I'm looking into adding satellite radio to my B5, however I have a few questions. What do you guys use for the antenna? Anybody add a 'shark fin' and wire that to the aftermarket addon? Sirius or XM? Where did you 'mount' the system. I figure if I do the install, i'll just ditch the cd player and hook it up via an adaptor, but I don't know where to mount the screen...

Pictures of where you installed it would be great as well. I'm looking for ideas.

Thanks

 

Not sure what a B5 is, but I have added XM to 8 different vehicles, and it can be done in under 20min. I prefer the Sky-Fi II (it has some great features like a 30min rewind), but any of the radio's that have the FM rebroadcast feature built in are the best. With the Sky-Fi II, I order the Vehicle Specific Mount from Crutchfield for the vehicle (you can mount many things to it), and install per the instructions. Then, I mount the amgnetis antenna on the roof close to the lip, and route the antenna feedline down behind the weather stripping, and through a small mole in the strip and into the cabin. For most vehicles, I can find an existing hole right around the adge of the dash panel. Then route the line securely under the dash, and I prefer to remove some trim panels/bezels to get the antenna feed right up to the mount plate so that it cannot be seen. I also route the power cable in the same manner. Then, if there is not enough power points to do it nicely, I will add a 12VDC power point and attach it under the dash to plug the adapter into. Attach the radio car kit to the VSM, and then set the radio for an unused FM station in the area. Then program the car radio for that FM station and you are done. Very easy, and I imagine the Sirius radios will mount similiar. THe best part (and I did this recently), you can remove everything in a few minutes and you have not modified the car in any way. Makes it easy to move the whole system over to another vehicle. One thing we like about the Sky-Fi II, is my wife has a radio, I have a radio, and we have the car kits installed in all of our cars, and a home kit in the upstairs living room. We can pick up the XM anywhere in the house, and also take one with us in any car.

 

B5 is the year range of my audi. I appreciate the tips on the install. I figure the installing part will be the least of my worries. The main concerns i have is the ability to use an 'audi' shark fin, so that the paint matches, and looks stock, as well as a good mounting location which also looks quasi stock.

I've had my fair share of fancy radios w/ lights, *****, and buttons galore. I'm really beyond all that, and like the simple look of stock.

 

Oh, okay. I have always used the tiny magnetic antenna that comes with the car kit, but then you can't see the roof on any of my vehicles except the camaro. On that one, we attached it in the package tray in the back window, and no-one ever notices it, and it works fairly well. You do get dropouts in the cities, but that car rarely goes to the city. If you are looking at using a factory radio for this, I am afraid I can't be of much use here. If you are looking to add a small external (like a Sky-Fi II or Roady) it is pretty simple, and you should be able to minimize the impact of the antenna location with a little trial and error and creativity. The antenna needs at least a square foot of attach metal to complete its function, but having repaired the dealer installed cd changer, it looks like your package tray has more than enough metal. You can always move the antenna around a bit until you find a spot on the car that works well, and then do the install. ANyway, good luck, satellite radio is a great thing!

 

I added the XM commander to my 2001 B5. I have the antenna mounted on my dash. The "tuner" is installed in the trunk in the CD changer slot. It is connected to the factory radio via an interface from PIE and connected to the factory changer cable/connector. I have the controller/LCD mounted on the dash right below the center vents. It "almost" looks like it belongs there. It'll look better once I put a red light gel over the display to match the rest of the dash lighting. I post pictures when I get the chance.

I prefer the XM Commander over the SkiFi because of the small size.

 

love to see pics of that xm radio ..wanted to do the same in my 00

:-)