Hey Forum,

Today I'm installing Sirius Satellite Radio to the stock stereo system. In the future I plan on upgrading to a better sound system but until then I've been paying for my Sirius on a car I don't own anymore. I transferred my account to this one over the phone in about 5 minutes and I'm glad to have my satellite radio back.

The install took about an hour with taking pictures and I give it a 3 out of 10 for install difficulty.

Check out my build thread (HERE) to get more installs and daily updates on this car.

I bought the kit from Subaru Parts Mall found here. The price was $305 once I added some other products, the more you buy the bigger the discount gets. It's the OEM parts you would have received if you went straight to the dealer except it's not $500

Here's the install:

Stock radio... Remove the radio surround by slightly pulling around the sides and then work from the bottom towards the top. It should easily come off without any tools needed.



Remove the stock radio by unscrewing the 4 Philips screws on the outside 4 corners. Pull out slowly until you have enough room to unplug all the harnesses in the back of the radio.



These are all the parts that come with the kit.



Put the side brackets on the tuner, then the power harness, lastly the antenna adapter.



Install the satellite tuner above where the stock radio was with two Philips screws.



Remove the drivers side A-Pillar. To remove the pillar, take off the SRS cap with a small flat screwdriver or utility blade. Then remove the 10mm bolt behind the SRS cover. Slightly pull the pillar from the top down to the bottom. Reveal the green Antenna plug towards the bottom.



Prepare the new antenna with adding three pieces of foam (supplied) to reduce vibrations.



Mount the new antenna on the top right of the windshield (inside), secure it to the windshield using the supplied double sided tape. Next run the antenna cable across the top of the window tucking it under the headliner. The pink connector at the end of the wire should reach the top of the A-pillar.



Use the antenna extension to go from the pink plug at the top of the A-Pillar to the bottom green stock connector. Use the supplied foam to cover both connection to prevent rubbing against the plastic a-pillar cover.
The top right picture is the other end of the stock harness that is located under the stock radio. I removed the center heating duct (2 screws) to locate the plug easier. This end will plug into the small antenna wire that is coming out of the tuner.



Once you secure every thing back up, you can plug the radio back in and power it up. You must call to have your subscription added to this radio. Once the signal is beamed to your car, the radio will begin updating to your stations.



When your radio is all programmed and playing your satellite stations, then screw the radio back in, put the trim cover back on, install the A-pillar cover, and enjoy!!


Thanks for reading!

I'm not sure that sat tuner will work with a aftermarket headunit, if that is the stereo upgrade you're referring to then you might have just got a future unusuable piece. Other than that it's all good.

Totally true...
I just bought this as a temporary fix for the moment. Hopefully I will be able to sell it when it's time for the full upgrade. It's somewhat a waste of money but it should hold me over for the time being.

Thanks for reading!

nice install with the pics, you can always upgrade more with amp and speakers and keep the head unit that is what i did.

Nice write up, I am still torn between adding satellite or replacing the stock HU myself.

I've been okay with the stock set-up for now... I know that it wont take long before I get the itch to go back to a full system.
It does have a lot of convenience features that I will miss but nothing that I couldn't replace with a really good head unit.

For now it's all good and works well for what it is...

Now that sat antenna, is that replacing the stock radio antenna for good or is it used in conjunction? If its a replacement I would keep it as it is, but if its only for sat, I would of re routed the wiring so you could keep it below the dash where people usually put the GPS antenna (the little pocket right behind the radio. It just looks like a huge antenna to put in your windshield

I am a little spoiled, I had a car with Ford Sync before this. It allowed me to voice dial contacts out of my cell phone as well as use voice commands to find and play music. It's looking like an aftermarket HU that can do similar functions is going to be $600 or more.

It would be tolerable if the stock BT didn't suck so bad on my 2011.

Yeah, its a big block on the windshield... It's on the passenger side so it's not so distracting. Living in the mountains I need all the exposure I can get though. I had it hidden in my Audi and it was terrible when arrived in Maine. It's a crappy trade off but the reception is spot on now!

Yeah, the stock BT is pretty terrible, I had the Alpine W505 in my Audi and the BT was just as good, if not better then having it on your ear. It won't be long before this all comes out and the big media upgrade goes in...
Now, if I only wasn't get married this year..... Hmmmmmm

Damn my salesman said it was all prewired. I'll probably be doing this mod soon I still have almost 2 years left on my subscription.

Well technically there was 2-1/2 feet of pre-wired antenna feed. I didn't have to go from the A-pillar to the radio opening
I still think it's worth it... Just took a 700 mile trip to Vermont and listened to the same station without it cutting out once!

This is something i'll be doing very shortly. Great write up with instructions, perfect for a utter noob like me. Thank you!

I can't stand not having satelite radio anymore.

/spoiled

Thanks for the write up, should be getting this for x-mas and this will come in handy.

Cheers Mate!

If you have any questions during the install, send me a PM...

Merry Christmas!!

Installed my XM radio following this thread and it went smoothly. Only note I have is that when I had to remove the radio, when pulling the head unit it was very stiff as off the wires were not long enough. I did some looking with a light and decided to keep pulling slowly but firmly. The head unit did come out and the wires are long enough for you to get being the unit and unclip them (obviously). I am not sure what was holding my head unit back initially but just incase you try the and it feels like the wires at tight, just pull slowly and firmly and it should come forward enough to work on it.

So nice to have XM again. The unit works well and is a lot better sound quality than my old sportscaster. The antenna in the window seems to work well. Compared to my Toyota Tacoma (previous vehicle) which had a roof mounted oem antenna, this antenna actually holds signal better.

Hey Andrew,
Glad it worked out, thanks for the updates on the short wires too!!

Enjoy the freedom of satellite radio!

Isnt the roof antenna sat-ready, and a antenna hookup behind the radio?

Nope.

The reception isn't as good as my Chevy pickup but Subaru's aren't know for their reception anyways in our household.

The top antenna is just for the FM radio. In order to have satellite radio you need to run another antenna like I put on the top right of the windshield.
Reception wise it is dead on, I live in Maine where the mountains are known to kill reception and I've never had it cut out once yet. Spot on man...

Cheers!

- Jason

Sorry for jacking thread. Nice install! Are there any cheaper alternatives out there for adding Sirius to my stock HU in my 2012 WRX premium ? I hate to part with $320 for a part that will eventually be replaced.

I just installed satellite in my 11 STi with nav.
I followed the Subaru supplied instructions for the most part but didn't want the antenna up on the window, and the way it's wired, you can't plug the antenna straight into the satellite module. Fortunately, I had an extra Sirius antenna with standard SMB connector which worked fine with the satellite module. So I used double stick tape to install the antenna inside the dash behind the clock. Testing so far has had a few signal drops, so all is good for now. I think my next step will be to install the antenna into the the rear spoiler. If I do, I'll update.

Great man, glad it worked out! I didn't think to try it under the dash, I hope that works.

Does anybody have the part number for this kit, and possibly the best website/vendor to buy this from? Interested in asking santa (the gf) for it.