sgnden

Hello:

My 07 550 shows that it is equipped with 0693-Satellite Radio Preparation. However, there is no "SAT", in the display. This tells me that while it is "prepped", I need to buy a receiver and install it. I called Sirius and they sold me what they said I needed...a Stratus 6 with car kit...and said it wold be for my car. It was $20 (down from $70)...seems really cheap...but whatever, they told me it was what I needed.

I searched the forum and found a couple of older threads on the topic...wondering what I need to do here.

Do I install whatever they send me in the TRUNK? Or? Than it'll work? I have to believe I'll need to go to the dealer to get the iDrive to recognize this stuff...eh?

Any guidance you can offer?

Thanks!

BlaSTiWi

Prep = pre-wire ... so there's a power plug along w/ the fiber connector & antena hookup in the left side of the trunk behind the cover.

You still have to buy the OEM receiver module some $400+ (maybe?) along w/ the mounting brackets & some screws from the dealer then pay the dealer to enable it to show up in the iDrive menu (involve re-programming & some extending fiber optic loop).You do get 1 year of free service.

sgnden

Ahhh! Ok, thanks. So what's this thing Sirius is shipping me?? Just a "bolt-on" radio rig that's a stand-alone Sat radio? Sheesh...I can see I will be returning that as soon as I get it.

So it's gonna require time at the dealership, it sounds.

Thanks again.

BlaSTiWi

No idea ... but yeah ... dealer involvement required.

froman

Good news and bad news. Good news is there won't be an ugly satellite receiver in the passenger compartment- the factory SAT receiver sits in the trunk. And it will show up on the iDrive screen. Bad news is that it will cost a hell of a lot more than $20- more like $400-500, plus any coding needed from the dealer.

user 4639202

I have a XM ready car as well and this is what I did.

I ordered the onyX XM radio and vehicle kit. What this means is you'll receive a portable XM radio which is about the size of a playing car and about 1/4 inch in thickness. The kit provides you with a Power/Connect Vehicle Dock and a variety of other mounting accessories and it comes with its own antenna which I didn't like, however I plan to connect it to the satellite antenna connection in the trunk, if possible.

The radio offers an auxiliary port or it can be interfaced with an open FM channel. I used the AUX feature and it sounds great and the radio comes with a long auxiliary cable. Sure, the receiver in the truck will definitely provide a cleaner installation, however it will cost you.

This is a way around the $400.00 + installation cost route. Again, outside of the antenna issue which hopefully can be resolved the unit works really good and when I ordered it through XM radio I only paid $19.99 down from $79.99. Hope this helps.

inktoxicated

i dunno if its just my sat from my idrive but the damn thing cuts out so much its ridiclous. if i drive under a telephone wire,a tree branch,a building im 100 yards from, a bird it cuts off for a second. I never had it that bad with just the deperate reciever and the hockey puck antenna.

Rudy

First of all, please don't post the same question in multiple forums -- no need to spam things, just post once and be patient. (I've combined both of your threads into this one since there were replies in both threads.)

Back to your question, as others have said, what Sirius sold you is not what you need to have a factory installation of satellite radio. Sure, it may work and allow you to listen to everything but it won't be invisible nor integrated with iDrive, etc.

Your BMW dealer can sell you the parts needed to get Sirius integrated with iDrive. Depending on your abilities, you may be able to install the parts yourself (in the trunk) but there will be some programming needed that you'll have to have the dealer pay for.

Back in 2005, here's what I paid (as well as what others paid) to have Sirius retrofitted to my car by a BMW dealer:
https://5series.net/forums/index.php...ndpost&p=80255

sgnden

Oops. Hmm...that was interesting...scolding/shaming tone and all for a first time error. I thought I had killed the post in one section...but the functionality of this particular forum platform is a tad clunky compared to the two others that I have been part-of for 5+ years (1 for the motorcycles I have and 1 for more specialized cars)...so my operator error for sure. Oh well, I will certainly limit my posts here going forward. My sincere apologies for this infraction.

Yes, some of the earlier replies pointed that out ($400-$50 + dealer time to reprogram, etc.). I did see some older posts when I searched (before posting) that were useful like yours.

Thanks, good luck, and have fun out there.

Rudy

Just doing my job as a mod...didn't mean to ruffle your feathers!