Want to add satellite radio to MP5

jgt74

Member
:
2003 Protege 5
I have a 2003 Protege 5 with the factory 6 CD changer and subwoofer. I want to add Sirius Satellite radio so I probably need to change out the head unit. Before I attempt this, I wanted to get some feedback from the group on how easy/difficult this is to do. Specifically:

1. Is changing out the head unit a straight forward task? (with the right tools, I should be able to do this work myself)?
2. What special items, if any, will I need to install a new head unit (wiring harnesses, adapters, etc)?
3. Will I still be able to use the factor sub-woofer with a new head unit (assuming the new head unit supports a sub woofer).
4. Anyone have any experience with any of the national chain stores (Best Buy, Car Toys, Mobile One) and if so, what was your experience?
5. Anything else I should be concerned about?
6. To anyone that has done a head unit upgrade, what did you get and how does it work?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
get one of the piggy back/fm modulated units.

if you go that route you get to keep all of your factory options, you don't need to mess around with a new headunit, and it costs alot less.

in my old gti i had installed the kenwood setup. all i needed to do was splice into a ground, a 12v power source, mount/hide a switch and run teh antenna wire and mount the antenna. i had all of this done in a matter of an hour or so. the base for the unit itself fit perfectly in the cubby hole under the radio/hvac console. i don't know where the best place to mount it in a pr5 but eh...hope that helps.
 
ive got XM radio in my 03, at first I used a roady tuner, all it had was a tiny receiver, antena, and wireless modulator that plugged into lighter socket, it provided power plus allowed the fm radio to pick up sat. signal,( had to dial in what channel to pick it up on) it worked great, only problem was i didnt have anywhere suitable(to me) to mount it in the p5, plus sound quality isnt as good as with a wired in modulator or reciever, so i bought an Alpine cda9820xm headunit, everythings built in, all i had to do was add xm antenna
they have similar units for sirius, as a mater of fact Alpine has some receivers that can use either a XM or sirius receiver that mounts under the seat an all controls are built into the head unit
crutchfield caries a ton of diffrent setups
I got everything i needed from them an did it myself, hardest part was wiring up the harnes to the new unit, it plugged right into the factory radio plug, taking the old unit out was super easy as well, in all it took me bout 2 hours, takin my time makin sure ididnt forget nuthin......
 
Last edited:
Unless you want to listen to Howard Stern when his Sirius show starts or want the radio equivalent of DirecTV "Sunday Ticket", go with XM.

The controler is less than 1/3 the size and looks better, the reciever is about 10x smaller and again, looks better. The basic month-to-month plan is $3 less a month. They have more satalites in geo-syncronous orbit whereas Sirius' are moving (which means reception can change in diferent parts of the country with Sirius). XM's satalites are pushing out more power, and they have more terestrial repeaters than Sirius. XM's system has more total bandwidth, and doesn't drop the quality of some of their channels.

Seriously, XM is a better way to go. If you want to keep your factory radio, go with the XM Commander, it comes with an FM Modulator, so you don't really need to buy anything else. If you want to go with an aftermarket radio, Pioneer makes great XM-ready decks, you would just need to buy a $100 reciever, and a $50~ cable. Sony and some other companies make XM ready decks also. Personally, Ive always liked Pioneer better. I have a Pioneer DEH-P7600MP. It plays WMA's and MP3's so you really don't need the changer anymore. You can put more than 6 CD's on one CD-R. It also sounds better than the stock deck with the stock speakers.

As for install, you could probably do it yourself for about $40-50 in parts or get someone like Best Buy or Car Toys to do it. If you do it yourself, youre going to need something like a Meta (sp?) Universal kit, basket, and wiring harnes adapter.
 
Last edited:
I also have the Pioneer DEH-P7600MP, and this weekend I got the XM direct ($50 tuner + $50 adapter for Pioneer), which runs all the controls through the headunit, and so far I'm loving it (2thumbs)
 
Yo, these xm direct boxes...they seem so much cheaper then the things that like pioneer and sony sell themselves....are they pretty much the same thing?
 
Yup... only diference is you have to buy a cable that costs about $50 to go with it.
It's basically the same box that comes with the XM commander.
 
Back