[LarryK1000]

OK: I have the right to say that Sirius is AWFUL ! I've had XM for almost 3 years and Sirius in my 2006 330i for 10 months. Sirius reception is SO BAD that I decided to buy an XM Roady XT and use it instead of my Sirius system.

XM not only has better reception because of its extensive repeater system, but its sound quality is much better. Believe me, I've done tests switching between Sirius and XM, and XM is better.

So, in November, I got the XM Roady XT and installed it in the center armrest. No problem. Bought a Radio Shack Cigarette Lighter Power Adapter because they had a short one with an On and Off Switch on the top. Worked great. I could close the lid of the armrest with it in. This is something you can't do with regular cigarette lighter adapters. It had a long cord, so I shortened it. Took me 5 minutes. Works great.

The only problem is that it's inside the armrest. Any time I wanted to see what was playing or change channels, I had to open the armrest.

Well, the Roady came (as all XM radios do) with a little swivel attachment with glue on it to stick somewhere in your car to mount the Radio.

The only place I could do that in the iDrive 330 would be on the wood just behind the iDrive controller. No way was I going to glue something to the wood.

So, I was just playing around with the radio and I tugged on the wires to lengthen them and had enough length to put the radio in the space between the iDrive button and the armrest lid. Looked pretty good. But, wrong angle. So, I retrieved the little swivel piece and connected it to the back of the Roady radio. I turned it so that the swivel would be a pedestal supporting the radio at a better angle facing me. Looked really good. But, the plastic was sitting on the wood and would scratch it. So, I put green felt on that plastic piece. And, voila, I had my easy XM Radio installation.

It turns out that when you close the armrest (I don't push it locked because the wires prevent that), it holds the wires in place and holds the radio in place.

When I leave the car, I just throw a black tee-shirt over the radio. Looks like I left a shirt there. And, if one is truly worried, you can just put the radio in the armrest. There is room for it with the swivel pedestal attached. It literally takes 10 seconds to put it away.

I can change channels easily and see what's playing.

I'm a happy camper.

By the way, as far as the satellite radio antenna, I put it in the middle of the back window; used a little plastic ruler to stuff the wire into the crack (channel) that runs all the way around the rear window where the back shelf hits the glass; and stuffed the wire down between the rear seat side and the side of the car on the way down to the floor. I ran the wire under the floor mat to the center hump and ran it up to the center armest to be plugged into the Roady radio. I just put some clear tape to hold the antenna wire in place for the very short run from under the front seat to the center armrest.

So, that's my simple fix. No cutting. No gluing. No hassle. And, the Roady is one of the best little radios around. Easy to use and really small. It even has, I believe, choices of seven (7) colors for the display, including an orange BMW-like color. I got it in eBay and paid a total of $30 with shipping. The best bargain in the world.

If anyone has any questions, just ask.

Attached are pictures. I hope you can get a better idea of what I did in the center armest.

Enjoy.

Larry in Los Angeles

[200Duece]

What's gunna happen when Sirius buys Xm?

[Scott Carpenter]

XM people will get to have the best of both worlds... Sirius programming and XM's reception. Plus they can use BMW integration YA!!!!!!!! I for one can not wait

Tape-

[200Duece]

sweet. so you dont have to run all those wires and take away the usabiltiy of the iDrive?

[LarryK1000]

Sirius is NOT buying XM. They are merging. That's a combination, not a takeover.

There is going to be a merging of content and they say that the new company is going to offer tiers of programming, just like cable or DirecTV. You can subscribe to just what you want: Not a sports fan, don't get those channels. They say that if people don't get everything, the price will be going down to about $10 rather than $13 per month.

After several months, most people discover that they only listen to certain channels and not all of them. So, the tiered approach may be very good for people to save money.

In any case, the new merged company will take the best of both system's programming and put them on both XM and Sirius.

And, hopefully, in time, they will abandon the Sirius system and adopt the XM broadcast standard, that is superior to Sirius.

L