Wh0pp3r

Hey folks. so recently purchased an Isf. and by recent i mean last week. i was washing the car and noticed a Sirius little block assembly installed on the front Cowell. but im not able to prompt anything on the display (mark levinson unit if it matters). i dont know if it came stock with the vehicle, let alone a model number. just wondering if anyone has a quick guide i can try to follow or possibly take it to dealership to get it functional again. or should i just rip it out possibly?

any help is appreciated.

Lexcel

​​​​​​Hi Whopper, not sure what you mean by Cowell but if you're talking about the little 3-inch black magnetic Sirius antenna block on the outside of the car, you should probably leave that alone as it's not hurting anything and will be some work to remove. The dealership may or may not be able to help based on their attitude and experience, they may try to sell you an entirely new head unit or a pricey adapter pack that goes behind the radio inside the dash for loads of money. There is an aftermarket version that does work, I am currently using it on my '07 RX350 and it wasn't very expensive. If you are at all handy with installing stereos it's a pretty easy install. No matter what you WILL LIKELY NEED THIS MODULE behind the dash depending on your vehicle and even if the radio is Sirius ready. What I found on my vehicle is even if the dash radio is 'Sirius ready' or accepts Sirius XM you still need the module in addition to the antenna on the outside of the car. If you like I can try & research the brand and style I am using, it's been three years since I did the install but am happy to dig out the box and brand for you. It was definitely the cheapest way to go. The dealer and even many stereo shops will tell you that you cannot get or convert your stereo to Sirius XM without a new headunit or massive install and that is flatly not true. but you do need the right adapter. Lemme know if I can help.

Wh0pp3r

the cowell assembly is the cover in front of the windshield, goes around the wiper blade assemblies. And yesm its the little black cube thats about 1.5'' x1.5''. i hold off on what dealer can do till my dash replacement appt later in the year. if you dont mind id appreciate the help. im not tryin replace my dash radio anytime soon, everything else works including navi so rather keep it stock if possible. im gonna say it can use Sirius since the assembly is there already. ill take a picture of it if it helps.

i have done stereo work before, just aftermarket head unit install on older vehicle. this is the first time im touching anything 2000+ lol...

im miss 90's vehicle simplicity...lol

Lexcel

Hi, sorry for the delay, here are the items I used to connect to my stock headunit. I do not have the Mark Levinson system. There is a magnetic antenna that goes on the roof (or other places of your choosing), that connects to a small included box which goes behind the stereo. This box is what enables Sirius XM on your Sirius-ready radio. you also need the SXV200 which you can get at Best Buy or Amazon. I got my iSimple Gateway on Amazon also, it was cheaper than going direct to the company. Keep in mind many of the sellers on Amazon are "gray market", meaning they are selling new stock but not authorized dealers, what you give up going this route is you won't have a warranty, but you save a ton of money on the Gateway. If warranty is a big deal then make sure you're going with an authorized dealer, for me it was a hundred dollar savings on Amazon so I got it there (no factory warranty). Next is one of the confusing parts for people , your radio says "Sirius XM" but is not actually going to work until you connect this little box & the antenna. The dealership will soak you if you buy theirs, they will also tell you it is impossible to get your stock unit working with aftermarket gear. i've had stereo shops tell me the same thing. They are wrong on both accounts, I've been using mine this way for going on 3 years or so. I've been meaning to do a YouTube video on this one day, maybe I will - but for now here's the details in this post. It might be a good idea to contact Sirius XM to check compatibility on your unit, but basically from what I know, if you have a stock headunit that is Sirius-ready, then this setup takes it the next step to make it "fully ready" and Sirius is still serciving the SXV200. Don't get too thrirlled about the 'extra' fetures Sirius supposedly offers, like rewind, FF, pause of live radio... every time I tried it this locked up my radio & I had to reset it. So I just use it for listing to music and nothing fancy & I never ever have a problem with it. Keep in mind this is aftermarket stuff created to work with Toyota/Lexus' complicated headunits, and for that it does the job well because you can use your stock radio controls! Once installed you simply call them to send you a signal & signup & you're good to go. Sirius does highly compress their music, but it's still a decent listening experience. You will then be able to control the entire Sirius XM listening, hundreds of channels from your stock unit. Let me know if you have any questions, if so I will do my best to recall this exact installation because I work on lots of car projects!

Lexcel

...one other thing, the pictured orange pry bars & panel pullers are mine. Those arent included in any kit, but make a worthy addition to any toolbox and pretty cheap online. These will likely save you from breaking costly stereo and dash trim!

Tank

iTrader: (19)

Maybe a bit off topic but how would you guys that have Sirius rate it? I used to have it and canceled it when they decided to mess with the programming. Thinking of going back.

Lexcel

Tank, it's ok. The music is quite compressed, if you're an audiophile of any sort you will notice it with Sirius XM but it's still listenable. They obviously do this to save bandwidth over satellite.
I have found Sirius will hand out discounts to former customers if you ask, this is especially true if you've recently canceled and want to come back. It is nice to have especially on long trips where you aren't tied to a city's FM stations. As long as you're not paying out the nose for it I'd say it's totally worth it and the sound quality is good enough. It's also nice for news, talk, radio, and sports if you're into any of that. Personally I would not pay their $200/yr nonsense but that's just me.