Ok, i thought i'd had this figured out, but now i'm back to confused again...
i have a local dealer, with an 07 350 awd availalble, without ML sound, and the dealer will put in sirius...and a remote dealer, WITH an 07 350 awd, WITH ML sound, telling me they are now exclusively XM, and that there service guy will research getting me sirius....

is this so?

I didn't pay attention to some of the earlier threads on here about sirius/xm because i thought lexus went to an either/or option, and that i was in the clear.

I have 4 other sirius receivers, and my wife has xm, and she hates it, as do i when i have to drive her car.

i need my sirius, and don't want a 'do it yourself' solution, but a factory integrated package.

thanks!!

Chuck

 

the dealer who says they can get you sirius is going with an aftermarket solution, like vaistech. lexus factory does not offer sirius at this time, only xm

 

the dealer 'claims' they are NOT going aftermarket, but rather an actual factory install...like lexus DID offer at one time, before going exclusive to xm....

is this 'suspicious'? i know this dealer well, and doubt they'd do anything as 'nice and ambitious' as an actual aftermarket unit!

they say the car is 'prepped' for satellite, and they just need to know from the purchaser if they want the xm module, or the sirius one...

thanks!

 

My dealer offers both the XM which is fully integrated with the screen and buttons, and sirius, which is NOT.
Although the dealer did say it was my preference. I chose XM.
Although I had the receiver installed and all I have yet to subscribe, b/c I am just hesitant. I care about sound quality and a system that compresses that many songs to be able to offer us so many choices my suck in sound quality.
It's not even close to even CD... Not even HD, .. bah..
If you like the service it provides my opinion is go with XM if you want it integrated. you choose.

 

thanks Jace....i have sirius...3 units in fact...my wife has xm...while i confess to being something of an audiophile, the simple fact of the matter is that content is king...and i love Howard Stern, and the overall content and program selection of Sirius has won me over...far more so then the compromise both services make in terms of audio quality.

I run my own business, as does my wife, so i don't have the time to always prepare a cd of my favorite tracks, or even download songs to an ipod, so Sirius with their hundreds of channels of commercial free music (unlike xm, which due to competitive pressure from sirius, has started playing commercials on some stations), is the clear winner.

but thanks for the input! sounds like i have more questions to ask my dealer!

regards,

chuck

 

Another thing to consider is that even if they can get the old factory Sirius system, the system was designed for the 2006 GS, not 2007. The 2006 didn't have the sharkfin antenna. The Sirius antenna for the 2006 GS was placed on the front windshield. Its a somewhat large triangular antenna. The current XM is integrated into the sharkfin.

I'm a Sirius fan myself.

 

about the fin or external antenna, you can just put the antenna inside, by the back break light. I put mine there. I dislike the look of the fin, plus it isn't put on thr 07' 450h's at all. worked out for me. More of a sleek look without that obstruction.
If I could take the fin off my 550i I would.

 

chuck - i have the integrated sirius tuner that was available for the 06 GS for a short while. there were some bugs with this tuner which may or may not have affected Lexus' decision not to have an integrated sirius solution at this time.

my tuner is connected to an XM antenna which is placed on the rear shelf. the triangular antenna called "SIGMA" is very large and is not very aesthetically pleasing, so the XM antenna was used instead. the XM antenna is pretty good. some dropouts around heavy tree areas and under freeway overpasses. it is not as good as my Audi's sirius which has a factory rooftop antenna, but it's close enough.

the drawbacks of the lexus tuner -

(1) the sound quality is poor. it sounds like the music is muffled in a tin can. i posted something about this and figured the compression was the cause, but once i got the audi a few months ago and realized that there should be no diff between FM and Sat, i realized the lexus tuner is just not very good. the sound gets better as you turn it louder, but on low to medium volume it sounds muffled compared to FM/CD.

(2) the volume is substantially lower than FM or CD, so you have to crank it up (and when you switch back to FM you have to turn the volume down).

(3) the text is cut off at 10 digits. it doesn't bother me much b/c i don't look at text often (it's usually on Map)



that being said, i think what is happening is that the dealer who is offering you the "factory" solution is probably using the tuner i have described above. apparently the same tuner was used on some 07 IS's and has worked, except with the above limitations.

the other dealer is probably using an aftermarket solution like Vaistech which is in fact fully integrated with your sound system and nav screen. i have heard good and bad things about SLS from Vais. good being sound quality and bad being some random Bluetooth issues. i have the Vaistech SLI for the ipod and you could honestly not tell it's "aftermarket". as long as you have full functionality of your audio buttons and nav screen, i think you should consider going aftermarket.

anyway, here is a pic of our XM antenna for Sirius:

 

Speaking of cutting off at 10 digits, is there anyway to hack that to show the entire character string?

Thanks.

 

thanks lexus lover....i have an email into the dealer to try to find out which tuner they are using...the car will be a lease, so i'm not sure i feel great about taking the factory car, with ML, and the XM option, and then going to an aftermarket installer to get the Vaistech installed (i'm handy, but don't really want to go through the bother to do it myself)...

the other question is if the Vaistech sirius option works with ML, and open question i haven't heard answered to my satisfaction even from VAistech.

and i'm hearing the same 'cheapo' comments on some quality items from even the ML option owners, namely text fields cutting off at 10 digits, cd labels not displaying at all on the screen, etc.


thanks though!

 

Do you need to get the XM factory option in order to get the aftermarket Sirius? I thought not.

 

Chuck, just want to add more info about Sirius since I do have it in my GS350. Being Howard Stern fan myself, XM was not even an option for me I went with VaisTech SLS Sirius module which was installed through my dealership by their subcontracting shop. Module integrates perfectly into the audio system, you get 16 character display, and touch screen and steering wheels controls, and a clear and loud reception. The install shop decided not to go with SIGMA antenna due to a number of people having reception problems in my area (Central Jersey, down by the shore). I have one of those 1"x1" puck Sirius antennas. It would not work inside of the car next to the break light. We also tried putting it in the lower right corner outside on the rear glass to hide the appearance, and it didn't work either. Right now the only place where I can get an OK reception is on the top of right fender (you can't place it on the trunk due to running cables from inside and ribbon cable instead of regular cables where you can snake the antenna). I do get brief dropouts going under small bridges and do get a choppy reception next to tall trees on the road (not happy about that). BUT, the big problem with VaisTech SLS module inside of GS350 (only reported with GS350 now), is that in order to use handsfree bluetooth phone, you have to be switched into SAT mode. You can't get a connection in either FM/DISC/TAPE. This is extremely annoying because I always have to remember to switch to SAT when I making or receiving a call. At this moment, I'm waiting for the install shop to replace VaisTech with a new module from another vendor which just been announced at CES show. VaisTech module will be returned...

Now, regarding antenna. I did my reading on that. Both Sirius and XM use satellite signals and terrestrial antenna repeaters but only in a big cities where you have skyscrapers that block direct sky view. In my case, I'm out of luck being in a middle 1 hour away from NYC and Philly, so I can only rely on satellite signal. That is why I get choppy reception next to tall trees. Also, GS350 sharkin has a built in XM antenna, but, as it was reported by a lots of people, XM antenna can be used for Sirius. I know that most of the people with TLs and Accords connect their XM sharkfin puck to Sirius and it works great. So, my next step after replacing SLS module will be to re-connectorize sharkfin XM antenna with Sirius SMB connector.

Bottom line, integrated Sirius module is the cleanest solution which will also cost you more. The only available option right now is Vaistech, but I already mentioned there is a known problem with bluetooth interference when you are not in SAT mode. You can wait and see which replacement module I'm going to get and how it will work. With antenna, most likely here on the East Coast you will have to keep it outside. Adapting sharkfin XM antenna is the best solution, but I have to try it out first.

 

nice write up twist.

I thought I heard that the sharkfin was also causing some problems?
Maybe I am compeltely wrong.... I don't remember, just thought I heard..

 

Hmm, I never heard of any sharkfin problems, beside that some doesn't like its appearance I'm thinking that I will never go with XM anyway, so if that connection not gonna work for me, it will not be much of a loss. Some antennas come with ILA (in-line amplifier) to boost the signal. As long as that amplifier doesn't have a filter for a specific XM frequency, it should work. Sirius and XM have an adjustent frequencies, so even with filter if its wide enough, it should work. Just a science experiment. The metal surface on the top of the roof is the most ideal place for antenna for better reception. This little black puck on my fender looks fugly, even being that small. Plus I have to worry for anybody not to cut it off. I heard its popular in big cities now. Damn, the price you have to pay for listening to Howard and Raw Dog Comedy channel Area 33 channel with 24-7 trance/progressive mixes is nice too!!!

 

great write up twist, thanks!

as is, i'm awaiting my red, 350 awd, GS 350 from an out of town dealer, will take a rental to get it friday night (yeah!), drive it home (double yeah!), and have an appt at my local dealer (which couldn't get me this vehicle at a good price!), which is a Vaistech install shop, and will get the sls module, UNTIL you tell me how your new after market model from CES show works out!

i'd also heard that there were some problems with the bluetooth because of where people were installing the vais tech unit? is that true?
either way, while i have a bluetooth phone, my current car doesn't have a blue tooth setup, so if i have to wait a while till you get your new unit and report in here, i can deal.

i'm just glad to hear i'll get a full 16 digit readout, and not the 10 i'd heard some people were having to deal with!

now i just have to figure out how to do the quick navi speed sensor hack sat afternoon in time to travel out of town with my wife and son to visit colleges for him in the new ride from sun to tues!

will post pics of course!