[indimini]

Boy, at least I hope so. Got tired of working this afternoon, so thought I'd dig into the boot of my MCSC to track down the connectors for the Blitzsafe box. Following the example from some photos posted by an MCC owner, I began prepping my car for XM.

I originally tried my best to avoid taking off the liner on the righthand side, especially since it appears the screw holding the trim in place was put in too far. (It turns out that the screw goes into a metal bracket. The screw is only paritally threaded so if they put it in too far, the threads don't grab and the screw doesn't back out.) I ended up having to take the back plastic trim off which loosened up the liner enough for me to pull and bend it w/o fully removing it. That provided access to a wiring harness which had some taped leads going nowhere. I removed the tape and exposed the leads in the boot. Without the Blitzsafe box in front of my, I can only assume I have the right leads - both are rectangular, one is 6 pin, the other 3 pin.

So, hopefully in the next couple of days I should have XM integrated w/ the MFSW. Total cost will be just over $200 for the Blitzsafe box and XMDirect tuner - much better than what the dealer wanted to install Sirius.

[TWISTER]

Looks like you're good to go! Those are the right leads. Take some picts for us.

[TJKonarski]

I have a 2005 MINI Cooper S convertible with a satellite-ready factory-installed Harmon/Kardon stereo. (FYI: I also have Navigation.) I just installed XM Direct along with the Blitzsafe adapter cable for my model of car. (All provided through www.myradiostore.com -- I put a link below so you can see exactly what I have.)

http://www.myradiostore.us/bundles/...ini-cooper.html

IT'S WONDERFUL!!! The best part. I was able to have the XM antenna installed above the windshield, right next to the radio antenna. AUTOTRONICS of Pontiac (M-59 just east of Telegraph) did a flawless installation -- Ask for Tony. Here is their info:

874 W. Huron St, Pontiac, MI 48341
(248) 332-7711
www.autotronics-inc.com

I paid $279.49 (plus S/H) for the XM Direct and Blitzsafe adapter through My Radio Store. For installation I paid only $65 at AUTOTRONICS -- It took about an hour and this was the first time they ever installed one of these on a MCSC. (An EXCELLENT price considering that Wes at MotorCity MINI insisted it would take 4 hours to install and quoted me a price of almost $500! Rip-Off!!!)

The XM is working almost perfectly. There is one slight flaw I'm experiencing right now. It's not a deal-breaker, but it does exist. I'm corresponding with Blitzsafe right now to see if my problem can be resolved. Though this small inconvenience exists, I still 100% recommend these products. It's wonderful! Below is a copy of my email to Blitzsafe:

"My problem is this... My stereo has 6 preset station buttons with 3 available XM's (XM1, XM2 and XM3) giving me a total of 18 preset stations. The only way to get from XM1 to XM2 is to be on the 6th preset station and push the 'up' button on my steering wheel radio controls. Sometimes it will flawlessly jump up to XM2, preset station number 7. However, sometimes the display on the stereo will instead say '255', pause for a second then say 'Station Unavailable' leaving the stereo still on XM1 preset station 6. Now, if I'm paying attention when going from preset stations 6 to 7 and I see it display '255' I can quickly press the 'up' button again and then it will go to preset station 7. (This problem also happens when jumping from XM2 to XM3, preset stations 12 to 13.) The other problem is for example say I'm in XM1 and am on preset station 1. If I press the 'up' button to go to preset station 2 sometimes it will jump 2, 3 or 4 preset stations ahead.

I did not have any of these problems with my radio or CD player prior to the XM/Blitzsafe installation. Nor do I have these problems with the radio or CD player with XM/Blitzsafe currently installed. It's only with the XM presets that I'm currently having a problem with.

Do you have any suggestions for a solution to this problem? Could it be that there is a problem with my Blitzsafe adapter and it needs to be replaced? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you."

If you have a MINI Convertible and you prefer XM over Sirius you will love this. Feel free to reply to me if you have any questions.

[howardpm]

You have the XM antenna poking out from under a seal! I would never do that on a convertible. My Mini couldn't even come with the seals put on properly the first time. Who knows what happens once you start adjusting them.

[TJKonarski]

Well, it's been 16 months and no problems with the antenna wire coming out from the seal -- No leaks, no wind noise, no problem! It's been through car washes (touchless car washes that include those powerful blowers to dry the car), it's been through hard rain & heavy snow and high speeds on the expressway (90mph+). My MCSC is garaged only about 20% of the time so it has spent many, many nights outside in some of the harshest Michigan weather. This has been an excellently successful installation and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in having XM Radio in their MCSC.