Poor XM reception fix

[satown210]

I just bought a 2012 M37 with the 16 speaker bose. I transferred my XM subscription to the Infiniti. I previously had a Honda Accord coupe. There was one spot next to an apartment building on my drive where the signal would cut out with the Honda. The Infiniti could not capture and hold a signal no matter how wide open and clear it was. I would get music for about two seconds and then it would cut out for a few minutes. It was very frustrating.

I read about an updated antenna. I found one off of a Q70 on ebay. I got it for $35. It was pretty easy to swap out. You have to remove the grab handles in the back. Remove the C-Pillar trim which comes off with a good tug. There are two clips on the rear headliner and you can drop the headliner low enough to reach the antenna from the sides. One bolt and one wire connection right by the antenna.

Putting it back is a bit of a chore. Getting the c-pillar trim back in place requires a lot of patience and maneuvering. Putting the grab handles back is tedious too. You need to get the clips out of the roof without bending or distorting them, and put them back onto the handles first. Then snap the handles back into the roof. Then replace the retainers. This can be confusing if you are not very mechanically inclined.

But you will have a solid XM signal afterwards.

[Ilya]

Nice! Good job getting a fix!

[reggiebrown40]

Great find Satown. You mentioned that you couldn't get signal in wide open spaces - I can, but I get no service when driving under trees. I remember when I was in a Q70 loaner I had NO issues with XM whatsoever, but that car has a different module. Can you confirm whether or not you get good reception when driving under trees or between tall buildings? thanks in advance.

[satown210]

So far I have yet to loose a signal.

Here is a link to a map that shows where the signal comes from based on where you live.

http://www.siriusretail.com/ir/design/h ... l_tips.pdf

It's a few pages down. In my case the signal comes from the North, Northeast. It is not always straight up and down.

[JCesar]

So you got one of this for your M37 and now your XM Signal is way better?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2015-INFINITI- ... m570.l1313

I want to do that to my M37 to see if my signal improves but my car is Storm Front Gray and they don't use that color for Q70's
since you had yours out already. could i be able to swap the internals into my current fin? i hope i could do that to make it a lot easier

[satown210]

Yes, I have a solid signal now. The color does not matter. When you get the replacement antennta, remove the rubber gasket. It just sits on a lip around the antenna. You can now gently pry off the painted cover. It just snaps on. I put my replacement antenna on without my painted cover so I could see the entire gasket and make sure it sat flush so I didn;t have to worry about leaks down the road. After I was satisfied it was in place correctly, I just snapped my original painted cover on.

[JCesar]

Yes, I have a solid signal now. The color does not matter. When you get the replacement antennta, remove the rubber gasket. It just sits on a lip around the antenna. You can now gently pry off the painted cover. It just snaps on. I put my replacement antenna on without my painted cover so I could see the entire gasket and make sure it sat flush so I didn;t have to worry about leaks down the road. After I was satisfied it was in place correctly, I just snapped my original painted cover on.

Awesome!!! I will do this. Now for the new antenna. what year year Q70 did you get? that one from the link is 2015. i'm thinking the newer the better i guess

[satown210]

Mine was from a 2014 I believe.

[JCesar]

I just bought that antenna for $24 shipped coming on Saturday
Ebay has a $10 coupon right now that I was able to use

[MY2J]

I so want to do this but I'm nervous about taking pillars and headliners apart

[armybrat]

Yeah my XM radio reception has been spotty since I've had the car, mainly around tall trees. I found a used 2018 Q50 AWD antenna on Ebay for $39.99 free shipping. I crossed referenced the part number 28208-6AJ0B to make sure it's compatible with my '12 M56x. This part fits most of the Infiniti/Nissan models across the board with the premium/tech packages. I will take pics and update once I finish installation.