Satellite Radio Installation

[vpalhories]

I am entertaining the idea of installing a satellite radio receiver in my 2004 MM. I was wondering if anyone had done this and if they could share pictures of where you installed the receiver so I can see what it looks like.

I'm thinking either goose-neck or double-sided tape on the dash. I don't want to drill any holes in the car if I can avoid it.

Thanks.

[Donny Carlson]

I am entertaining the idea of installing a satellite radio receiver in my 2004 MM. I was wondering if anyone had done this and if they could share pictures of where you installed the receiver so I can see what it looks like.

I'm thinking either goose-neck or double-sided tape on the dash. I don't want to drill any holes in the car if I can avoid it.

Thanks. I used double sided mounting tape and put the commander unit in the upper console. This covered up the compass, but no big loss, imo. No drilling, just run the cable behind the headliner, down the A pillar. Steve Babcock saw this installation and said it looked like factory.

http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/502/1136DSC00327.JPG

[Brutus]

Here is mine. Used a bracket from ProFit International. Ordered it from Crutchfield.

[woaface]

Sat. radio rocks.

My dad had some installed in his cobra in the OEM dash unit. Had to go to Dhuram, almost three hours away, to get it installed, but he didn't want an all new head unit and CD player in the trunk.

Company called Visteon makes it. Doesn't work with Marauder equitment of course, but if you got a Ford 6-disc in-dash with that option it would.:D

[hdwrench]

Here is mine. Used a bracket from ProFit International. Ordered it from Crutchfield.
i have this same bracket. go to crutchfield and get the part # then do a search for it on Froogle.com or something... I did that and saved about 20 bucks on it.

[AJAX]

I am working on making a adjustable bracket for sat or mp3 player that will fit the 4 radio removal holes in oem radio. then you could us a cass adapter with a shorten wire for audio.


I'm thinking either goose-neck or double-sided tape on the dash. I don't want to drill any holes in the car if I can avoid it.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

[FiveO]

Pro Fit mounts rock....I've had one in every vehicle I've owned in the last 9 years.

I've got my cell phone mounted on the one in my Marauder.

www.pro-fit-intl.com IIRC without looking.

My XM is built into my Alpine head unit.

[Mike Poore]

I am entertaining the idea of installing a satellite radio receiver in my 2004 MM. I was wondering if anyone had done this and if they could share pictures of where you installed the receiver so I can see what it looks like.

I'm thinking either goose-neck or double-sided tape on the dash. I don't want to drill any holes in the car if I can avoid it.

Thanks.I had one in my '93 T-bird with the head unit in the trunk. It worked best there, because of the coax run to the antenna from the trunk. The control unit can go anywhere, but the one on Brutus' MM seems best to me.:)

[GarageMahal]

Here is what I did: Time for Sirius (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13333)

I have been very happy with this setup and I can return to stock in 5 minutes leaving no trace that I ever did anything.

jta

[bigslim]

Here is my Sirius:

[Brutus]

i have this same bracket. go to crutchfield and get the part # then do a search for it on Froogle.com or something... I did that and saved about 20 bucks on it.
Cool! Thanks for the tip. I have to buy two more (One for my CVPI and one for the wife's car)

[RoyLPita]

One of the MMs that was for sale that I test drove had the XM system. It was set up like Bigslim's, but they CUT OFF the remote and left the velcro!! Go figure!

[hdwrench]

here is my sirius receiver and mount with the pro-fit bracket.

[vpalhories]

I used double sided mounting tape and put the commander unit in the upper console. This covered up the compass, but no big loss, imo. No drilling, just run the cable behind the headliner, down the A pillar. Steve Babcock saw this installation and said it looked like factory.
Your installation does look very pro. I would have never thought of putting it up there. I agree about the compass. No real loss there. I am not mechanically inclined at all. Did you hard wire your radio to the car? How did you run the cable to power the unit? Is it something that can be easily done?

Thanks

[vpalhories]

Here is mine. Used a bracket from ProFit International. Ordered it from Crutchfield.
That looks great. I see this one the most in rentals. I rent from Hertz a lot for business, typically a Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. Your mounting looks a lot like theirs for the Neverlost GPS system. Does it require any drilling?

Thanks

[hdwrench]

there is no drilling involved to install the pro fit bracket. you just pull off the trim piece and it attaches to an existing bolt... that is how mine is anyway. There were 2 screws included with the kit but I didnt use either of them.

then reinstall trim piece

[Donny Carlson]

Your installation does look very pro. I would have never thought of putting it up there. I agree about the compass. No real loss there. I am not mechanically inclined at all. Did you hard wire your radio to the car? How did you run the cable to power the unit? Is it something that can be easily done?

Thanks
Yes, it's not difficult, though in the spirit of full dislosure, I did have an installer put this in when they were installing my new subwoofer and speaker upgrades.

The XM commander in my car is hard wired to the head unit using the data cable that runs to the disc changer in the trunk. This cable also supplies power to the control unit. The unit you see in the photo has a cable the runs under the headliner, down the A pillar, along the driver side rocker panel, to the trunk where the XM radio tuner is located. A Blitzsafe cable interface connects between the OEM CD changer and the data cable, and the interface has connections for power and the RCA connections from the XM radio tuner. The XM antenna also attaches here, and the antenna cable runs up and around the rear glass in the weather stripping channel, ending with a small Terk antenna.

If your car does not have a cd changer, you can get a different Blitz interface that plugs into the port on the back of your head unit. This will supply power and inputs for the XM radio tuner, which can be installed under your dash in this configuration. You can then run the antenna line down the rocker panel to the trunk/back glass, or install the antenna on the front edge of your roof.

My recommendation? I paid $50 for the install, which was worth it, imo, to have a pro do it. If you want to tackle this, go for it -- it's literally just plugging in things and mounting.

The mode switch on your steeting wheel will change over to the CD changer. If you use the "Seek up seek down" button on the head unit, it switches the CD changer over to the XM Commander and it stays there until you push "seek down, seek up" which switches back to the CD Changer. If you don't have a changer, selecting CDDJ on the head unit will automatically switch to the XM radio.

[Brutus]

That looks great. I see this one the most in rentals. I rent from Hertz a lot for business, typically a Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. Your mounting looks a lot like theirs for the Neverlost GPS system. Does it require any drilling?

Thanks
As I recall you use 2 existing holes and drill 1 more. However the hole you drill is behind the trim piece. You can remove it and not ever know that it was there.

[maraudernkc]

I went with the Alpine head unit that has XM Radio built in. You can buy them for around $300.00. I has a remote control and you can get a interface so you can still you your steering wheel controls. I had the other unit that was seprate but did not like the mounting location nad by the time you by the other stuuff that it takes to make 100% digital you might as well get the Alpine unit that fits like a glove and has much better sound quality than the factory radio. Juct my two cents worth. Good luck!




I am entertaining the idea of installing a satellite radio receiver in my 2004 MM. I was wondering if anyone had done this and if they could share pictures of where you installed the receiver so I can see what it looks like.

I'm thinking either goose-neck or double-sided tape on the dash. I don't want to drill any holes in the car if I can avoid it.

Thanks.