Pics of my rookie XM install...

[DaveS]

Here are pics of my XM Roady install. After an hour trying to figure out where to put the thing, I'm happy with the spot I choose. It's down low and harder for theives to see, it easy for me to see and operate, the wires aren't too conspicuous, none of the the cupholders or console lid are blocked, and the only holes I drilled are inside the cubby, so they are somewhat hidden.

I modified a Bracketron bracket I got at Best Buy. It came with a Roady adapter, so I can slide the Roady out anytime I want to move it into my boat. I ran power to the plug at the back of the console, and the antenna (see pic) at the base of the windshield, with the wire tucked along the trim under the dash until it goes into spiral-wrap conduit with the other wires. I've always got excellent reception with my antenna through the glass, so I chose not to run it to the roof. It's stuck to the dash with a bit of double-sided 3M tape.

Not exactly a pro job, but hey, it's my first attempt. If anyone out there with a machine shop wants to fabricate me a custom bracket out of some billet aluminum or stainless (it'd be way easy) let me know and I'll send you diagram and pay you!

- Dave

[Eraz3r]

nice, hows the reception with the antenna there in the window like that?

[DaveS]

I've always got 3 bars, which is max signal, thru the glass.

[Pugsly]

ever think about running those under the console there and hardwiring it to the back of the aux imput?

PS i like the antenna location!

[GETSOMZ28]

Looks very close to mine, though I have sky-fi unit mounted in a Belkin cup holder mount. I had three bars of signal the entire time on my drive from Albuquerque to Salt Lake City!

[DaveS]

Originally Posted by Pugsly

ever think about running those under the console there and hardwiring it to the back of the aux imput?

PS i like the antenna location!

Yes! How do I do that? Soldering involved? Bezel removal and rookie screw-up of the re-install involved?

Thanks for any insight!

[llajumpvid]

Originally Posted by DaveS

Yes! How do I do that? Soldering involved? Bezel removal and rookie screw-up of the re-install involved?

Thanks for any insight!

You don't have DVD do you? If not tie into the dvd prewiring and then you can select dvd audio using your steering wheel controls and if you have them rear controls. Connecting to the AUX you only can select by hitting it on the dash and aux does not go to the rear controls or can be selected on the steering wheel controls.

Here is a copy paste for doing the wiring for a dvd. I suspect it will work the same for your sat wiring......


This is based on my DVD player assuming others connect the same way. Just like your home DVD unit you will have RCA's coming out of the back of the DVD player. If you cut off one end of the audio rca's there will be two wires. Use a tester and touch the collar of the RCA that's still attached and one of the wires that you cut the end off of to determine the negative wire. What I did was take a foot or so of thin wire (18ga I think) and soldered it onto the cut ends of the RCA's. The RCA wires are thin and need to be soldered so it's easier to solder on a bench than in your front seat... Now that you have ends soldered on the RCA's, take the wiring diagram and use some crimp splices and match up your audio connection wires that you just soldered to the harness. (left neg. to left neg etc.) There are two wires on the harness called FES enable and Audio on. You will cut those wires and splice them together. This tells the headunit your DVD player is on and lets the steering wheel, headunit and rear controls select DVD.

You don't need to take the dash apart. Unhook your negitive battery cable. Put on your parking brake, shift the shifter to drive and unscrew the handle. Then pull up on the rear of the trim around the shifter, back by the big bin between the console and shifter. You should be then be able to work your way up towards the dash and pull it off. Once it out of the way, feel along the bottom of the dash where you see the plastic rivets sticking up and you should find the empty harness on the left. Pop out the rivets and there is enough slack to pull it into sight. It has allot more wires than you'll need on it. The only wires you need is on one of the short rows, I don't remember for sure but I think it was the top row on the passenger side....You can tell by the wire colors which is which.

One thing is that you may need one of these pie line level amps. Your DVD may have a built in amp and you won't need it but I bet you will. To find out in advance, you can plug your DVD into the aux jack using a rca to mini plug adapter, if the audio is a lot lower than the radio you'll need the amp. The amp is around $35, If you don't need it for the DVD you can always add it behind the dash and hook it to the aux jack. You'd hook it up to the AUX the same way by cutting off the end of the RCA's only there is 3 wires on the aux so you tie the two negatives into one wire and the pos into the right and left wires. If you can't find the wiring diagram or which wires are which let me know and I'll look it up for you.

Hope this helps. good luck it's really not that hard to do. A pro could do the whole DVD wiring and install the first time in less than an hour....the next time probably 15 minutes.

Here is the wiring diagram for the audio. The harness has video and power as well. Ignore the video as it'll be easier to run your own cable. The audio is on a short row of the harness, I don't remember which side its on but you should be able to figure it out from the wire colors. (white,black,green,red,yellow/blue blue)

Oh and this allows you to listen over the speakers by holding down the RearAV button for like 1.5 seconds, or use the steering wheel controls to select dvd. It will also put audio to the rear controls to use the prewired wireless headphone transmitter. Sony has some IR headphones that work. they aren't the most comfortable but for like $16 they are worth is. I think a place called hammerheadtech sells them. You shouldn't regret not getting the factory system as by the time you put in a video monitor and dvd you should be less the $800 depending on what you by vs. the $1600 nissan wants, plus you'll have a better player.