Stoneseller

I have the same complaint. Sirius coverage sucks! In my last vehicle, a GMC, I had XM and virtually never lost signal. There were a couple spots on my daily commute where I'd lose signal. I learned these 2 spots, and found by being one lane over I could avoid the signal loss. That was strange.

I now have 2 new MB's, and experience signal loss in at least 15 locations on my daily commute. Very aggrevating. I posted about this on one forum ( can't recall where) and was told by several people the following.
XM signals have better coverage because of several satelites beaming down signals, while Sirius relies on multiple repeater towers. Tower radio coverage has the same problem many experience in cell phone coverage. "Can you hear me now?"

edit Adding a couple links. First is a cool gif showing the satellite paths:
http://www.tiger-usa.com/sirius-xmorbitanim.gif

Second is a discussion of Sat Radio signals:
http://www.yotatech.com/archive/index.php/t-28573.html

jimm

Between Jupiter and PBG.

jimm

DWP

Say, that is interesting. I knew that XM had two geosynchronous birds ("Rock" and "Roll") over the equator, one for eastern North America and one for western North America. I had no idea that Sirius had three non-geosynch satellites that spend most of their time broadcasting to the nonsubscribing residents of Central and South America. That would tend to explain why XM reception is so much better than Sirius away from ground repeaters, even assuming that XM and Sirius have equivalent ground repeater networks. No wonder that Karmazin is so eager to get his paws on XM's satellites.

Barry45RPM

I had Sirius in my '04. I too have noticed that in my '07, the underpass dropout is almost immediate, whereas on the '04 I always cleared the overpass with no drop out. I believe it may be due to moving the antenna to the roof from the trunk. The further back the antenna is on the car the longer it receives the stream, at speed, & the hood clears the overpass before the unit uses up its buffer & drops out.

Its the ONLY logical explanation for the difference in reception that I can come up with.

Also, I believe the Sirius Satellites are lower in the sky than the XM birds, so trees can be more of a problem. Time of Day plays a factor too because the birds sit even lower at certain times of the 24 hour day.

starbrite

Barry, I believe that's just too short a distance to affect the buffer. Your '04 had a puck that contained a much larger antenna surface compared to the combo antenna on the '07. That's more likely the reason.

I was up in Danbury,Ct over the weekend and where my brother in law lives many streets are completely tree canopied ( the branches over lap). His Acura, with XM, never cut out once in a particular 1/2 mile run of solid trees. My Sirius lost the signal 20 yards in and was acquiring the rest of the 1/2 mile until I came out the other side.

Back here on the island, I'm getting cut outs on every tree lined street and it's beyond frustrating. (new smaller antenna was installed in the fall). When my 6 month freebie is up I'm finished.

jimm

WOW - All these complaints are highly disappointing!

I LOVE satellite radio, but if it’s going to be cutting in
and out, that’s going to take most of the fun out of it.

Combine this with a poorer Nav than my GMs maybe
I made a mistake in buying the E350.

I can get my 1000 deposit back, if I want. I may take
another look at the Lexus 460 which I believe to have
excellent electronics .. which is important to me.

jimm

==========

On Order: 08 E350 Sport, P2, Black/black,
Parktronic, Voice, Bluetooth, Burl Walnut,
Split rear seat, Rear mud flaps

BudC

I've been listening to both Sirius and XM Radio for several days. Nothing has changed since the last time I compared the two. I have almost no interest in the content of Sirius and I admit it's likely because of my age. I couldn't care less for music from the 80's to hip hop and that's pretty much it with Sirius.

XM Radio is loaded with music I like.

Getting Sirius on my new '08 is a total waste of money for me so my only hope is that the two merge sooner rather than later and a lot of XM programming survives.

When I see that Acura and other Japanese makes have XM Radio along with great Nav systems fully supported by voice commands, my decades long commitment to Mercedes gets a little shaky. I'm disappointed but I'm not likely to jump ship anytime soon.

stevec32

Actually sirius has the better positioned satellites. XM's are very low in the southern sky. Because of this bad positioning xm uses cell towers to rebroadcast it's signal just about everywhere. They really don't count on you being able to receive the sat signal. Sirius also uses repeaters but mainly in and around large buildings and downtown areas. My 07 E550 has many dropouts under overpasses whereas my aftermarket and oem xm will work going under the runways at LAX at about a quarter mile tunnel.

stevec32

DWP

XM doesn't have any repeaters in rural British Columbia, Canada, where I got very solid XM satellite reception (except in canyons) using only a microantenna on the rear package shelf. BC is pretty far north.

ATS

The XM reception problems have been pretty bad for the past couple of days..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18799252/

jimm

You’ll note that a day or two ago I was telling you how great XM was:

1. It NEVER dropped out, and
2. Not being able to get XM was a big negative in my E350 purchase.

BUT .. who would have guessed??

For the last two days I’ve been getting drop outs with my XMs. The
XM in my home wouldn’t pick it up at all. The one in my vette has been
in and out!

After all my XM bragging!

So, from now on, don’t listen to anything I have to say!

The XM girl told me that they got their satellite problem fixed at noon
today. It’s “supposed” to be back working in my home shortly since
she just sent the “refresh” signal .. again.

Maybe Sirius isn’t so bad after all.

jimm

==========

On Order: 08 E350 Sport, P2, Black/black,
Parktronic, Voice, Bluetooth, Burl Walnut,
Split rear seat, Rear mud flaps

dhho1

I have the same problem and I have the same car, 2007 E550. I signed up for the life time membership for $400 a while back. I know every spots around where I live that I will lose signal. But I just don't understand how I will lose signal while I am driving on the 405/110 freeway around the south bay area (Torrance/Gardena, Ca) when the sky was sunny and not a piece of cloud in the sky. Should I bring it in the dealer for them to check it out?

SPNJHockey

My Acuras have XM...good programming...never a drop out.
W211's Sirius...excellent programming...dropped out so often that I grew to hate it, and subsequently cancelled subscription.

pinebaron

I love Sat Radio mostly for the news channels, especially BBC and then some music. Must be where I drive (most highway) but I feel I get less than 5% dropout in very congested areas.

Polar Bear

Old thread... but for what it's worth, I NEVER lose signal in a 2008 ML350 unless in a tunnel or parking garage. Never.

The bit-rate on the other hand is HORRIBLE. It IS something to listen to, but I appreciate a good sound and good quality, hence all of my iPod media is lossless and music I REALLY enjoy listening to I burn to a CD and listen from the changer for the best quality.

I own a few MFSL Ultradisc II 24k gold discs which really sound good in the Logic 7 system.

Sirius sounds like 32kbps MP3 to me - so digital compressed sounding it's sometimes hard to listen to. If it was true CD quality sound, I wouldn't be without it.

Don't get me wrong - I still like it and listen to it often, but it has much room for improvement on sound quality. I prefer some static in an FM signal vs lossy digital compression.