DWS44

Hey guys…

I’ve seen quite a few posts on the subject of Sirius Installs, and there is a great FAQ post from Thrill6 on an install in the convertible, but I never ran across an install how-to for a coupe, so I thought I document my install today with photos.

This is for installing a SIR-GM1 tuner in place of the factory XM tuner on a C6 coupe. For the record, mine is a 2008, with the Bose 6 CD unit, and this procedure details re-using the XM antenna rather than running the Sirius antenna that comes with the tuner.

The coupe install was actually very simple, with the only tool needed being a small jewelers screwdriver which you’ll see in a sec. Also I decided to use some industrial strength Velcro to mount the tuner.

For much more detailed information on the sat radio install, I’d recommend reading over Thrill6’s vert install FAQ post as well: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1733829

First up, here are all the parts that come with the Sirius SIR-GM1 Tuner. The only wire you actually use is the one in the lower right of the pic with the black connector on one end, and the white connector on the other. The rest are for use in other GM models. Of course, the antenna could be used as well if you chose not to re-use the XM antenna.



The XM tuner is located above the rear wheel well on the driver’s side, directly above the plastic rooftop holder. Pull back the carpet and you can see it.



I chose to remove the rooftop holder so I could get a little more play in the carpet for some more breathing room to work. As you can see, it is held in place by three metal clips. Pull up with a little force and it pops loose.



Now, you can easily remove the XM tuner by pulling back on the two black retainer clips holding it in place (you can see one of them on the second pic above)…just lift the unit up and over the black clips. It slides out and there is a little extra wire you can pull out with it.





Here’s a pic of the two tuners side-by-side. They are similar in size, with the Sirius being just a little smaller.



Here are the wires left after disconnecting the XM tuner. The black/white connector is where you plug in the Sirius harness. The green and yellow are from the XM antenna. As noted in the Vert install post, you only need one of these, the other will be left unused.



I decided to try out the factory XM antenna first and see what it brings reception wise. (I can’t really comment on this yet, as I haven’t had it out on the road since finishing the install this afternoon.)

I believe someone makes an adapter that you can use to connect these antenna wires w/o removing the plastic, but I chose to just remove it and plug it in directly. To remove the plastic, use a small jewelers screwdriver to first lift up and pull out the red retainer clip (shown in first pic already partly removed). This piece comes off completely. Next, use the screwdriver to lift up on the last retainer piece (shown in the second pic below), and pull the wire and metal connector out of the plastic. Apologies for the poor focus on these two!





As you can see, the antenna wire connects directly to the Sirius connector, and is reasonably snug, however there is nothing that “snaps” into place, so I just used some black electrical tape to secure it a bit.



With the antenna and wiring harness in place, all that was left was to tuck it back into the slot and secure it. I actually removed the black plastic cradle that the XM tuner was mounted it. With the little screw holes that are mounted on the sides of the Sirius tuner, it just didn’t sit in the cradle very well. The plastic cradle is just snapped into place, so I pulled it out, and used a few pieces of industrial strength Velcro to mount the tuner in place. Should be considerably easier to pull back out if I ever need to vs. using strong double-sided tape, plus it gives it a little more cushion as well. Lastly, I taped the spare XM antenna wire in place across the top of the tuner to keep it from bouncing around.



Before I buttoned everything up, I fired up the Vette and backed it out of the garage to get a signal, and as soon as I switched over to “XM” on the headunit, it flashed “updating” a few times, and tuned itself to Sirius channel 184 and started scrolling the number to call for activation. I called Sirius and added it to my existing account, they sent a signal and about 30 seconds later I had all the Sirius stations up and running. Here’s how they look on the Bose. This was during a promo between songs…once music starts, the bottom line shows the song title.



One other note...the improvement in sound quality in the Sirius over the stock XM is absolutely shocking!!!

Anyways, I've gotten a lot of good info on the board since I got my Vette, so I thought I'd give a little back! Hope this is helpful for those considering making the switch in their coupes.

Crystal Vette

thanks for the post and pics. Nicely done. I'm still holding out for a few more months before I switch.

Happy New Year.

AL

Victoryred 08

Great post, thanks for all your work to help the rest of us out. THANKS AGAIN AND HAVE A VERY "HAPPY NEW YEAR".

foremaw

Very nice write up and pics, it will be help many, I'm sure.

C.Moore

Thanks so much for the info. This is on my list to do this winter :-)

Happy New Year!

DWS44

No problem, guys...enjoy...and good luck with your installs!

not08crmanymore

I got that SIR-GM1,plugged it in the back,activated the radio and bingo.Took 15 minutes.

DC321

Dave,

You are the best. I need all the pictures I can get.

I also see you have the best color C6.

EvilBoffin

DWS44 -

Thanks for this info. I have an '08 Coupe too, so these are valuable instructions!

I 'tried' to listen to XM on my trip back to CLT from Museum Delivery for several hours, but the programming was so disappointing that I gave up and just threw in some CD's. I had XM in my other car, and generally seemed to have better 'luck' with their programming, but this particular day in the Vette it was just awful, making it more obvious that a switch to Sirius may be warranted.

Anyway, two Questions for you -

1- When you feel you have enough experience with Sirius to answer - How do you feel the reception is while re-using the XM antenna?

Since the antenna is located in the sideview mirror now and would be a real PITA to swap out, I wouldn't consider this conversion to Sirius if the reception with the XM antenna is worse then it is with XM.

2- Can the display now SCROLL information with Sirius installed? With XM, it just sits there, displaying only partial info...

TIA

vettetax

Agreed, the swap out is easy. I opted for installing a home-based Sirius antenna instead of the junk XM or base Sirius antenna the SIR GM1 comes with.

Only down side is that there is no scroll. I have the stock NAV setup and only 8-10 characters show up (eg. HWRD100), same goes with the display in the HUD. It only becomes a nag when a good song comes on and I want to know the artist or song title. Otherwise, SIR GM1 rocks.

GrandSportRob

Nice writeup and pics..Welcome to the Sirius family!!...

Maui

I've got an '05 with nav but without xm. Curious if any of the wiring would be in my car and how hard it would be to install the antenna?

DWS44

With all the rain here in CLT area (not complaining, we need it), I havent had it out of the garage since shortly after it was activated, so I'm still not sure about the reception. I'll post back when I take it out again.

Even if you do use the Sirius antenna, you don't necessarily have to chase it all the way to the factory XM antenna location. If you do a search, there are a few posts from folks that came up with good spots for the Sirius antenna in the back of the car. I'd probably try the one where it's mounted under the CHMSL/Spoiler area if the reception isn't liveable as-is.

It seems to be pretty much the same with Sirius...it doesn't scroll the song titles. Oddly enough while playing with it after activation, I saw the text scroll a few times during some promos on a few channels, but never during music.

EvilBoffin

Couldn't agree more about the rain here. I've had my Vette out AFTER some of these rains - you know, just in time for all the mucky Road Giblets to cement themselves to my new Crystal Red paint!

Please report back in when you have some experience with the Sirius' reception...

Yeah, I thought as much - oh well. They love to scroll their promos, but never whatcha WANT to see....

not08crmanymore

I have an 05 1SB,no Nav,no xm from the factory.All the wires are there already,though.Left up the rug over the rear driver sides wheel well and look in there.All I had to do was plug and play!I have a coupe,btw.I hear it's slightly different w/a vert.

JSB LS3

Bookmarking this thread...I have Sirius in my DD cherokee and the rock/alternative stuff is FAR better than XM in my opinion....I think I'm going to be picking up one of these conversion kits in the near future.

Thanks for the info!

carjon

I did this a year ago in my 05 Coupe and it is that easy.
I use the XM antenna and the reception seems fine. I have a BMW with the factory Sirius and the signal is as good on the Corvette as the BMW. I lose the signal in the same places and it returns the same way - mostly in heavily wooded small road in the hills. It is frustrating to lose the signal but I don't think anything practical would help.
I actually get Sirius in places that I would lose the XM signal.

Kent1999

Nice write-up.

Why are there two XM antenna connectors? Are there two XM antennas in the C6? (one in each mirror or something?)

jccarr

I would like to see additional comments on the sound quality in the vette application between XM and Sirius. I had always assumed they were about the same in other applications. Sound quality is enough reason to switch for me.

BigButtLover

Thanks a million. I had sirius before I bought my vert and really liked it better than XM. I'm going to look into buying that sirius tuner. thanks.