I have a 2005 E500 Wagon that I ordered last year and took delivery of in January. It has the Premium Package that includes the Harman Kardon radio system with navigation, etc. Many press releases have bragged about the fact that all 2005 MBs come w/ Sirius satellite radio and mine has a SAT button but I have been unable to find any activation code to use w/ Sirius.
Quote:
Last March 15, another innovation was introduced by Mercedes Benz. This time it has tied up with Delphi Corporation, a leading manufacturer of retail satellite radio receivers. All 2005 Mercedes Benz vehicles in North America will now feature a factory installed Satellite Radio Receiver as standard equipment. Satellite radio offers its listeners hundreds of choices of music and other programming stations. It is also one of the fastest growing entertainment applications today.
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Source also on
CNet
When I spoke to my dealer they wanted to charge me $1,000 in parts (receiver and antenna) plus $300 labor. I certainly don't want it that bad and I feel misled about what the car actually has that supports satellite radio. In researching this further I found a link on the mbusa
site that says seems to support the dealer installed option opinion but lists a lower price for the parts:
Quote:
SIRIUS satellite radio is available as a dealer-installed option on most 2004 and newer Mercedes-Benz vehicles (with the exception of '04 SLK-Class and C-Class Coupe, and early production model year '04 M-Class). SIRIUS satellite radio can be installed by authorized Mercedes-Benz dealerships for $679 plus installation, which includes a one-year paid subscription plus two bonus months of free service for a total of 14 months of service.
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Any pearls of wisdom? Is there a more cost effective way of getting Sirius integrated w/ my factory unit (no aftermarket add-ons)? A good source for the parts? Any documentation on the installation? Is it a reasonable project to do myself given good mechanical abilities but no special MB-related tools or experience? It seems that the kit includes an unsightly black blob of an antenna that dealers usually
drill a hole through the decklid to mount and many owners use
aftermarket units. Any idea what the antenna solution is for a wagon? Have they figured out a way to combine the nav and sat radio antennas yet?