Sirius

vitaly91

Member
:
2008 Mazda CX-9
Guys,

I just bought a 2008 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring, Before that I totalled my Mazda Tribute. In my old Mazda I had a Sirius unit that was mounted on the dash and had a wired antenna on the top. The new Mazda has "pre-wired" Sat. radio. Considering this, I would think that I don't want to move my old dash-mounted unit to CX-9 but instead have Sirius "connected" using the pre-wired Sat. Radio feature. Question is:

Should I just have dealer do it for me (lots of money, $200+ I think) or should I go elsewhere (like Best Buy or something) and have them install Sirius for me?
Is it even possible for a 3rd party to install Sirius into pre-wired Sat. Radio on Mazda? If it is possible, is it worth it and where should I go to get it done?

Thank you in advance!
 
The Mazda Sirius unit is quite pricey. I do not know what "pre-wiring" there is though. I think you might be thinking about the stereo having controls for the satellite unit. An aftermarket unit will most likely be cheaper, but will have to be mounted somewhere.

We have our Starmate Replay mounted in the lower cubby area with a line-in cord running to the jack in the console. It works quite well, but I really could use a ground loop isolator since it is picking up noise.

My Speed6 has the Mazda Sirius unit. I've already had to replace the antenna once and it's starting to act up again.
 
My new GT didn't have the Sirius unit installed. Dealer wanted $450 for it. I went online to Med Center Mazda and bought the unit for ~$300 and went to the local Ultimate Electronics and they installed it for $70, so I came out a little ahead.
 
I looked into this, the mazda unit is a mazda exclusive part. If you go to an aftermarket company to get it installed they will still have to buy the mazda part.

It sucks cause it is quite pricey. And I don't get to listen to Jason Ellis.

Gmac
 
Thank you all for replies.

So as I see it I have 2 options:

1. Pay a hefty price for Mazda part and have dealer install it.

2. Mount my old unit somewhere and have it re-installed by 3rd party.

Option 2 is obviously a lot cheaper. The only problem I have is that I see that a lot of people mounted the unit in front of gear knob. I'd like to keep that space open and available for me (cell phone, iPod, etc.) Any suggestions on other places to mount it? What about mounting it just above left fan on the dash? Could it be mounted to the side of the windshield (since the windshield itself is so far away)?

Again, thank you all for the help!
 
Again, thank you all for replies.

I looked on mazdagear.com and, if I read it right, it looks like I will need a switch box AND Sirius kit. Right now I have Aux jack that I use to connect my iPod. But it said that in order for both to work, I'd have to have a switch box installed and then Sirius. Is that correct?

So that means more $$$.

So then my question is: if I use my old Sirius unit, will it have to use Aux jack as well or no? How would that get hooked up?
 
CX-7 unit works!

Well I was no way in hell going to pay the dealer 500 dollars for the unit and install. I bought a complete unit off eBay from a CX-7. I think it was like 180.00 but worth it since it was complete with an install kit. (ties, pads, etc) I did the install myself and the only hard thing is having to take off all the panels. Although I first took out the center dash panel and radio and then rigged up the Sirius unit w/antenna right away. I wasn't going to install everything and then find out it didnt work. It worked like a charm and I saved hundreds. I pulled up the pdf file for the install on a CX-9 and mirrored that. I would say max two hours for the install.

Now that's definitely a great option. But only if you want to do the work(homework)

Lj
 
So you found an ebay Mazda headunit with Sirius already installed for 180?

Is the stock headunit in the cx7 standard or is it a weird shape like my MS3?

Gmac
 
Ahh very nice. I saw those. Now does the sirius channels and all of the stock HU controls work with this?

Gmac
 
Yep everything works since its just what the dealer would do but of course with a CX-9 part number. Luckily the 7 works for our 9's. So you have all channels and can control with the HU obviously and steering wheel.
 
Now what do you think about the MS3, i'm sure you have no idea. But it doesn't hurt to ask.

Gmac
 
A Sirius question....my Sirius radio goes into "Updating Channels" mode at least once a day. During that time the radio stops broadcasting and the process takes a couple of minutes. Does anyone else experience this with their Sirius? What's up with this?
 
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