction.

ATS

The E Class package also includes over a year of service.

TPAbnz

For the US, the "free" service is reduced to 6 months.

mbbodytech

As of July 1, all Sirius subscriptions only come with 6 months.

As far as the prewiring, my understanding is that the true factory installations (on the assembly line) will be done on the C and E sedan without panorama roof. The antenna will be the same small color matching antenna, however it will be mounted on the roof. These cars will not have the prewiring.

For the 211s with panorama roof, they will have the prewiring, since the antenna is mounted on the trunk, as is done now, because there is no way to put the antenna on the roof with the glass roof. For the 07 model year there should be a new roof mounted antenna (shark fin) that will include the sirius antenna along with the gps and teleaid antennas already there.

They are heading down the road of making this factory assembly line only, or should I say not including prewiring. This does have the advantage of being cheaper to do rather than what a dealer would charge.

jimbo1mcm

Just took a 1500 mile trip with the dealer installed Sirius in my 4/05 build E320 CDI. It is really great, period. After you pony up the bucks, you forget about it and enjoy it. I had XM in my previous car and it also was great. Both are very similar. I think the fidelity on the Sirius, with my Premium Sound system is better than the XM I had in my S Class. Do it and you won't regret it.

ATS

Really.. I too love sat radio and have both but I find the Sirius sound quality kinda' AM sounding compared to the sound of XM.. It appears there is more compression on the stations I listen to.

speedy888

i agree. get it and you won't regret it.

konigstiger

Curious, does this hold true for the CLS?

mbbodytech

I'm not a hundred percent sure. I'll have to check the message from product management that detailed this change. I'm thinking it will still be on the trunk, with pre-wire included.

I'll check tomorrow and let you know for sure.

TPAbnz

Since this is no longer listed as a dealer accessory, I'd say goodbye to pre-wire for the CLS too.

CE750

If I had a job that required me to do a lot of driving, or I had to do a lot of long distance drives it would be a no-brainer and I would even pay the $1000... but I don't do either, and when I'm in the car, I just listen to NPR or the local classical station 90% and 10% CD's... Really for the cost (I'm sure $100 or less), MB should have thrown this one in...

I have XM at home, and a pre-paid 3 year deal, and I can honestly say I haven't used it in weeks.

Barry45RPM

That seems to sum up the whole Benz experience... you pay thru the nose...but Nothing else is a Benz, and everyone knows it.

CE750

true.

mbbodytech

OK, here is the deal. (USA spec vehicles only) The following cars for model year 06 will have the prewiring installed (thus the possibility of dealer or do it yourself installation):

S Class (220)
CL (215)
CLS (219)
CLK Coupe (C209)
G Class (463)
E Class w/panorama roof (211)
SL (230)
SLK (171)

The factory option code for prewiring is 531, and the VPC installed SIRIUS option is code 022.

The following cars (for model year 06) do not have the prewiring, thus the code for the SIRIUS option on these vehicles is 531.

M Class (164)
C Class (203)
E 500 and E 55 (beginning with July production, the E 350 will have this code too)
CLK Cabrio (A209)

So, what this all means is don't completley fret if you can't tell for sure by the above information. At the end of the day, the last word will be to check and see if the antenna leads are in place on the underside of the trunklid. I was told that there was no way my car (an 04 203 coupe) had the prewiring, that the head unit was incapable and so on. Guess what? It did have the stuff! So, the last word will be to check and see if the stuff is there.

Even if it isn't, it is possible to retrofit it anyway. It will be more complicated, and you will need more parts and have to take more of the car apart to install everything, but it still can be done. It just depends if it's worth it to you personally.

I hope this information helps.