I successfully put in XM myself...Pioneer 903 with Terk SR1.

Snapped a few pics...might be useful if you want to rip your car apart (for any reason)...I'll post them when I get home and copy the pics from the camera.

I had originally thought the FM modulator would make it sound crappy like FM does...it sounds as good as the CDs do. Definitely better quality than normal FM..however, when I turn the XM unit on, I lose reception of every station except the one powerful one here (50kw power). Gotta keep it off if you use normal FM.

Took me 2 days only because I turned 21 last Monday and was consuming alcoholic beverages while doing this..so I wasn't thinking clearly. It was also 100 degrees here with 90% humidity, so I worked for 5 minutes and sweat so much it was dripping all over the wires...took a 30 min break. Kept doing that 5 on/30 off cycle all day.

Is it worth the trouble of doing it yourself? Absolutely. Everytime I get in the car, I look at it and say "I did it...damnit, I did it."

My program director at the station (my boss...I work at an FM station) just kind of rolled his eyes when I broke the news to him that I sold out and got XM.

 

Ok..here come the pics.

First, what the antenna looks like.

 

...from the inside...

It transmits through the glass...just have to find a spot where there are no defroster or antenna lines.

 

The mess of wire taps. I added a sub, so you'll notice the stock sub is gone and the 2 wires inside the brown tubing are tapped. The white/green provides constant +12V for the stock amp, which isn't there...so it will power my XM unit.

 

Here are the rest of the taps...this is below where the last pic was...you can see the stock sub screws and how I sanded the bottom one as a ground point. For some reason, the orange wire wouldn't give me any power up by the bundle of wires, so I tapped it right before the plug instead. The yellow wire is the power wire for the XM unit, which I tapped to get power to the antenna.

 

Ok...up to the front of the car. You can see I removed the center console and all the junk around it.

Instead of removing the head unit to get to the antenna wire, I was able to reach UNDER it and yank it out with the tips of my fingers. It's on the left side, slightly off center. The grey box on the left is the FM modulator. The antenna plugs into that, and that plugs into the headunit.

 

A closer view of it...

 

Took this pic my kneeling on the ground and resting my arms on the drivers seat. I taped the FM modulator to the side of the radio. I eventually moved it further back so you can't see it at all. Fits perfectly right there and doesn't cover the radio vents.

 

Driver's fuse box. The blue wire is a tapped ACC line to kick on my amp, since the ACC line in the rear of the car for the stock sub didn't have enough juice. The black wire next to it is the FM modulator line...the control unit wire will go right next to it once I run it.

 

All my wires going to the rear of the car. I removed the split loom tubing for obvious reasons when taking the pic.

There hasn't been ANY engine noise in the system, considering that the FM modulator wire and control unit wire run right next to my 2 amp wires.

FYI, piece of paneling on the right of this pic, which covers the seat belt, just yanks straight off. I wish I had discovered that when I ran my amp lines a few weeks ago.

 

I just taped up the wires and stuffed them here before covering them up and putting on the split loom tubing. The XM unit is mounted where the stock sub would have been mounted...but I don't have pics of it. Forgot to snap one before putting the back seat on.

 

...and finally, everything all put back together with the control unit. It's attached with velcro and I leave a little slack in the wire so I can remove it and stick it in the little tray between the seat heaters when I go downtown. It's bad enough they want my headlights...don't want to give them ANOTHER reason to break in. Maybe they'll be dumb and not see the antenna

I didn't take pics, but the antenna wire is stuffed above the ceiling foam...it runs behind the paneling on the side, which just pulls of. Make sure you rip the weather stripping off the door first.

Like I said before, was this worth it? I dunno...it was fun to do, tho...

 

Thanks for the informative post. I wish I was mechanically inclined enough to take on a D-I-Y project such as that. I am considering taking advantage of Best Buy's free installation on XM while it lasts. By the way, was there a smaller antenna available? Are there any other mounting options?

 

swampgas i have a couple question....

1> why did you mount the antenna that far down on the back window..... i mean if you would have mounted it closer to the top you wouldnt have all those wires showing...

2> is that electrical tape i see holding the fm modulator in place... i sure hope not... this is not how i would install a system in to my $30000 car....

 

Lauderdale- I'm not mechanically inclined at all...I couldn't change the headlight in my old car. This is really simple "unscrew and pull" mechanics

There are 2 Terk antennae...the SR1 (mine) and the SR2. The SR2 looks like a computer mouse and it sits on the roof...but you have to run the wire through the rear window seal. That's beyond my ability, so I chose the thru-glass one. I mounted it that low because I didn't want to do it over top of those black dots on the window...not sure if they would interfere or not.

I decided to mount the control unit there........just because. Someone else mentioned putting it there and I figured "why not"? It's just velcro, so I can move it. The wire goes between the shifter cover and the radio.

shawhite- See above for why I mounted it that low...as for the FM modulator, it was a pretty tight fit when I pushed it further back after the pic. I just put some tape there to make sure it doesn't rattle.

I'm no master mechanic or electronics expert...but I didn't destroy the car and it works, so I'm happy

 

i guess as long as it works is the main thing... right...

 

Okay nice work SwampGas this is the same place my control unit is mounted. The installer does have the controler wire comming from behind the seat heater switch so its not in a loop. But anyway its not much anybody can do with the controler unit anyway if they steal it. The other part is the brain of the system. If they take that its not much they can do with it also Since you need the password to activate your unit anyway & they can turn it off for none payment for service. Only a dumb A crack head would try to steal it. I had to get a new unit this week I think the brain was screwed up in the thing. The control unit displayed the message in the screen that said Atenna. The other week I got a new Antenna put on by the shop because the unit said antenna & the thing would not work it only gave that message. They put a new ant on & the unit worked fine for about a few days. Last week I got another message again that said Antenna. This time the unit was getting the stations & working but it would switch betwen a message that sad antenna & the artist/song title screen. It would not do it all the time but I took it back & they swaped out the tuner unit. It took about 10mins to do this. When I got home I had to call XM & tell them what happen & gave my password & the new ID code to the new unit.
The lady said she would take the other unit off my account & activate the new one. They send a signal for 60 hours for the unit to pick it up. The radio must be on for 15mins. I went out & did it it only took a few mins. I then put my presets back in the radio as they were all lost. It has worked okay for the past few days without problems. For the very short time it was not working I sure missed XM.

 

How much was the service fee for XM radio?

 

Its about $9.99 a month for service & one time activation about $14.00 I pay quarterly every 3 months. They have so many rebates & free activation fees going on now. I got a $50.00 coupon to give to the installer from XM radio. I think they might still have $30 rebate going on with the Terk SR2 Roof Mount Antenna untill the end of the July. I need to check on this because I thought it migth be over. I read the rebate on Terks Web & it said until the end of July. On XM they have all kind of promotions for XM radio on the preview channel.

 

I paid $159 for the Pioneer, $69 for the Terk, $9.99 activation and $9.99/mo billed quarterly.

My unit won't activate, so they said I'll have to get a new XM unit.

It's a great idea, it's great tunes (my friend has it), simple to install yourself....it's just they have Microsoft-itis. They wanted to get it out FIRST and have it going FIRST, so they didn't work all the bugs out. Now the consumers suffer.

 

I have a couple of ? please.

1. How good is the sound through the modulator to Bose.

2. How are the tunes for specifice types of music. For example on my music choic on home satilite if I pick alternative or rock I expect Van halen, metallica, limp Bizkit, ozzy ossborne, lenny kravitz, heck anything 68-02 yet I always get stuff I never heard or sucks. Same for most channels. Popular and top hits must be from another dimmension. I hope that made sense. Is that what XM is like?

 

I mentioned before that the sound through the FM modulator is excellent...CD quality. I was pleasantly surprised.

The music is good from what I've heard...they stick to format...

 

If you go to www.xmradio.com, you can listen to samples of all the programming.

Nice work SwampGas. I plan to get this soon, although I'm not crazy about that antenna.

Question- Would the tuner fit above the head unit, maybe velcro'd to the front of the useless cd storage thingy?

 

It'd fit just about anywhere...front console, instrument panel, dash board...

 

The sound is quite good NighthawkBlack with the FM modulator with the factory system. I am not going to change the factory system so thats why I did it this way instead of the getting an XM ready radio. Like said you can listen to a sample of the channels if you go to www.xmradio.com Iam not into your type of music but the channel line up is quite good. Iam sure you will find the tunes you like. I like for example channel 60 Soul Street. This is music from my child hood & early teen years . They play old RB soul music from the 60s & early 70s. rfrys like SwampGas said the control unit can mount just about anywhere. If you mount it up on the CD thingy something that I do not have in my car because of Navigation system. The controler wire would be hanging all up in the way. Don't get me wrong you could do it if the wire will stretch that far.When my installer & I decided on a location we found under the factory radio to be the best. But you could have it anywhere even just hanging between the seats. The only drawback with the location where SwampGas & mine are mounted is the 3 or 4 preset button is blocked from view when the car is in PARK. This is not an issue when the car is in DRIVE everything is in view & easy reach.

 

Hey FTM and SwampGas,

I'm off today to (finally) get a Pioneer system installed. Thanks for the pix and info for your posts. One only knows how long the free install is going to last!

I'm going to try to see whether I can have the controller placed inside the center console so I can hide it when I'm not in the car, or perhaps I can just let it hang between the seats. Anyone have any better ideas? I'm worried about some crackhead breaking into my car when I'm out downtown or something.

I'm also going for the glass mount antenna even though there's no rebate on it at well just to make my XM purchase less obvious.

Thanks again, folks!

 

I had a very interesting experience today.

Went to my nearby Circuit City, which was offering the lowest price for the Pioneer GEX-FM903XM (FM modulator that we can use with our installed radio). Purchased the modulator for $189, glass mount antenna for $76; I was also given a rebate for this antenna. I was pleasantly surprised because I thought the rebate was specifically for the roof mounted antenna. The installation was free. My dealer wanted $509 for exactly the same setup, including installation. After the installation, I now see why they want that much money for the installation.

The install took three hours! Turns out the installer had never installed in an Acura TL before and didn't know how to get the center console off. I actually had to fax him the instructions for "installing a CD changer" from this site's FAQ to get them started!!! That took about an hour. They hid the unit in a clever place: they took the back seat out and installed the unit behind the driver's side back seat, fastening it to the strut. The installers I used at Circuit City are apparently accustomed to hiding their customers' devices in various places in the trunk. I didn't have my digicam, unfortunately, so I can't show you very well. The advantage to this location, and the reason I didn't tell them to move it to the trunk cavity proper, is because it can't be easily stolen from there--it would take an hour to get it out!!!! Of course, the disadvantage is that if I have a problem with the unit, the back seat has to come out to get it out and replace it. Any coments about the install?

The remote is installed in the same place as SwampGas'. I think that from the outside it makes it look almost like a part of the stock radio. The antenna was rather big and bulky, but I can push it down to make it less obvious from a distance in the parking lot. The other antenna is really obvious even at a distance and I wanted to make my car less of a target, mostly a concern when I'm away from work (armed guards, cameras, AND I can see my car) or home (garaged).

The sound quality is about the same as with an FM radio. The glass mount antenna is very picky about being in the upright position to have any signal at all--no driving with the antenna down! Yet this was the best choice for me because I want to preserve my gorgeous black paint. I saved $5 on activation and activated my unit via the Web ($9.99), took only about 15 minutes from booting up browser to hearing more than the preview channel, quite painless.

In the end, the question is: is it worth it? I will heartily agree with SwampGas and FTM-1 and say yes, even after having the unit in my car for only a couple of hours so far. I am in my car a lot (14.5k miles in 7.5 months in this car), there's very little choice in music even here in this large city (most stations are owned by ClearChannel and the other big radio conglomerate), travel enough that I get tired of scanning for yet another "Farmer Bob's report", and having 116 channels of choice is great!

 

Well, my satisfaction came from doing it myself and knowing "I did it."

XM tech people have determined that my unit is defective and needs to be replaced, since it won't activate. The person on eBay isn't returning any emails regarding it...and they didn't return the original email I sent when I first got the unit which said the serial/radio code on the unit didn't match the box.

So now I've had the preview channel for a month. I can practically read the promos and liners word for word

 

Now that is frustrating, SwampGas. I didn't realize you'd bought yours on eBay. I've only had good experiences on eBay, so don't give up the ship because of this experience! You can always complain to eBay itself in this situation, if the seller isn't replying. You need your money back!

 

Don't worry...been using eBay and PayPal since they first appeared.

People keep telling me "see, if you just would have had someone else install it, it would be fine." Don't they understand that if the other installer would have had this unit, it'd still be defective? Bah...

 

The SR2 sounds like the antenna that comes w/the pioneer xm unit. if that is the case, you could have mounted it on the trunk lid and the wire goes into the trunk. it would have looked alot nicer IMO. a friend of mine did this on his 01 cls and it looks great by comparison.

i wish i had a pic to show, but i dont...cause its hard to explain. anyway. the unit was mounted all the way forward of the trunklid, by the glass. the wire was thin enough that it isnt damaged when the trunk lid is closed.

anyway, if anyone has dont this...post pix...

 

Hmm...the Pioneer unit (GEX-FM903XM) doesn't come with an antenna.

I bought the Sony AN-XM100 antenna for use with my Pioneer XM tuner because it's the smallest antenna currently on the market. After an aborted attempt mounting it on the rear parcel shelf (i.e. inside the TL), I moved it to the trunk. Works great and doesn't look too bad either (although my TL is beginning to look like an antenna farm with the Onstar antenna on the roof!)

 

Just so you guys know, I have a BLITZ adapter for alpine and PIONEER xm units that will remove the FM modulator from the loop and run directly into the headunit via the cd-changer port.... sound will be GREATLY improved.

 

I heartily recommend the Blitzsafe adapter. I have the adapter for my Pioneer XM tuner (HON/XM DMX PIO V.1) and it works great.

 

Here is an Alternative to the window mount antenna" I would have preferred a roof mount but did not want to pop out the rear window.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TADeA...eGEMjdUWxzb7y!

 

try this:

http://groups.msn.com/StevesTLTypeS/...to&PhotoID=180

 

You're not supposed to put the antenna on the trunk unless it's a convertible...it doesn't get the full 360 degree view of the sky and can lead to more drop outs.

StreetEffectz - I just mentioned in another thread I was planning on doing that....as soon as I rob a bank and get $100 for it

 

Sorry to drag this old thread out again, but I was referring someone else to it and read about StreetEffectz's Blitz adapter. I'm definitely interested. Is the install easy? Can I still use the CD changer if the adapter is plugged into its port? TIA!

 

it's easy. Blitzsafe adapter plugs into the optional cd-changer
connector on the lower-right side (facing the front panel)
of our stock headunit. The sound quality is very good, so you
wouldn't regret it. Streeteffectz seems to offer them at a good
price.

You don't need to take the whole head unit to install this.
First, take the right fake wood trim out, and then pull out
the side plastic plate that covers the right side of the radio.
You can feel the connector with your fingertip
where the blitzsafe plugs into.
It would be alittle bit frustrating at the beginning, but you
will get it sooner or later. For me, it took about 5 to 10 min
to get the knack of plugging in this connetor.
you don't want to take the whole radio just for this...

For more detailed info, the following links will be very helpful.

http://www.carstereohelp.com/stereoremovalAcuraTL.htm

 

Does the 2003 TL system have the optional cd-changer connector also? Once you have the blitz adapter hooked up, from what I understand, it'll be like an aux. input right? So if you hit the CD button it'll tap into that input? Do you lose the functionality of the in dash CD changer?