XM Commander mounting advice

[Donny Carlson]

Ahh, money is burning a hole in my pocket, so let the acessory binge begin!

I have decided to add an XM Commander to my OEM system. I'm getting either the PIE or Blitz adapters, yada yada.

What I need is opinions on where to mount the control unit. At first I thought I'd take out the clock in my 300A and mount the unit over the oval hole. This went south when I measured a XM Commander control unit and discovered the opening in the trim piece is wider than the control unit. I could order a trim piece for a 300B and mount the control unit on it, which would work nicely.

But, I noticed the space where the compass is located in the roof console will accomodate the width of the control unit, and appears to be tall enough. I wonder if the thickness of the contril unit will interfere with the buttons for the map lights. If not, I could remove the compass and mount the control unit here. The only other problem I could see (other than figuring out how to get the console open) is that the LCD screen on the control unit will be tipped away slightly, which may make the display less readable.

The other option is Profit's "bug" mount, or a Profit VMS mount.


Any thoughts or comments?

[Dave Compson]

I know its not a XM commander, but i mounted my XM roady onto my center console between the cup holder and the shifter. That way, i can adjust it (change the station) when i am driving. I dont have picts, but i like it there. Now, i need to figure a way to hide the wires. And where i finally want to mount my antenna.

By the way, how did you get it to interface with your stock radio head unit? I tried the fm modulator, and it kinda sucks, so i am back to using the tape thingie.

[Brutus]

I got this bracket from Crutchfield. Made by Pro Fit International. Makes for a very clean installation

XM pic (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php/photo/2536/password//sort/1/cat/500/page/1)

[DONP1217]

I would go with the 300B trim piece and double stick tape the XM Commander where the clock was. When I had an XM Commander this is what I did. It was a good location and it looked like it should have been there. I don't think the Pro Fit brackets would work well with the XM Commander, but they do work well with the Delphi, Audiovox, and Clarion PNPs.

Having had both XM and Sirius I would recommend Sirius if you are looking for better sound quality and better music stations. Sirius has a hits based approach to programming while XM usually sticks to playing more obscure stuff. I found myself becoming very bored with XM while I can listen to Sirius all day.

[warren]

Check out my install from last year.....with pics.
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3802&highlight=Alpine

It worked out well in the glove box.
However it would be nice to have alittle more of the main stream music.

warrenB:)

[Donny Carlson]

I recieve my XM Commander today, and finally have had a chance to experiment where the control unit should go.

First off, I bought the Blitzsafe interface cable for the XM Commander. This is a vehicle specific cable designed for the data cable in Marauders. You unplug the cable from the CD changer and plug the cable into the Blitzsafe device. The other connector plugs into the OEM changer. The Blitzsafe has a connecter to plug into the power port on the XM Commander, and two RCA connectors to plug into the output on the XMC. Voila, the tuner unit is now interfaced with the OEM head unit. To switch between the CD Changer and the XMC, you set the mode to CD Changer, then push the "next track previous track" buttons on the head unit in quick succession.

There really isn't a great spoit for the controller anywhere on the dash, unless you cover over the clock or used a 300B trim piece. The XMC comes with a plate that it dock's into, and I suppose you could Dremel out an opening, but yeesh, the plate still looks out of place. What I discovered, however, is that the control unit itself is small enough to fit in the area over the compass in the overhead console, with plenty of room to operate the map light buttons.
I thought maybe that it would require opening the console and removing the compass, or drlling a hole somewhere, but no. If you double stick tape it over the window of the compass and put it far enough down, you can tuck the cable leading out of the back of the control unit under the console, then behind the headliner, down the A piller, and back into the trunk to the tuner.
The wire is almost the same color as the plastic, and is hidden by the bottom of the control unit. Of course, the compass is no longer useable, but this is pretty much useless anyway, imo. One of my planned acquisitions is a Garmin StreetPiolt GPS system, which tells a lot more than what direction you are heading.

I'll post pictures of it once it's installed.

[hutch]

Donny Carlson,
What is the Blitzsafe part number and where did you order it? I checked the Blitzsafe website and it did not list a part number for the MM's. How do you like the sound quality with you XM radio?

Eric Hutch

[Donny Carlson]

Donny Carlson,
What is the Blitzsafe part number and where did you order it? I checked the Blitzsafe website and it did not list a part number for the MM's. How do you like the sound quality with you XM radio?

Eric HutchThe XM Conmmander was ordered from JJELECTRONICS.COM, price was
$129.95 shipped.

The Blitzsafe was ordered from http://www.logjamelectronics.com/
price was $107.45 shipped.

I emailed Blitzsafe for the part #. The email is reproduced below.

I have high praise for the Blitzsafe adapter - it not only allows you to directly interface with the OEM using RCA inputs instead of the FM modulator, but it has the exact XM Commander power interface needed to draw power from the OEM cable that powers the CD changer. This greatly simplifies installation of the XM Commander - it literally just plugs into the Blitzsafe!

One caveat - Blitzsafe shipped some miswired adapters for the MM, one of which I recieved. My installer called Blitzsafe's tech support, they said some had been miswired, and walked my installer through the fix. My unit works perfectly now, but you may want to check with Blitzsafe tech support before installing to see if you got one of the miswired units. Even if you did, it's fixable and my unit has worked without a hitch.

Sound quality is excellent, equivalent to the CD player. Since installing it I have never used the FM radio, and only rarely used the CD player.

________________


FORD/XM DMX CMD V.3B will work for you.

Thanks,
Christian Rodriguez
BlitzSafe Technical Support
techsupport@blitzsafe.com (techsupport@blitzsafe.com)
201-569-5000 800-597-SAFE




Fax: 201-569-5042
----- Original Message -----


From: Donald Carlson (donnysan@bellsouth.net)
To: blitzsafe@blitzsafe.com (blitzsafe@blitzsafe.com)
Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 2:42 AM
Subject: Product that will work in my car


<!-- Converted from text/plain format -->I have a 2003 Mercury Marauder. Want I want to do is hook up an XM
Commander to work with the OEM CD changer. Your application guide says
"nothing yet." Do you have anything that will work with my car and allow me
to use both the XMCDR and the OEM changer?

Thanks

Donald Carlson
Birmingham, AL


________________________-


Look at my pictures in the Gallery of the install for the control unit. It fits in the upper console perfectly.


Donny

[hutch]

Thanks for the info! That's why I love this site!

Eric Hutch