I was an avid user of XM for 4 years before just recently purchasing my new M35 Sport with the Tech Package / Sirius radio. I'm thoroughly disappointed with the selection on Sirius except for the NFL package which will come in handy towards the end of the year.

My question is - what is the possibility of switching the car from Sirius to XM. I heard it's just a receiver that needs to be replaced and not a large task.

Anyone know?

Yes its easy, just purchase the XM unit from Infiniti and replace the unit in the trunk; Our have your dealer do it; The car is built for either unit and no issues should exist.

There is likly even an after market for the old unit if you wanted to sell it.

The only part that I'm not 100% sure about is the Antena connectors as I ordered mine as a service part. Joe at http://www.infinitypartsusa.com was VERY helpfull when I ordered my unit and had it shipped to Canada. I trust that he would be pleased to assist you with this switch and some advice. They are an Infiniti Dealer so you will be getting the true OEM parts also.

Anyway, I'm sure that if you wanted to, changing to XM will be no big issue, other than the cash to buy the new unit. I think the kit was around $500 US.

tk

I can't say for sure about the how, but I've seen posts on other related threads mentioning ebay. But our cars can handle either. Since SAT radio comes standard, the dealer has to choose one on order.

Its as simple as removing the N-Bus connector and the Antena Plug and putting in the XM in its place, the ONLY part I'm not sure of is if the Anenta conector is the same, it should be... worst case you change the plug end yourself.

I would say there is a VERY low risk of it not working... and I'm sur that if you order from Infinitpartsusa.com they would give you a credit if you kept the box in mint shape!

tk

tmunny:

You're the first person I have heard complain that they prefer one vs. another, especially with regards to the music/news show channels(practically identical). The reason people tend to go with XM vs Sirius is content preference (like Stern) or the car was prewired for one or the other.

This war will be won with programming stars and sports content not music channel line-up or mediocre cable talk shows.

midas wrote:tmunny:

You're the first person I have heard complain that they prefer one vs. another, especially with regards to the music/news show channels(practically identical). The reason people tend to go with XM vs Sirius is content preference (like Stern) or the car was prewired for one or the other.

This war will be won with programming stars and sports content not music channel line-up or mediocre cable talk shows.

I disagree - it all depends what you listen to in your car. For me, it's news and music. It's the overall selection that I was most impressed with on XM and not on Sirius. I could give a crap about Howard Stern - it's the NFL package that pushed me to Sirius, but for the other 7 months of the year you have do deal with a "lesser selection". If XM had NFL, it would be a no brainer.

However, I'm not certain it's worth messing with the antenaas and whatnot..since the car is a lease.

One more thing to consider:

With Sirius, you get the full display of the Artist and Song title on the STATUS display, whereas with XM it's been reported that you only get the first 10 characters of each (even tho XM today broadcasts 16/32 characters). Something wrong with (some of) the XM receivers and/or the N-Bus interface.

I've seen lots of complaints about this on various Infiniti M forums; perhaps this is why dealers seem to be choosing Sirius more than XM as their choice for "lot" cars.

I too was prior an XM fan, but I'm liking my Sirius more and more every day. My wife's car has XM; maybe I'll just drive that during Baseball season