radio

[woodpker]

I have an 04 suburban with bose and onstar , could someone please tell me if this is xm ready and if so what I need to hookit up, and I dont want to use a plug and play unit, would like to keep it neet and factory like, thanks Don

[east302]

Don,

From what I understand, if your radio has a "BAND" button (next to the "CD AUX" button) then it is XM compatible. On XM-equipped vehicles, hitting the BAND button toggles between AM-FM-CD-XM.

For your truck, you'd probably need the XM Direct kit that Crutchfield.com and others sell. It comes with wiring harnesses and the XM tuner box that is installed underneath your dash somewhere. The tuner box is around the size of a paperback book. The factory location is behind the glovebox. An antenna is mounted on the roof of the vehicle. You'd have to route the antenna wire from the dash and out. It's not that big a deal to do, just route it under the weatherstripping inside the door.

You can buy the Sirius version (model number SIR-GM1) that picks up Sirius instead of XM through the factory radio. It's a similar setup with wiring harness to the Sirius tuner and the antenna wire going out. Sirius requires separate power from the vehicle battery but includes a wiring kit for that. I don't think XM requires separate power for whatever reason.

In my case, my 2003 Tahoe came with XM already installed. I replaced it with the Sirius unit and it works just the same. Much easier than the separate units that you stick on your dashboard. For me, the audio controls on the steering wheel control the Sirius just like the XM. I don't know if in your case the steering wheel audio controls would work the XM. I'd imagine they would.

You might try these two forums for more information on these:

www.siriusbackstage.com
www.xmfan.com

There's probably someone over there that could answer your questions better. But I think you have to have that BAND button on the radio to get started. Hope this helps.