SiriusXM Option

[Cyclone Chris]

I'm planning on putting in an order for a 2013 M3 Coupe with all the options except for hi beam assist and SiriusXM.

So my dilemma. Since Ill be taking delivery of my US Spec M3 in England and will be here for the next 2 years, I really do not need XM radio as it will not work here, and I'm not quite sure if I will subscribe to XM once I go back to the U.S. since I mostly use MOG and Pandora.

So in a nutshell. Will I be able to get XM radio down the road? Is it just a software/license update on 2013's? Or will I need to buy hardware?

Besides the music/news channels Sirius provides, is there any other benefit to it? Is traffic, stocks and weather handled through Sirius or just the BMW Assist services?

Thanks in advance,
Chris.

[THE TECH]

Why wouldn't you just add the Sirius to your order? It's cheaper than doing it later on. Also, why won't Sirius work in the UK?

[Cyclone Chris]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Why wouldn't you just add the Sirius to your order? It's cheaper than doing it later on. Also, why won't Sirius work in the UK?

Sirius XM is not available in Europe. I guess the satellites only circle around the US and Canada. I figured I might as well just save up the $400 on that option if it can be coded in later on. I could have sworn I've seen someone say that you can enable XM later on by coding the vehicle for $350.

[Cyclone Chris]

Also, why use up my free year of XM radio while I cannot get it in the UK. Makes no sense to get it now. I'll wait 2 years till I get back on U.S. soil.

[Cyclone Chris]

Can anyone confirm if the Sirius Sat Radio can be enabled by some coding?

[Johndong888]

The Sirius Sat radio tuner is built into the CIC since 2010? Unless they changed it for 2013, which I don't think so, all you need to do is load a BMW FSC code for the sat radio and some coding to get Sirius Sat Radio working on your vehicle. The FSC code will be providing by BMW and the price range it is in is exactly what you had in mind earlier.

[Cyclone Chris]

Originally Posted by Johndong888

The Sirius Sat radio tuner is built into the CIC since 2010? Unless they changed it for 2013, which I don't think so, all you need to do is load a BMW FSC code for the sat radio and some coding to get Sirius Sat Radio working on your vehicle. The FSC code will be providing by BMW and the price range it is in is exactly what you had in mind earlier.

Thanks for the info.

Is there any other features besides the channels on Sirius?

Ie. traffic, Stocks, weather? Or is that all piped in via BMW assist?

[BIGW0RM]

Why even bother with sirius? pandora, slacker, spotify all stream via bluetooth and are FREE, or much cheaper if you want unlimited skipping. I see no value in paying for sirius these days. I would rather pay the streaming apps with no commericals and unlimited skips than sirius. Heck, Slacker radio will even let you download as much music as you want to your phone for offline use too.

[Cyclone Chris]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

Why even bother with sirius? pandora, slacker, spotify all stream via bluetooth and are FREE, or much cheaper if you want unlimited skipping. I see no value in paying for sirius these days. I would rather pay the streaming apps with no commericals and unlimited skips than sirius. Heck, Slacker radio will even let you download as much music as you want to your phone for offline use too.

I agree that streaming music is the way to go... I use MOG all the time, which I believe is built into the iDrive System. The downside to streaming is the quality of sound. The quality is usually around 96kbps unless you set it to stream at higher bit rates... then the issue is with the amount of data you have purchased through your cellular provider and the limitations of a 3G cell signal.

Yes, streaming is ideal, if unlimited data plans and full US 3G coverage was available.

One of the things I used to like with XM is the traffic info. I'm not sure if this is built in different with BMW; however, when I had my Kenwood system, all NAV Traffic was pulled via XM Radio.