phester

When I got my 5 series, it did not have the sat radio prep - I assumed it would be too costly, at that point, to put it in. So I went out and got the new Sirius S50 unit and installed it (poorly) this past weekend. Although there are wires hanging out, it still looks pretty good and works great....

This unit is amazing. The quality of the screen is great and it has the ability to scroll sport scores, jump to traffic, and download songs to the harddrive to play when not attached (as a portable MP3 player). The only real downside is that the sound comes through the FM transmitter.

For those of you with Sirius already installed, are you happy with the features? My wife has an X3 that has the capability of having Sirius, but after installing this unit, it seems limited to have the BMW installed unit for the same price as the S50. We are debating on installing the BMW or going with the S50 for her....

Thoughts?

I have my first major service coming up in a week or so. I was going to ask to see if they can install the antenna better, but I am getting good reception the way it is. However, do you know if they can install a line in directly into the head unit (standard 530i system)? I know the S50 unit does have a line out.....

swajames

phester, how do you find the sound quality using the FM transmitter? I've not had much success with these in the past (specifically those for the ipod such as the iTrip) and wondered how you found it on this unit. My car doesn't have sat prep so I'll either need something like this or an aux input to be installed.
cheers

rodneyremington

I find the sound quality on my installed sirius to be tolerable at best. I can't imagine it sounding any better via FM transmission.

TexaZ3

Most FM transmitters are bad. And by most I mean 99.9%. There is no substitute for wired connection, and this is the only way to go if you want quality. Wired Sirius sounds almost like a CD.

phester

[/quote]

phester, how do you find the sound quality using the FM transmitter? I've not had much success with these in the past (specifically those for the ipod such as the iTrip) and wondered how you found it on this unit. My car doesn't have sat prep so I'll either need something like this or an aux input to be installed.
cheers
[/quote]

The sound quality thru an FM transmitter is never great, but this is totally acceptable. I have had an FM transmitter for a Sirius Sportster replay, and iTrip for the iPod, and now this S50 unit. This S50 is by far the best - bordering on "good".... I never lose reception and I can get from work to home to San Diego on the same freq without changing it or losing reception.

I have found this S50 the best possible without moving to hard wired units. The antenna that came with it was terrible and I didn't receive any sat signals.... I changed it to use the antenna that came with the Sportster Replay and now the S50 works exceptionally. I guess I received a defective antenna....

Bimmer32

$500+ wasted from my corner. Sirius is not worth it at all for the price, sound, but maybe variety. :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: I'd preferred having mp3 over the sirius radio.