RRohrbeck

Is the SB just for the 2009 MY? We're having the same problem with the wife's 2007.

E2233

The Service Manager at my local dealer told me last week that he was unaware of any reception problems with the Sirius Radio. I gave him a copy of the posting from the site. He told me he would check with MB and would call me back the next day. A week later the Shop Foreman called to tell me that he found a Service Bulletin from MB on Model Year 2009 vehicles. The replacement of the unit is limited to vehicles that are having reception problems with the 35 stations.
The Shop Foreman may have just been researching the Model Year 2009 vehicles. He was very specific about the 35 stations on the list and the Model Year 2009 vehicles.

220S

Could you please post the number of the bulletin. It should be noted on your worksheet receipt.

I went to two dealerships this afternoon and neither of them had heard of this particular TSB. In one dealership, they asked the shop foreman. In the other (where I have a really good relationship with my SA) they looked it up on all the MB TSBs and searched a few other sources and came up empty. Both places haven't done a tuner replacement for this issue, either.

Thanks.

edit: p.s., I see you're from LA. Please post the name of the dealership that replaced the tuner under this TSB. Thanks again!

E2233

On the Service Order in the comments E# 27396030278020. There is another reference in the description of the problem LI82.60-P-046929. The Description Combination Radio, FP-Number 171-906-09-00. Please PM for the name of the SA and the name of the dealer.

rcassabc

I am experiencing the same problem as noted here (periodic to frequent "acquiring signal" interruptions on certain Sirus channels). The dealer gave me the same Sirius/XM merger story -and said that a recent service bulletin said they are working on the problem, and for them to not replace anything. I have owned this pre-owned vehicle for about 3 weeks - and it has a year/23,000 miles of warranty left. I am extremely dissatisfied with this response. I have a call in to Mercedes Customer Service, and am waiting for a call back. I can't believe that Mercedes would let this problem go on so many vehicles -as a previous Lexus and current Acura owner, I am beginning to regret my purchase already.

E2233

What state are you in? What is the year of your vehicle. I did not request a copy of the service bulletin. The service bulletin may be for only one year. MB customer service was working on my request. The dealer replaced the radio while MB was doing their research.

rcassabc

I am in Oklahoma - car is a 2007,

E2233

I believe the replacement of the radio unit is limited to Model Year 2009 vehicles with loss of signal from about twenty stations only. My dealer only replaced the radio unit because I was losing the signal on two stations on the list. I have not had any problems with the loss of signal on any stations since the radio unit was repaired. Sirius support told me after several E-mails that the radio unit needed to be replaced. The dealers told me that there was no problems with the radio. The firmware was upgrade and to check back in a few months. The shop foreman at one dealer did the research and found the answer.

Daycruiser

Hi,

Your not alone by any stretch, I started a thread over on another board about this very issue with 2007, 2008 and 2009 Sirius receiver issues with the 35 channels that drop out. I've been waiting since June for a "fix" and I'm starting to think that MB is trying to out wait us in the hopes that all the warranties will expire and get them off the hook. The Customer Service Center is usless they have no authority on this matter, all they'll do is make a note in your file and give you the same old story of how they're working on a fix. The Technical Assistance Center is more involved and they are the ones that have to push this but I suspect they have been told by the MB Gods in New Jersey to shut up about it for the pre 2009 group of cars. Outside of a Class Action Law suit there may be nothing we can do to move them along on the so called fix they've been working on forever. It doesn't take that long to fix software/firmware unless you have hardware that ain't gonna work no matter what you do. There are a lot of affected MB cars with this defect and it amazes me how few people seem to know about it or at least talk about it. Sirius has been told what the issue really is but they continue to tell MB owners they have a bad antenna. Sirius has no real involvement with this problem, this is completely a MB defect but those that have noted the issue think it's a Sirius Sat issue. Of course the MB dealers also want you to think that as well. My kid is a MB Master Tech and has known about this problem since the day it showed up in the E-Class a couple of years ago. That's a long time to work on a fix.

DSperber

Sure wish I could say the same for my replacement unit.

They put what purported to be the 2011 Sirius module into my 2010 E350C this week, but I still cannot get MSNBC (90). Same exact symptom, of 5 minutes of normal operation when the car first starts in the morning (after being inside the garage all night), and then for no reason at all (and with no obstuctions, wide open sky on city street or freeway) it suddenly goes "no service" and the radio becomes inoperative.

You can't even use the keypad to change channels (assuming I was willing to tune to one of the other channels not on the list of 35 affected by this problem). It's simply inoperative.

Hard to believe this problem is as well-known and long-lived as it apparently is, and that neither Sirius nor MBZ can get it resolved. You'd think MBZ would have some clout.

WEBSRFR

FWIW I think if you report this under warranty and you have documentation to support it, they are obligated to fix this even if the warranty runs out.

E2233

It was a battle trips to a few dealers in the state. My local dealer Service Manager said he had never heard of such a problem with Sirius. He told me about all the vehicles he has been driving.

I had place a called to MB in New Jersey about the radio problems. Sirius kept telling me to have the radio replaced.

MB New Jersey was still investigating when the local dealer had the shop foreman find the Service Bulletin on the radio reception problems.

The Part Number is FP-NUMBER 171-906-09-00 COMBI RADIO. The replacement was covered under warranty. No problem with the radio since the replacement. The display on the screen is a little different than the original radio.

The Channels are listed |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| the tuner moves between the stations for the selected station. MSNBC comes in without any problems. Other channels that were having problems were also corrected. The screen display is also a little different.

Rusnak in Pasadena did the replacement after the Service Manager told me he had never heard of any problems with the radio. He had the shop foreman check for the Service Bulletin. I drove my car to dealer in the late morning. The shuttle dropped me off near home and picked me up in the early afternoon from home. I did not want a loaner.

Daycruiser

As I have posted in this thread and the others I've done on other sites this problem is not a Sirius/XM problem. The merger had nothing to do with this issue, that's a load of stuff that MB is telling customers to throw them off the MB trail and an attempt to deflect on to Sirius/XM. This problem is a very poorly engineered Sat radio receiver. I have 5 Sirius receivers only one of them has any problem what so ever (guess which one) and my oldest receiver is now 11 years old and works perfect will ALL the Sirius channels before and after the merger. My '08 Mazda factory receiver also works perfect then and now. Don't believe anything a MB dealer or MB is telling you about WHY this receiver doesn't work unless they tell you they built a crappy receiver and now don't want to re-engineer it, only then would they be telling you the truth.

DSperber

I think I responded to another reply post of yours to me on another forum about this. The part they put into my car this week was 171-906-32-00, which is slightly different than yours but definitely a Sirius radio part number. Perhaps it's the 2011 part number.

Anyway, it still does NOT solve the problem for me.


You mean it now looks like the FM Radio channel dial looks?

I didn't notice that, but will look at it tomorrow. Maybe you have to be in one of the alternative view modes. Either that, or it didn't change for me, or maybe was always this way and I thus didn't notice any change.


Only 90 is what I have noticed as a problem channel. My other "favorites" are not in the defective channel list, so I wouldn't notice that they were still defective or now corrected. I'm only concerned that 90 is fixed or not.

And in my case, new radio but same antenna... 90 is still defective. It's also still called "JBC", which you'd think they could get changed by now.


My service rep at Simonson in Santa Monica did the research with the shop foreman and discovered the service advisory on the subject, along with the list of 35 affected channels. He pushed for the radio module replacement (which, is about $2K retail unit at online parts places)... hoping it would solve the problem as it has reportedly done for others.

Maybe my 2010 E350C coupe needs a new antenna (also from the 2011 model? hope it fits) as well?

Anyway, I fear this saga is only just beginning. Hopefully someday it will be resolved.


I had a SkyFi tuner that I used to drive around with, inserted into a boombox that sat on the passenger seat of my old car. Never had a problem tuning to any channel even after the XM merge.

I transferred that SkyFi lifetime license over to my MBZ when the new car was purchased last year. So I agree with others' assessment that the explanation here is almost certainly with the design of the MBZ tuner, rather than something caused by the Sirius/XM merge or "channel re-compression/re-alignment that somehow affects only 35 channels".

E2233

The old radio did cut off on JBC 90 and a few other stations that I listen to. MSNBC station is shown as JBC 90 on the new replacement radio. The Modes are all the same Satellite Radio, AM, FM and the Weather Channels. The screen display on the new radio is slightly different. I do not remember the station listed with ||||||||||||||||||||| on the old radio.

Radio Classics was another station that would cut out on the old radio.

Sirius has always said it was the radio that had to be replaced. Someone from one of the dealers felt it may have been the antenna. The antenna was not replaced on my vehicle.

Sirius blocked my E-mail address after I sent them several request for assistance. There is always a long wait on the phone to contact a representative.

DSperber

Was driving around in the car today and looked at the display. I now see what you're describing and to be honest I now think this is the way it has always been for me, in my 2010 E350C. Yes, it is the same for all four radio modes.

Very often when I'm listening to a music channel I will actually be in "INFO" mode, to see the channel, album and artist... e.g. if I'm listening to 5. That is an overlay, on top of the standard channel gauge display you are describing, in the background.

Anyway, this is the way it certainly looks in the new radio I had put in this week. And I'm now quite sure it was like that even with the original factory radio.


Nor with me. Just the radio got replaced.


Ok... here's a very interesting story about today's driving, and an experiment I ran.

On Thursday when the radio got replaced, I tuned to channel 90 as soon as Sirius got the ESN's swapped. So 90 was the first and only channel I tuned to once I got activated.

I then drove away from the dealership toward home, thinking everything was swell, and five minutes later the radio flaked into "no service". Never came back on all the way home and I parked the car in the garage.

I actually haven't been out driving until today. But my service advisor had asked me to confirm that if I tuned to a NON-LISTED channel, that the radio would NOT fail. Rather, it should work perfectly. And if I could confirm that it would be helpful feedback, to confirm that the radio itself was working fine... on all but the 35 problem channels.

So, since I had about a 30-minute drive to where I was going today I didn't turn the radio on until I left the garage, and then immediately tuned to 5 (which is a "good" channel). I drove for about 15 minutes and the radio never cut out with "no service", as would be the expected behavior for channel 5. Good.

Now, as this was PAST THE 5 MINUTE MARK when my radio would usually cut out if I was tuned to 90 when I left the garage and turned the radio on, I got to speculating that maybe I'd now "passed the crucial 5-minute mark on a GOOD channel". Maybe the radio was now "warmed up sufficiently" or something, given that it was on a good channel and has now "gone GOOD" permanently.

So I changed to 90. Of course it started ok, tuning just fine.

But remarkably, it remained tuned perfectly for the next 15 minutes... until I finally arrived at my destination! This honestly was VERY unexpected, but surprising nevertheless. Hmmm...

Before I entered the indoor garage at my destination, I re-tuned back to 5. Then I turned the radio off, and entered the garage.

An hour later I came out, drove out of the garage with the radio still off, then turned it on (still tuned to 5). Radio came on and worked perfectly, as I headed home.

After 15 minutes of "warm up" on good-channel 5, I again got cocky and tuned to 90. Once again, remarkably, it lasted the remaining 15 minutes until I finally got home!!! Never went into "no service"!!!


So, this is a never-before seen experience... remaining on 90 for more than 5 minutes without going to "no service". Don't know if it was the "15 minutes on 5, then tune to 90" trick, or if this new radio needed a bit of a burn-in and now it's good, or what. All I know is on Thursday it took 5 minutes on 90 to go to "no service", and today it never failed after 15 minutes on 5.

Tomorrow I'm going to try out this new radio again. I will drive out of the garage on 90 and see what happens. If it fails, then that's one data point.

I will later repeat my experience of today, starting up on 5 and going past the crucial 5-minute mark (say, up to 15 minutes like today) and then going to 90... and see if today's "success" can be repeated. If so, then that's another data point.

After enough of these two different experiments I should be able to conclude that either the new radio is actually working great now, or that it was the 15-minutes on 5 trick that facilitates the tuning to a "problem channel" with no failure, or that today's experience was just a complete fluke and the 35 channels are truly problematic.

Interesting.

E2233

My radio starts right up as soon as I leave my garage. I do not have any reception problems with the new radio. I did not activate the radio. The service department must have take care of the activation with Sirius before I picked up the vehicle. I am tuned to CNBC in the morning, MSNBC in the afternoon and the evening Radio Clasics.

DSperber

Well, as unbelievable as I still think it is, I've had my car back from Simonson for over a week now since their latest repair, and the Sirius radio "with the tightened roof antenna mounting bolt" has yet to ever drop channel 90 (or any other channel) even one single time!!!

This is with the very same replacement 2011 Sirius module part that had initially still failed after Simonson replaced the original Sirius module in my 2010 E350C. So before tightening the roof antenna mounting bolt the radio would lose channel 90 after 5 minutes. Now, it works perfectly!!!

After a phone conversation with the dealership GM, and a second conversation with the Shop Foreman, I gave them my car for a few days to see if they could detect some other mechanical or electrical problem. And remarkably they discovered that the mounting bolt on the roof antenna was "free-floating" and had not been tightened properly (although it didn't seem to cause the antenna to dangle around).

They tightened it securely (as it should have been torqued from the factory), and now the Sirius radio works perfectly!!! No more "no service" loss after 5 minutes!

They swear that's all they did, and I of course was infinitely skeptical that it would really fix the problem... which by all accounts and year-long national stories reported by other MBZ owners on forums like this should really have been in the Sirius radio module itself you would think.

And yet... I have not seen "no service" since they secured the roof antenna bolt and thereby pulled it down securely onto the rubber mounting and grounding plate underneath it. I guess it was the grounding plate part of the story that is likely the real heart of the solution.


Don't know what to say, except that I'm of course overjoyed that this problem is seemingly now 100% fixed.

I don't know if I really needed a replacement Sirius module, or if just the tightening of the antenna would have fixed the problem even with the original Sirius module. But the fact is that I DO now have a 2011 module installed into my 2010 E350C.

Case closed, I hope.

E2233

I have MY 2009 E550. I never had any problems with the antenna. The replacement of the radio solved all the reception problems

fbsdmd

I have a 2006 E350, and listen mostly to Radio Classics. It is more or less constantly "Acquiring Signal" even out in the open. Is Radio Classics one of the 35 channels that has a problem? Does anyone have a list of the 35 channels? How difficult would it be for me to determine if the antenna needs tightening, and can I do it myself? Thanks.

E2233

Radio Classic and MSNBC are two of the channels. I do not have a copy of the other channels.

220S

Of course we know that these components aren't made by MB and so any issues are going to be further complicated by MBUSA trying to determine where the liability falls (and as far as consumers are concerned, it falls in their lap.)

But what puzzles me is the model years of the cars affected. The pre-2009 cars used a COMAND and audio gateway designed by Harman Becker or Siemens, depending on year and model of car. The 2009 unit is supposedly made by Alpine (UCPFv2) running on CE5 Windows automotive OS. Not sure about the W212.

There are many individual components from various vendors within the units, but the vendor would still be responsible (and ultimately MB) for Sat radio functionality. I guess I'm still puzzled as to what component is at issue here and what model year/vendor.

p.s., the one person who probably knows what's going on and could answer all of these questions definitively is Steve (BenzNL.) As a lot of folks know, Steve's a member here. Here's his website: http://www.mbenznl.nl/

Might be worth asking him as he does all the factory upgrades for the dealers and has installed lots of US and Euro COMAND systems for people around the world.

loudbmw

I always had a problem with the Sirius cutting out after the car got wet, dealer could not duplicate. Then I started losing MSNBC which was completely fixed when they replaced the Sirius radio under warranty last year.

I still loose all stations after (but not during???) rain or after car wash. I suspect the loose antenna is the problem.

johnlk25

My 08 E350 is going to the dealer tomorrow for some minor issues, but one of them is the Sirius radio.

The radio was working fine until I went through a car wash. The display said that it was "updating station list" while I was in the car wash, then when I exited the car wash, I lost all my stations. The only station that comes in is 184 I think.

Called Sirius twice and they did everything that they could. They said that it is a problem with the car and that I need to take it to the dealer.

It goes in tomorrow at 10am.

MACHC5

I wonder if Sirius is doing OTA (over the air programming updates) Reflashing the channel line ups. We do that to large wide area 2-way radio systems as an alternate to programming individual radios.