Sirius Radio Car Charger Issue

glrtrgi · 30th January 2012, 04:20

I recently purchased Sirius radio for my 2002 M5. I have discovered that apparently the power charger that comes with the radio does not fit the car's cigarette lighter receptacle. In comparing my phone car charger to the Sirius radio power charger it appears that the Sirius power charger is too long and that the metal "wings" on the Sirius charger stick out of the cigarette lighter receptacle to such a degree as to not have the Sirius charger work. The charger did work fine on a friend's old Chevy Tahoe interesting enough.

Has anyone else experienced this? Sirius tell me that I will have to hard wire the radio into the car as they do not have a power charger that will fit my car. Pretty astonishing if that is the case, but before I talk to Sirius authorized installers I wanted to hear from members of the board who have Sirius radio (that is not built in).

BTW, the customer service folks at Sirius are generally inept and if you are routed to an overseas call center it can take a long, long time to get to someone who understands English well. Very frustrating.

Thanks.

Quicksilv3r · 30th January 2012, 05:04

Picture of said issue? Picture of the unit and where you planned to mount it (for personal reasons)?

I've been tempted to get SiriusXM for my car as well (had it in every car prior), just looking for the easiest, but most aesthetically appealing setup. So far, nothing short of a full-on hardwire with the updated BMW radio internals looks the part.

RichardP · 30th January 2012, 14:25

Never had any problems with any lighter type power supply. The end pin is sprung on the plug, have you checked to see if it is stuck in the extended position, this might prevent the plug from being fully inserted.

One alternative to the OEM Sirius system is the Intravee connected to a SIRALP-1 tuner module. The Intravee is expensive, but the SIRALP-1 (or SIRALP-10T) can be found very cheaply, combined they are still cheaper than the OEM system and you get almost as much functionality, they also work with any Nav system components so you don't need the updated BM53 radio.

badabing · 30th January 2012, 16:47

when i had my 03 540iA sport i connected an external sirius receiver using the cigarette style adapter that you plug into the golve box where the flashlight goes.

In fact, I had the aformentioned adapter, then a splitter from radio shack that yielded 2 cigarette lighter sockets, and had sirius plugged into one and my iphone charger plugged into the other. worked well.

It was actually a pretty professional looking install. I bought a headunit bracket that bolted up to the dash and ran the wires for the power and antenna under the trim between dash and glovebox area. The antenna was place in the very lower right corner of the windshield. I also had the aux input kit for the radio which terminated in the glovebox and ran a male/male wire from the sirius to the glvoebox using the same conduit.

No exposed wires with the doors closed. Easy DIY and totally reversible.

Quicksilv3r · 31st January 2012, 16:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by badabing

when i had my 03 540iA sport i connected an external sirius receiver using the cigarette style adapter that you plug into the golve box where the flashlight goes.

In fact, I had the aformentioned adapter, then a splitter from radio shack that yielded 2 cigarette lighter sockets, and had sirius plugged into one and my iphone charger plugged into the other. worked well.

It was actually a pretty professional looking install. I bought a headunit bracket that bolted up to the dash and ran the wires for the power and antenna under the trim between dash and glovebox area. The antenna was place in the very lower right corner of the windshield. I also had the aux input kit for the radio which terminated in the glovebox and ran a male/male wire from the sirius to the glvoebox using the same conduit.

No exposed wires with the doors closed. Easy DIY and totally reversible.

That sounds awesome. I'm trying to picture that setup. Don't imagine you have any pics?

badabing · 31st January 2012, 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quicksilv3r

That sounds awesome. I'm trying to picture that setup. Don't imagine you have any pics?

sadly, i dont. car is gone

VacMan · 31st January 2012, 17:52

Just get the adapter that plugs in where the flashlight goes and run the power cord to the glove box. Done for under $10.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk