Design flaw with satellite radio?

[G4Titan]

Bad design or what?? How is it that my Escalade can play satellite radio easily in a garage, essentially never have an outage and when I drive the beast around even on the freakin highway going under bridges it pops out of signal?? I’ve even had it go out around shaded areas too. I can’t imagine that my hardware is functioning correctly… have any of you folks had an issue with this – I guess as being too sensitive?

[WEB150]

My 650 has this same issue. My Tahoe does not.

[holmesmd]

I lose signal on occasion but certainly not as often as you describe. I listen to MP3's anyway. i urge you to do the same. You can roll around with a virtual jukebox now days and never have to listen to a song you don't like again.

[Clyde]

Originally Posted by G4Titan

How is it that my Escalade can play satellite radio easily in a garage

Your Escalade has XM, which must be receiving a terrestrial repeater. Sirius also has repeaters, but coverage is not the same as XM.

XM gave excellent coverage, when I tried it a few years ago. A cheap $100 Sirius receiver with a small magnetic roof antenna also worked well, but with more signal loss than XM. The BMW Sirius reception is MUCH worse, which might be related to the location of the antenna in the plastic trunk lid.

[Mr. BMW]

Sirius signal strength is very low in comparison to XM. I do not know all the details but all Sirius devices act this way; at least in BMWs.

[G4Titan]

Thank guys for the feedback... so it seems it a service issue not necessarily a hardware issue... I think I'll explore the ipod/mp3 route... without the direct ipod interface though I think it will look messy...

[ColdWater]

Originally Posted by G4Titan

Thank guys for the feedback... so it seems it a service issue not necessarily a hardware issue... I think I'll explore the ipod/mp3 route... without the direct ipod interface though I think it will look messy...

Not so messy. My set-up is: i) Monster iCarCharger, plugged into the power outlet in the top of the passenger footwell; ii) Monster mini-jack cable from the line-out on the iCarCharger dock connecter to an AUX jack in the glovebox; and iii) Speck ToughSkin case for the iPod.

The wires run mostly under the passenger side floormat. The rubber case keeps the iPod stuck in place on the console when in use, and I just put it under the passenger seat when parked.

It is vastly easier to use the iPod itself rather than going through the slow and primitive iDrive interface, and the sound quality using lossless encoding on the iPod will lead you to cancel your satellite subscription.

[cobradav]

Don't completely rule out having a real problem. There is a service bulletin that may apply. Probably worth having it at least check out especially against a like 6er configuration (antenna mounted under trunk lid) at least. A second service bulletin does not appear to apply to you as it states your presets will go empty on you indicating other problems.

SI B 65 21 05 Sound System, Cruise, Alarms, Monitors

March 2007 Technical Service

This Service Information bulletin supersedes S.I. 65 21 05 dated May 2006.

designates changes to this revision

SUBJECT
SIRIUS Satellite Radio Cuts Out in Certain Geographic Areas


MODEL
E63 (6 Series Coupe)

E64 (6 Series Convertible)


SITUATION
Some customers may complain that in certain geographic areas the SIRIUS Satellite radio cuts out up to 30 seconds at a time.

CAUSE
SDARS antenna module reception characteristics

CORRECTION
If possible, duplicate the condition together with the customer.

Compare the customer vehicle to a similar vehicle (6 Series) in the same area.

If the vehicles act differently:

• Check the antenna coax cable from the SDARS receiver to the SDARS antenna module
• If this is ok, check for a defective SDARS antenna module by parts substitution
• Only if the antenna from the known good vehicle improves the SIRIUS Satellite radio reception, install a new SDARS antenna module.