[veniculum]

Hey folks...new guy here. I just got my new 08 335i last week, and I can say that this is by far the nicest car I've ever owned...and I've had some pretty cool cars. The only real complaint that i have so far is that BMW only offers Sirius satellite radio. Now I'm not looking for opinions on which service is better or worse. Lets just say, I've had XM for years...actually...since it first came out. So that is what I'm used to...I have specific things I listen to on XM...and it's my preferred service. Obviously, it wasn't enough of an issue to influence my car buying decision.

So since I took delivery, I set up my old MyFi (portable) unit as a temporary solution. However, it's really old, and is kind of an eye sore in this beautiful new car. Not to mention, I'm really not knowledgeable enough when it comes to wiring things up, so my antenna wire is sort of hanging out...basically, the whole damn setup is a bit sloppy.

So now here's my dilemma...I do know that there's a good possibility that XM and Sirius are going to merge. And if that's the case, then I could just have the factory BMW setup done. But who knows how long it will be before that goes down. The other option is to go with a specific XM car unit, and have it professionally installed. Of course, with that, I could be risking something else getting screwed up (i.e. other electronics, interior, etc.) And with my luck, I'd have it done, and the merger would go through a week later.

The last option would be to see if there are available XM direct units for BMWs. I've seen a few browsing some web sites, but it doesn't seem that anything I've seen is compatible with my particular car.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the long-winded post. I would love to hear from some of you who may know more about this...particularly satellite radio options for BMWs. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Todd

[ScottyGams]

blitzsafe ditched their plans to make an XM direct box for the new data bus of e90. so its go aftermarket or wait for the merger...

it'll be approved by december according to wall street. think you can hold out 2-3 months while everything is ironed out?

you can wire up your antenna into your shark fin. A search will reveal to you your options for a clean XM install

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by ScottyGams

blitzsafe ditched their plans to make an XM direct box for the new data bus of e90. so its go aftermarket or wait for the merger...

it'll be approved by december according to wall street. think you can hold out 2-3 months while everything is ironed out?

you can wire up your antenna into your shark fin. A search will reveal to you your options for a clean XM install

The merger won´t change very much if it indeed closes, at least not at the beginning. The services will continue for a while to operate as separate services and offer enhanced content from one service to another.

No one has apparently announced which technology the company would eventually settle on, XM´s or Sirius´.

[FirstClass]

You can tap in to the sharkfin's antenna and run the wire to the center console then route the output from the XM unit to your aux it. Very clean setup as no wires show and no extra antenna but you won't have control of the unit from the steering wheel/regular radio. Not really a big issue, especially of you put the display/controls in the ash tray.

[ZuerstBMW]

I have XM in my FJ and Sirius in the BMW. I was hesitant to get the sirius at first, but now I think I enjoy the sirius more than the XM.