# Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM



## jkemmerly (Feb 12, 2003)

Has anyone here used a Soundgate adaptor to tie into either XM or Sirius tuners that allow total control of the satellite tuner using a factory head unit? The specific part numbers that I am looking at are for a BMW. For the Kenwood Sirius tuner you use a KBMWSIR and for a Pioneer XM tuner you use a PIOBMW1. The tech support of Soundgate is telling me that I can control all functions of the sat tuner using my stock 2001 M3 head unit. Soundgate has told me that they started shipping these products at the beginning of the year. These parts will mean not having to use the FM modulator and also will not have to use a separate sat tuner control. Sounds like a very simple, very clean install. Just mount tuner, tie into existing wiring for an aux CD changer with the new Soundgate adaptor and you end up sending 100% digital signal to the stock head unit and have total control of tuner using the CD buttons on the BMW head unit. Limiting factor is how much my radio is capable of displaying text. On my M3 I will only be able to display around 10 characters, however on my wife’s 5 series I will have all text displayed. I am looking for feedback from people who have used their equipment for controlling the tuner and what their experience has been using the interface.


----------



## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

jkemmerly said:


> *Has anyone here used a Soundgate adaptor to tie into either XM or Sirius tuners that allow total control of the satellite tuner using a factory head unit? The specific part numbers that I am looking at are for a BMW. For the Kenwood Sirius tuner you use a KBMWSIR and for a Pioneer XM tuner you use a PIOBMW1. The tech support of Soundgate is telling me that I can control all functions of the sat tuner using my stock 2001 M3 head unit. Soundgate has told me that they started shipping these products at the beginning of the year. These parts will mean not having to use the FM modulator and also will not have to use a separate sat tuner control. Sounds like a very simple, very clean install. Just mount tuner, tie into existing wiring for an aux CD changer with the new Soundgate adaptor and you end up sending 100% digital signal to the stock head unit and have total control of tuner using the CD buttons on the BMW head unit. Limiting factor is how much my radio is capable of displaying text. On my M3 I will only be able to display around 10 characters, however on my wife's 5 series I will have all text displayed. I am looking for feedback from people who have used their equipment for controlling the tuner and what their experience has been using the interface. *


I have a Blitzsafe adapter that does this. It allows me to connect the built-in CD cables in my trunk to the Pioneer XM tuner. From the headunit, I just have to select "CD" to listen to XM. Easy install, smooth sailing, awesome sound quality.

In fact, I have the adapter for sale. I now have a CD changer so I need the dual adapter. Let me know if you're interested in it.


----------



## jkemmerly (Feb 12, 2003)

*Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



Jetfire said:


> *I have a Blitzsafe adapter that does this. *


Didn't you still have to mount/use a seperate control for changing channels on your XM tuner. My understanding of the Blitzsafe product is yes it will get the audio into your factory head unit however you need the additional control for the satellite tuner. Did you still need the additional control for the Pioneer tuner?


----------



## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

*Re: Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



jkemmerly said:


> *Didn't you still have to mount/use a seperate control for changing channels on your XM tuner. My understanding of the Blitzsafe product is yes it will get the audio into your factory head unit however you need the additional control for the satellite tuner. Did you still need the additional control for the Pioneer tuner? *


Yes. I have the control/display unit of the adapter mounted in my car.

Are you saying that the Soundgate interface actually uses the OEM head unit's display? Now that is intriguing, but I'm not sure that's accurate. I don't see how the buttons on the stock headunit could be easily translated to the different controls on the Pioneer tuner, and I furthermore doubt that Soundgate would go through the trouble to figure it out. But I could be wrong.

In my setup, the headunit "controls" the XM tuner to the extent that it can select XM as its intput, just like it can select among tape or CD (soon).


----------



## jkemmerly (Feb 12, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



Jetfire said:


> *
> Are you saying that the Soundgate interface actually uses the OEM head unit's display? *


Yes that is what Soundgate has told me. You control the sat tuner using the "<" and the ">" buttons on the CD controls of factory head unit. Adaptor has only been on the market for around 4 weeks. Goes for ~$130.00. The tech also told me that you can also program the 1 through 6 buttons on head unit to set-up your favorite channels. The limiting factor of what you see in text display is the head unit. I believe I will be alright with only the ~10 characters I get with my M. Belive once I find my favorite channels I will not need to search around a lot on the dial to find something to listen to. I have been waiting for this release for a few months. I was told by a high end aftermarket installer that this was coming. Orginally I was going to go Blitzsafe however when I found out this was coming I waited. Also the Blitz is only good for XM, I really think I am going Sirius. I want the 100% commerical free and I have heard that alot of the channels on XM will replay songs. I believe that Sirius will survive. I am willing to pay the extra $3 a month for better programing (no commercials) and if down the road Sirius does go under I will change then.


----------



## JST (Dec 19, 2001)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



jkemmerly said:


> *Yes that is what Soundgate has told me. You control the sat tuner using the "<" and the ">" buttons on the CD controls of factory head unit. Adaptor has only been on the market for around 4 weeks. Goes for ~$130.00. The tech also told me that you can also program the 1 through 6 buttons on head unit to set-up your favorite channels. The limiting factor of what you see in text display is the head unit. I believe I will be alright with only the ~10 characters I get with my M. Belive once I find my favorite channels I will not need to search around a lot on the dial to find something to listen to. I have been waiting for this release for a few months. I was told by a high end aftermarket installer that this was coming. Orginally I was going to go Blitzsafe however when I found out this was coming I waited. Also the Blitz is only good for XM, I really think I am going Sirius. I want the 100% commerical free and I have heard that alot of the channels on XM will replay songs. I believe that Sirius will survive. I am willing to pay the extra $3 a month for better programing (no commercials) and if down the road Sirius does go under I will change then. *


Interesting. I'd like to see that setup. It would be nice to do away with the separate controller in my dash, although I am happy enough now with the location.

I've not listened to Sirius, but on the commercial issue, only one of the channels that I ever listen to has commercials, and I have to say that in all the time I've listened to XM (going on 6 months now), I've heard maybe a half a dozen, total. The stations that I spend most time on (XMU, XM Cafe, and Fred) are commercial free.

While there is some repetition, the playlist rotates pretty quickly. And when I say "repetition," it's *nothing* like broadcast radio.

I love XM. I can't understand why the music industry isn't promoting the hell out of it; now that I have a source to hear new music that I actually like, my CD purchases have increased probably 100 percent.


----------



## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

This sounds interesting jkemmerly. If you get Soundgate adaptor to work write a review and post the results of the install.


----------



## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



JST said:


> *Interesting. I'd like to see that setup. It would be nice to do away with the separate controller in my dash, although I am happy enough now with the location.
> 
> I've not listened to Sirius, but on the commercial issue, only one of the channels that I ever listen to has commercials, and I have to say that in all the time I've listened to XM (going on 6 months now), I've heard maybe a half a dozen, total. The stations that I spend most time on (XMU, XM Cafe, and Fred) are commercial free.
> 
> ...


Agreed on all points. Definitely let us know if go with Soundgate and if it works as advertised.


----------



## jkemmerly (Feb 12, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



Jetfire said:


> *Agreed on all points. Definitely let us know if go with Soundgate and if it works as advertised. *


I ordered the adaptor last night from Soundgate. I should have it by end of next week and then will work on install. Will give update on how it works.


----------



## mbushnell (Aug 7, 2002)

This morning I went to the nearest dealer (about 12 miles away) to me that is listed on the Soundgate Web Site that handles them in order to look into this adapter. They were closed until 18 Feb, so I got nowhere. I'll try them again on Friday or Saturday.

Last Thursday I went to my BMW Dealer to look into the Sirius setup, but apparently the 325 Wagon setup is not available yet, Nav or no Nav. For non Nav the 3 series only the sedan & the coupe setup is available now. The convertible will be available during the 2nd Quarter, and the Wagon should be available around the same time as the setup for vehicles with Nav installed, during the 3rd Quarter.

The Dealer said they did their first Sirius install last week, into the Dealership's Owner's X-5.


----------



## jkemmerly (Feb 12, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Soundgate Adaptor for Sirius or XM*



Jetfire said:


> *Agreed on all points. Definitely let us know if go with Soundgate and if it works as advertised. *


I wanted to give an update and display some pictures of the install of the Soundgate KBMWSIR adaptor for use in my 2001M3. It really could not have been easier. I just used the existing wiring for the Aux CD changer that I found in the trunk and hooked them up to the new adaptor. Ran power from the battery to the Kenwood tuner and mounted the antenna on the rear window deck. I have complete control of the new Sirius tuner using my factory BMW head unit plus the steering wheel radio controls also work for volume and channel selection. It operates just as advertised except that I can only see on my display the Sirius Channel number without any extra text. This really is a non issue for what the upside is when compared to mounting a separate tuner control and FM modulator. The complete install only took around 2 hours. I managed to use the space in the truck where normally the spare tire would go. Seemed like a good place to mount the components and totally hide the install. There seems to be enough free air space that over-heating the turner is not a factor. I am going to install a thermocouple on the tuner to double check the temperature rise on tuner body however I have just come back from a 1 hour drive and when I checked for heat is was non-existent. Anyone thinking of installing satellite radio should look into this adaptor. I ordered it directly from Soundgate and the cost was around $130 delivered to my door. Soundgate also has another adaptor like this one for use on the Pioneer XM system.


----------

