XM radio reception

[BCole8888]

I have a 2012 M56x and it has the poorest satellite reception of any car I've ever owned. I took it to the dealer to ask about it and was told it was $315 to replace the entire antenna and cabling plus another 2-4 hours labor ($115/hr) to install it. I will put up with lots of dropouts before I spend $700 to fix it. Has anyone here experienced any issues or have a solution a little less expensive? Thanks in advance.

[reggiebrown40]

I have the same issue. I can have a clear path to the sky and a few trees to the left or right and the signal cuts out. I'll live with it until I get rid of the car. Not sure about your drop outs but if you have no trees, buildings, etc. and a clear path to the sky and you still have drop outs, you might need to get it replaced. I don't think the issue would be the cabling so I would start with just the antenna. I didn't have this issue on the Q70 5.6 AWD loaner I had over the summer. Bluetooth and XM are 2 of my biggest gripes that got fixed in the 2016 model.

[BCole8888]

It's as you described, I don't have clear path to the sky issues, it works normally then. But every underpass causes it to cut out, and I've never had that happen in other cars. There is one underpass on the interstate where it cuts out 3 times. Once when I'm about 300 yds away, again as I'm drive under it, and a third time as I drive away from it. My wife's QX60 maintains a signal without a drop in the same spot. I see there are aftermarket antenna replacements, just didn't know if anyone has ever gotten one and it fixed the issue.

[Ilya]

I have the cutouts when going under some underpasses or if sitting under it at a light or tunnels...I'm surprised that is considered 'not normal'. I would totally expect it to cutout then.

[BCole8888]

I've been driving the same route to work for 20 years. There are a couple of large overpasses that have caused very brief drops in other cars, and certainly if you have to stop under one due to traffic it drops out. But my M56 has drops in places no other cars I've owned have. I understand if it can't get the signal it can't get the signal, but it seems like if a bird flies overhead this car loses signal. It's just excessive. I've owned 2 G coupes a G sedan, a M37, QX60 and now this M56 and the M56 is hands down the only one I can even remember it being an issue with. If I knew where the connection to the radio was made I would look to see if the cable has come loose.

[Ilya]

lol @ bird.

On the Y50, the SAT tuner where the antenna plugged in was in the trunk under the rear shelf. Not sure where it is on the Y51 but I'm assuming if you view the FSM for our car you'll be able to find the location. A connection then runs from the trunk to the back of the head unit.

[DredM56]

I hardly listened to the Sat radio even when I had for free. So i certainly wouldn't pay a cent to have use of it. It is hilarious how many times I have to tell them their service sucks and I wouldn't want it for free. They call at least once every month.

The M itself does seem more sensitive than my G was. But any car I've ever been in I was unimpressed with the reception. It seems this is normal operation for the M. I wouldn't pay anything to have them try and fix it because it sounds like you'll still have the same issues. Unless the parts they are replacing it with have different part numbers and are updated.

[Ilya]

I hardly listened to the Sat radio even when I had for free. So i certainly wouldn't pay a cent to have use of it. It is hilarious how many times I have to tell them their service sucks and I wouldn't want it for free. They call at least once every month.

The M itself does seem more sensitive than my G was. But any car I've ever been in I was unimpressed with the reception. It seems this is normal operation for the M. I wouldn't pay anything to have them try and fix it because it sounds like you'll still have the same issues. Unless the parts they are replacing it with have different part numbers and are updated.

I think the service is fine and I use BPM (51) quite a bit as well as occasionally getting nostalgic and listening to 90's on 9 and the 2000's channel. The weather and traffic is pretty much a waste though...nice party trick so to speak to show people in the car the upcoming forecast lol.

[redsworld]

I have 2012 M37x. Same issue. Going down highway with trees on both sides, lose signal. The worst car I've ever had in this respect. I've had satellite radio for 10 years, in several cars. This is the worst.

[Ilya]

Curious to find out what you guys find out. I live in the sticks (LOTS of woods) and never have issues. Or even when I travel. The ONLY time it cuts out is underpasses and tunnels. Otherwise I have 99.9% uptime.

[armybrat]

I also have a '12 M56x. Mine works fine. There are a few dead spots that I run into on a daily basis that only last for a split second. Common denominator seems to be tall trees...however, my wife's '12 Acura RDX picks up the signal no problem in the same spots. Her car has the same shark fin style antenna but also with a 6" long rod sticking up. Maybe that's the reason for the better reception.

I'm not sure your problem is the cables...seems to me if your cables were bad, you wouldn't get a signal at all. There are actually three cables that run from the AV unit to the antenna. I would be more inclined to replace the antenna. The antenna part number 28208-1DV0B has been upgraded to 28208-6AJ0B. Maybe the new part will work better. There is also a radio amplifier that plugs into the cables that may or may not have anything to do with the satellite radio.