Rustyx111

I just recently purchased a 2012 E350 MB with 29,000 miles on it. First time MB owner. The car is immaculate! One of the reasons I bought the car is because it is equipped with satellite radio. I received a free 90 day subscription from Sirius but I can't get my radio to work. The reception is intermittent (but mostly not at all) and my radio says no service. I have Sirius resend the signal to me 3 separate times and the radio stays on the last channel I was able to listen to (Ch 69) and because it says no service, I cannot make the radio go to channel 184 to receive a new signal. After diagnosing the issue, MB Service says the SDAR has an internal issue and needs to be replaced ($1,900.00). YIKES! I have read some of the forums and there are so many ideas as to what the problem might be i.e Sirius sends too many stations to the older radios and they won't function, have Sirius place your radio ESN into a "protected tier", and some other suggestions I can't recall as I write this post. I'm not spending $1,900 to replace the SDAR as I bought the car thinking Sirius radio worked. Took it back to the dealer where I purchased and they won't do anything to help with cost of fixing the radio. I have seen on eBay some used SDAR modules for less than $100.00 and was thinking I might try that route, but I don't know if that will cure the problem. Sirius has not been a big help as they keep sending me back to MB, but often in the forum threads I have read, the issue is blamed on Sirius and not MB. I guess I'm looking for some current thoughts and ideas on how I should proceed at this point.

tresean1

I have never heard the of the "Sirius sends too many stations to the older radios and they won't function" issue. My W211 (which is older than your car) worked perfectly with xm radio, so not sure what is meant by that.
I do know that I had to get Mercedes to reactivate my embrace module and update some software relating to that, before was able to get any satellite signals, so your issue maybe similar.

Rustyx111

Thanks for your reply. I've not heard of the embrace module and as you say, that might be related to my issue. One more thing to have checked out. Thanks for your time and reply to my question.

konigstiger

Attempt a COMAND soft reset by pressing ON button for at least 10 seconds. Dealer should have checked for software update and provided fault code and replacement part # on invoice if not, request it. Shopping used - best to match existing part # in vehicle capture shows compatible #s listed in EPC, see attachment for replacement.

Davery

I bought a 2012 E550 about 6 months ago. I received the free two weeks of Sirius before Christmas and hated it. The quality is horrible. I leave the Spotify app on my phone open and the car automatically connects when I start the car. Much better quality and it's free.

Rustyx111

Wow, what a wealth of information! Thanks so much. I have found some of the control units on eBay for less than 100.00. If I could just replace with one of those, than it's an easy fix for sure. in your attachment, under # 1, I'm not sure what Buffered basic data means and Installation: Copy buffered basic data to new SDAR control unit/ high definition tuner (N87/8). Do you know how that's done and does it require any special equipment (which I probably don't have)? Thanks again for the great info. 👍

Rustyx111

Thanks for the info. Hope you are enjoying your Benz. My first and I just love driving it. With the exception of the Sirius problem, it's like driving a brand new car. Does Spotify require airtime on your cell phone carrier? I only get 2 G's per month and wondering if that would be eaten up quickly by doing that.

cetialpha5

If you sign up for a premium spotify account, you can download playlists so you can listen to them offline and not use up any data.

For Sirius, you can often call them up and get 5 months for $30. You can add the traffic to it for an extra $2/month. You sometimes have to get to the retention department before you get that. Normally you just sign up for a free 3 month trial the first time you use it.

https://slickdeals.net/f/10971607-st...-card-required

Arrie

Could this be an antenna problem or a bad grounding of it. I have poor AM reception and every now and then I get the "No Service" message on satellite radio and I am now thinking the poor AM reception and satellite "No Service" could be related and come from the same grounding issue. Konigstiger posted the instructions for checking for the bad grounding but I have not got to do it yet but now will when I get back home at the end of the week. I think the grounding is in the back right roof at the opening when you remove the back top part of the roof liner. The piece removed allows access to the shark fin roof antenna.

Davery

You may check with your carrier. I have unlimited data, but I believe some carriers do not charge for streaming data. I guess you could compare how much you were willing to pay monthly for Sirius vs. how much to upgrade to an unlimited cell phone plan. I would try out Spotify a few times (making sure it connects to the car seamlessly) before you change your cell phone plan.

Rustyx111

Thanks for the info. The idea of a bad antenna has been mentioned but the MB dealer said it was the SDAR Control Module, so I didn't think about the antenna again. Perhaps I will try the AM reception (which I never have used) to see how that works. It's a maddening thing I know that for sure. Nobody in either MB or Sirius has been very helpful. You mentioned Konigstiger posted instructions for checking for a bad ground - where would I find that explanation?