My dealer said that it would be $700 installed? That sounds quite dear! I mean, it was free on my wife's '04 Honda Accord . . . Would y'all do it? I do really love music . . .

 

If your wife already has Sirius, it's only an additional $7 per month to add another receiver (yours) to her subscription! I have the Xact portable Sirius receiver and I rarely listen to anything else.

 

My wife has XM. I would probably prefer XM, especially now that they have the baseball channel

 

i have XM in my mini. i think sirius is even better. get it. trust me you will LOVE it. but get the portable sirius reciever (at best buy). its like $150. then all you do is hook it into your dealer intalled aux jack in your mini stereo ($100) and you are ready to go. thats what i did. $250 out the door and you are enjoying perfect digital quality commercial free radio. then use the other $450 you saved for your sirius subscription for a few years.

go here for the sirius reciever

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1089890209947

 

I have it, and I don't think I can say enough good things about it!!

Conventional radio had reached the point where I just couldn't listen to it anymore- endless stupid commercials and never-shut-up on air personalities my favorite station became 'scan'

I have the oem Sirius install that I paid for at delivery but didn't actually get until Dec 04- it's seamless with the MINI head unit, and yeah I think it was about $700. It took about 15 min to get it enabled via cellphone, and the first 2 months are free. $15/month thereafter.

The aftermarket installs are cheaper, but I think you would end up with a separate controller for channel tuning.
My favorite station now is 1st Wave.. last night they played David Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes'

 

If you're paying $15.00 a month, you should call them (unless you're rounding up) I think for the units we hav we're paying 13.00 for the first and 7.00 for the second. The first is hardwired in my Fiancee's car and the second is a portable in my car.

I think I may take the old hardwire system we have and put it into the mini when it comes. I need to check on the antenna location though because I'm getting a cabrio. I don't know if I will be able to use the integrated FM/ Sat antenna I heard that they are using and real estate (facing the sky) is slim on the convertible (unless I mount to the hood).

 

The best place to check for a receiver is e-bay. I've got 2 from there (one for about 25.00 that works great)

And for $450.00 I think you can get a lifetime subscription to Sirius.

 

I was rounding up

The new antenna is concealed in a newly shaped base element for the aerial.. it's a little bigger, looks kinda like a dolphin head actually, but I think it will fit on the conv since it replaces the original aerial base

 

This sounds kinda interesting . . .

 

I just did it, and it really wasn't that bad. Just take your time. Probably save you 200-300 .

Ed

 

Look: I'm not lazy; I just don't like work. . . .

 

I installed my JVC unit using a Panavise mount. Saved myself over $500 compared to the MINI version and I get much better functionality with this unit when it comes to searching through all the available stations.

I would not hesitate to go aftermarket for satellite radio!

 

My Sirius goes in next week....

MINI is a "bit" expensive on the kit + install due to the fact that you have to pay a monthy fee, I would think Sirius would take some of the hit to get monthly subscribers

Also my wife's Accord has the XM built into the vehicle with a free three month subscription. Once you have it you are HOOKED! So I think it would pay for them to start to include the service to add customers. Possibly that is why XM has 3 million customers and climbing and Sirius has only 1.1 million...hmmm, possibly bad marketing?

 

Is there a DIY guide somewhere you could link me to?

 

I seriously want Sirius in my 2005 Cooper with Harmon Kardon. I seriously hate that the OEM solution costs $340 for the parts. I don't want to go the add-on, external plug-and-play route. Are there no other aftermarket tuners that will interface with the Harmon Kardon and MFSW? Blitzsafe seems to handle only XM solutions for some reason.

Is the radio actually an Alpine, with HK amp and speakers? Is the Siruis connection ai-net format?

 

You can get the Sirius kit from Classic MINI in Cleveland, Ohio for
about $320 plus shippiing. Dealers charge 2 hours labor to install;
about $180.

 

The Head Unit is made by Alpine, I don't know about the speakers but the amp is made by Alpine.

 

It's very easy if you have the Aux jack to install the radio like Yucca's got it...

Pickup a male to male headphone jack from Radioshack, plug one end into your Aux jack, the other into the Audio out on the Sirius unit. Plug the power into your cigarette lighter. Run the antenna to your choice of locations (dash, rear shelf, or roof). Done...

 

does sirius have an antenna?

 

Both Sirius and XM require a seperate antenna

 

The $340 qoute I mentioned was from Classic MINI in Cleveland.

 

i think i'm gonna run on over to classic tomarrow and see what the price is after i get my 20% discount for buying my car thru classic. i dont want to be able to see the tuner, so i think the factory kit is the way to go. anyone have one? id like to know how well it works...

 

I installed the OEM unit last weekend. Works well. The display is not as good as an aftermarket unit, but I wanted the music, not a billboard in my car. The "clumsiest" part about it is there is no way to directly select a station. You have to hold the scan arrow down and go through them sequentially.

You do get 3 sets of memory slots, so you can program your favorite 18 stations and move through them easily. Reception is good, and I am loving having the variety.

Ed

 

So, if the head unit, for the Harmon Kardon option, is Alpine, shouldn't there be an aftermarket Sirius tuner solution for it?

 

Here's a SIRIUS tuner for Alpine. Not sure if it's compatible with the OEM radio though. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conten...=1097008928421

Siriusbackstage.com is a great resource for everything SIRIUS. Here's a thread of various installs. http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum...ic.php?t=15981

I have the Xact Plug and Play tuner and I love it!