2010 135i convertible sirius install info/starmate

rotts4u · 03-13-2010, 08:59 PM

I have been reading all the posts about the typical Sirius install on pre 2010 models and heard some mentions of differences in the 2010. After reading everything I could find I set off to do my install today. Hopefully what I have found will be of interest and help to some of you.

My plan was to install a non-integrated Sirius Starmate and mount it in the console area just in front of the shifter.

Originally I planned to use the fin mounted antenna and find the trunk connection and chase it though the car along the door sills and route it to the console. After hooking everything up (more details on that later) I got the dreaded no antenna connected display. So I checked and checked and could not find a problem. I finally took off the trunk inner liner and was shocked to find NO ANTENNA. The mount was there for it as was the wire but no antenna. So I fabricated a steel plate and had to buy a low profile sirius antenna. Then i noted that the output wire of my antenna would not match the plug that was there ready to carry my sat signal. Both were male connections. So you may be better off to track down the BMW antenna as it would likely mate right up assuming they sell it by itself.

Next I had to pull the wire for the new antenna to the area under the trunk mat (way up front which means you have to remove some more liners up where the bungie net right behind the rear seat back is) I used a coated wire hanger to pull the sirius antenna wire through the trunk sheet metal to the rubber boot that brings the tail light and other wires safe and dry to the trunk. Well the wire was too big. So I trimmed and hacked on the 90 degree angles connector to thin it down, then I sprayed the rubber boot and the coated wire hanger with silicone and was BARELY able to pull it though. Next I chased it under the trunk inner liners to the area behind the rear seat. There I used a TSS 25' extension cable and plugged in the new antenna cable to the extension cord. To get the extension cord fished into the passenger compartment, I lifted up the rear seat bottom and loosened the seat back with a socket. That gave me enough room to fish the wire through to the back seat. Then I pulled the cable along the driver side and pulled it between the back seat bottom and the plastic interior piece and then easily slid it under the trim piece along the doorway and then to the driver floorboard.

Next I removed the undertray above the drivers seat and pulled the wire across the top of it and then to the console between the console and the dash. For 12v power I used a cigarette lighter plug under the center console and a 6' ipod connection cable and pulled them both under the lip of the console to get them under the dash with the sirius antenna cable. Then I pulled all three wires through the gap between the console and the dash. I used some velcro on the bottom of the dash and attached the starmate there.

It ended up taking me 4 hours because of the issue with the missing antenna. I spent an hour or more trying to figure out why it didnt work.

It seems that the factory wiring is there for the antenna and it goes all the way from the trunk deck to somewhere up front. Maybe it goes all the way to the head unit. As some people have stated there doesnt seem to be a need to add a receiver in the trunk for a true factory sirius install. It seems as if the head unit may already have it built in. That may be good news if the dealers dont rape you for the "activation" . Though I am not really sure that makes sense because if it were that easy wouldnt BMW just activate all cars to Sirius and make it standard?

I will post some pics later but if you have questions post them up or email me directly at rotts4u@aol.com. Hopefully I can save you some time if you decide to do an aftermarket install on a 2010.

VP Electricity · 03-13-2010, 10:12 PM

I had heard that Sirius prewire was stopping in 2010.

Technic · 03-14-2010, 02:05 PM

Only the MY2010 iDrive has the Sirius tuner built in. The OEM HU has the Sirius tuner built in only if the car was ordered with Sirius from factory.

And to be more confusing, even if there's a Sirius tuner built in, the Sirius antenna is not included in Convertibles.

There's no Sirius pre-wiring anymore and no Sirius OEM retrofit.

rotts4u · 03-15-2010, 10:11 AM

Thats good to know about no retrofit because I really debated over trying to go OEM vs the Starmate because I didnt want the starmate visible in the console. Even though I tried to hide everything well, you can still see the three small wires from the console to the starmate and I did use heatshrink tubing to keep them as neat as possible too.

Now that you say it was my only choice I guess I made the right call. I think the extension cord cost $30 plus another $30 for the antenna, $10 more for a new 12v power cord and $8 for a 6' Ipod cord to go to the Aux in. I already had the starmate so it didnt cost any extra. So for less than $100 and a half of a day of my time I have sirius in her 2010 convertible and also I know how to completely tear the interior lining out of the trunk over and over if needed as well as remove the rear seats too if that ever become important to me.

rotts4u · 03-15-2010, 08:12 PM

To get to the trunk deck to add the sirius antenna you have to remove the trunk deck liner which is here. You have to pull out all these tabs first

Then to get to the area where the sirius wire connects I had to remove this panel from the area of the trunk right behind the back seat

Then finally a few pics of the unit mounted.

rsjean · 08-11-2010, 01:35 PM

Sorry for a late post but you seem to have a handle on the Sirius thing.

So would a 12/08 build 2009 135i without nav/idrive come prewired for sat and have an antenna? It does have bluetooth and ipod etc...

Opening it up to just purchasing the Sirius unit/instal kit and potentially having the dealer flash/code? Maybe some otical connector shufffling too?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Technic

Only the MY2010 iDrive has the Sirius tuner built in. The OEM HU has the Sirius tuner built in only if the car was ordered with Sirius from factory.

And to be more confusing, even if there's a Sirius tuner built in, the Sirius antenna is not included in Convertibles.

There's no Sirius pre-wiring anymore and no Sirius OEM retrofit.

VP Electricity · 08-11-2010, 01:39 PM

Oh, man.

Can't you make a flush panel in the pocket for that display?

Technic · 08-11-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsjean

Sorry for a late post but you seem to have a handle on the Sirius thing.

So would a 12/08 build 2009 135i without nav/idrive come prewired for sat and have an antenna? It does have bluetooth and ipod etc...

Opening it up to just purchasing the Sirius unit/instal kit and potentially having the dealer flash/code? Maybe some otical connector shufffling too?

MY2009 still have the "old" Sirius pre-wire.

I think that if you buy an used/pre-installed Sirius tuner there's no need for coding. There are two for sale in the E90 classifieds right now.

03-13-2010, 08:59 PM	#1
rotts4u Private First Class 8 Rep 104 Posts Drives: Audi A3 TDI Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: chattanooga, TN iTrader: (0)	2010 135i convertible sirius install info/starmate I have been reading all the posts about the typical Sirius install on pre 2010 models and heard some mentions of differences in the 2010. After reading everything I could find I set off to do my install today. Hopefully what I have found will be of interest and help to some of you. My plan was to install a non-integrated Sirius Starmate and mount it in the console area just in front of the shifter. Originally I planned to use the fin mounted antenna and find the trunk connection and chase it though the car along the door sills and route it to the console. After hooking everything up (more details on that later) I got the dreaded no antenna connected display. So I checked and checked and could not find a problem. I finally took off the trunk inner liner and was shocked to find NO ANTENNA. The mount was there for it as was the wire but no antenna. So I fabricated a steel plate and had to buy a low profile sirius antenna. Then i noted that the output wire of my antenna would not match the plug that was there ready to carry my sat signal. Both were male connections. So you may be better off to track down the BMW antenna as it would likely mate right up assuming they sell it by itself. Next I had to pull the wire for the new antenna to the area under the trunk mat (way up front which means you have to remove some more liners up where the bungie net right behind the rear seat back is) I used a coated wire hanger to pull the sirius antenna wire through the trunk sheet metal to the rubber boot that brings the tail light and other wires safe and dry to the trunk. Well the wire was too big. So I trimmed and hacked on the 90 degree angles connector to thin it down, then I sprayed the rubber boot and the coated wire hanger with silicone and was BARELY able to pull it though. Next I chased it under the trunk inner liners to the area behind the rear seat. There I used a TSS 25' extension cable and plugged in the new antenna cable to the extension cord. To get the extension cord fished into the passenger compartment, I lifted up the rear seat bottom and loosened the seat back with a socket. That gave me enough room to fish the wire through to the back seat. Then I pulled the cable along the driver side and pulled it between the back seat bottom and the plastic interior piece and then easily slid it under the trim piece along the doorway and then to the driver floorboard. Next I removed the undertray above the drivers seat and pulled the wire across the top of it and then to the console between the console and the dash. For 12v power I used a cigarette lighter plug under the center console and a 6' ipod connection cable and pulled them both under the lip of the console to get them under the dash with the sirius antenna cable. Then I pulled all three wires through the gap between the console and the dash. I used some velcro on the bottom of the dash and attached the starmate there. It ended up taking me 4 hours because of the issue with the missing antenna. I spent an hour or more trying to figure out why it didnt work. It seems that the factory wiring is there for the antenna and it goes all the way from the trunk deck to somewhere up front. Maybe it goes all the way to the head unit. As some people have stated there doesnt seem to be a need to add a receiver in the trunk for a true factory sirius install. It seems as if the head unit may already have it built in. That may be good news if the dealers dont rape you for the "activation" . Though I am not really sure that makes sense because if it were that easy wouldnt BMW just activate all cars to Sirius and make it standard? I will post some pics later but if you have questions post them up or email me directly at rotts4u@aol.com. Hopefully I can save you some time if you decide to do an aftermarket install on a 2010. __________________ 2012 Audi A3 TDI www.ppiparts.com
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03-13-2010, 10:12 PM	#2
VP Electricity Brigadier General 289 Rep 3,201 Posts Drives: F34 xDrive Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: portland oregon iTrader: (3)	I had heard that Sirius prewire was stopping in 2010.
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03-14-2010, 02:05 PM	#3
Technic Lieutenant General 2304 Rep 13,008 Posts Drives: 2021 i3S, 2024 i4 M50 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Florida iTrader: (18)	Only the MY2010 iDrive has the Sirius tuner built in. The OEM HU has the Sirius tuner built in only if the car was ordered with Sirius from factory. And to be more confusing, even if there's a Sirius tuner built in, the Sirius antenna is not included in Convertibles. There's no Sirius pre-wiring anymore and no Sirius OEM retrofit.
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03-15-2010, 10:11 AM	#4
rotts4u Private First Class 8 Rep 104 Posts Drives: Audi A3 TDI Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: chattanooga, TN iTrader: (0)	Thats good to know about no retrofit because I really debated over trying to go OEM vs the Starmate because I didnt want the starmate visible in the console. Even though I tried to hide everything well, you can still see the three small wires from the console to the starmate and I did use heatshrink tubing to keep them as neat as possible too. Now that you say it was my only choice I guess I made the right call. I think the extension cord cost $30 plus another $30 for the antenna, $10 more for a new 12v power cord and $8 for a 6' Ipod cord to go to the Aux in. I already had the starmate so it didnt cost any extra. So for less than $100 and a half of a day of my time I have sirius in her 2010 convertible and also I know how to completely tear the interior lining out of the trunk over and over if needed as well as remove the rear seats too if that ever become important to me. __________________ 2012 Audi A3 TDI www.ppiparts.com
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03-15-2010, 08:12 PM	#5
rotts4u Private First Class 8 Rep 104 Posts Drives: Audi A3 TDI Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: chattanooga, TN iTrader: (0)	To get to the trunk deck to add the sirius antenna you have to remove the trunk deck liner which is here. You have to pull out all these tabs first Then to get to the area where the sirius wire connects I had to remove this panel from the area of the trunk right behind the back seat Then finally a few pics of the unit mounted. __________________ 2012 Audi A3 TDI www.ppiparts.com
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08-11-2010, 01:39 PM	#7
VP Electricity Brigadier General 289 Rep 3,201 Posts Drives: F34 xDrive Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: portland oregon iTrader: (3)	Oh, man. Can't you make a flush panel in the pocket for that display?
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