jkrutch

I am curious to see what the "stock" antenna looks like. TIA.

Char03

search the forums

jkrutch

I did....

moa4r

check e55 forum (t-bone's car) for stealth install of antenna

jkrutch

I want to see the STOCK installation. T-Bone's is custom.

t-bone

stock install from Barry45RPM:





t-bone install:

jkrutch

t-bone....Thanks for the reply. There ain't enough money to warrant the "black box" on my trunk. I need to decide how badlly I want SAT radio in my car.

Barry45RPM

Bear in mind the black box looks a LOT larger than it is. You can completely cover the entire antenna by just cupping your palm over it... and satellite radio's content is awesome compared to "commercial" radio. I'll worry about the black box on my next car. By then the antennas will be combined with the regular antenna anyway.

jkrutch

Barry...no offense to you, but I am in shock that MB would force us to install a black box on the outside of the car in order to make use os SAT radio. MB has a long way to go...maybe they can learn from Acura.

Barry45RPM

No offense taken...I wanted satellite radio. I would only do a stock/factory install...and really, its only an antenna, only on a trunk lid on a car I'll only have 4 years or so... I figure I'm on the inside listening to great tunes, comedy, etc. ..

Its beyond me how people (USA Only, the fuel situation here is different than around the world) can buy the same car & saddle it with a diesel, which stinks, sounds like a coffee can full of marbles, and preforms, well, like crap....

If those owners can sit inside & feel like they are driving an "un-marred" car, how can you let an antenna bother you? Don't even think about it! You're not cutting a hole in the Mona Lisa to put a blinking red light in the nose! Its only a car you'll own for a few years. Think of the enjoyment of everything else. Its not going to cost me 1 penny extra depreciation at trade in time, NOBODY will pass on my used car because it is there, and it will probably bring me more money in fact because it is Satellite equipped.

kyee

I'm still on the fence on this decision - I'll have to make up my mind when the MB dealers in my area finally have the parts to the install.

As my car is a lease, I did contact MB and ask if I would be penalized for installing the antenna on the trunk. They said I would not be penalized for it. I didn't ask if I had to leave the antenna when I returned it, though. If I remove it to resell it and the receiver, I guess that would then leave an unsightly hole in the trunk. I would probably be forced to leave at least the antenna intact if I went that route.

Barry45RPM

You would not remove the receiver anyway. It is made to mate with the current Comand/Radio head unit. By the time you get your next car, either the interface will be different or the prevalence of satellite radio will have MB building the head units with the satellite receiver already as part of the head unit. (The aftermarket add on kits are already starting to introduce smaller components. When I was at the NY Auto Show, the folks at the Sirius booth said that recent developements will mean smaller units coming very soon, so what you have now will be outdated but fully functional in the car you will be turning in for the next user.)

If you spend ANY time in your car, the content will really thrill you, and you will spend much less money on new CDs.

jprescott

I have not seen the antenna on the streets but from your picture it appears to have stomped on the asthetics of the car in a pretty big way. I think this will limit your re- sale when that trunk thing looks dated by next year. I agree about interior pleasures but really seems like you need to get the antenna buried. It's very distacting. Maybe from a distance it looks OK?

Barry45RPM

As I've said before...it is quite small whan compared to the trunk lid area, let alone the car... No one is going to pass on this car as a used car. For the time being, this is what the state of the art is. If they come out with a georgeous antenna I could always change it. There aren't any cars out there (except the ones that I own) that don't have any body work on them. And if it really kills the next owner of the car, by then there will be plenty of trunk lids around in the junk yards...its just not worth sweating.

t-bone

I don't see what the problem is.

Just install it under the rear deck like I did. Just ask your service technician. If they are friendly and knowledgable, they'll be able to do it. If they can't, go find another dealership that can do it.

I didn't do it myself, the dealership did it, so I still consider mine a "factory" installation.

kyee

t-bone, did you have a special "insider" to get the Sirius parts for your install? The three MB dealers in my area (just north of you) still claim to have no idea on when the parts for the Sirius install will be available. Very frustrating.

t-bone

kyee: I can understand your frustration. Sometimes these people seem like they just don't want to help you out. I had no insider information about the satellite kit. I just used this forum.

Here is the part number for the satellite kit for the W211 only.

B6 783 0002

As of today 5:00 pm 4/26/04 there are 44 W211 kits available in the Fontana Mercedes warehouse. I just confirmed this with my parts guy.

Ask your parts or service guy to look that part number up. And then have him tell you again he has no idea when it is available.

Barry45RPM

I LOVE the info & helpfulness of the people on this forum! I have learned more from this forum about these cars, than anywhere...& I go to forums for cars I own as well as those I am interested in!

jkrutch

Second that Barry...this place is a wealth of very useful info....except of course when people start wondering who signed their engine. What's up with that? Who cares??????

GoodyAMG

t-bone,

Thanks for the info regarding the installation of the antenna under the rear deck. I've passed the info onto to my service technition.

How is the reception?

Thanks, GoodyAMG

t-bone

No problems with reception.

Check out this thread.

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=66386

I posted my comments about reception in it.

jkrutch

How much is the MB Sirius Kit and what does it include?

t-bone

Different dealerships will sell it to you for different prices. Wholesale cost is $581. Different dealerships will mark up the prices differently.

Just call your dealership and give the parts department the part number.

For more info on how it is exactly installed by the dealership according to Mercedes, check out this website:

http://home.earthlink.net/~phdwebsite/

The guy has the installation information for the satellite radio from Mercedes.

As you can see in the instructions, the hole that must be drilled is 2 centimeters in diameter. That's huge in my opinion.

That may be the reason Barry45RPM has been having so much trouble with rain.

rtriley45

I just had the installation done for $800. They wouldn't do T-Bones insatallation so I had them do everything but hook up the antenna. I did it myself using the great directions from this forum and completed it in about 1/2 hour...

Works great...

t-bone

Sounds like the way to do it to me.

If your dealer won't install the antenna the way you want it, then just have them do everything except that.

I think just one hole needs to be drilled to help hold the antenna in place.