BMW 7 Series: SDARS Satellite Tuner

The SDARS (Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service) control unit enables reception of digital radio signals.

Digital transmissions are superior in quality to analog transmissions. The radio stations of the satellite tuner can be selected under the "Satellite radio" submenu.

Advantages of digital satellite radio:

• Reception of same radio station across the entire US mainland (excluding Alaska).
• Digital reception of music, news and talk stations.
• Wide choice of available music genres.
• No commercial breaks.
• Digital signal transmission provides greater immunity to external interference.

Fig. 118: Identifying SDARS Control Unit With MOST And Power Supply Terminals

INDEX REFERENCE CHART

1. MOST
2. Power supply
3. SDARS signal (pink connector)

The satellite tuner is designed for the Sirius Satellite Radio subscription service. The SDARS signals are transmitted by three satellites. In areas without coverage, the SDARS signals are beamed terrestrially.

Both SDARS signals (satellite and terrestrial) are received by a single antenna in the roof antenna assembly and supplied to the SDARS control unit.

The SDARS satellite tuner is located in the luggage compartment on the left-hand side.

When the system is activated for the first time, the weather channel (channel 184) is available for 360 days free of charge for test purposes.

The other channels are blocked by the provider Sirius (not yet subscribed) and therefore still show a credit card symbol.

Fig. 119: Display - Blocked SDARS Channels

If a channel that is not yet subscribed is selected, the request to register with the provider Sirius with the ESN number of the SDARS module will be shown.

Fig. 120: Display - Request To Contact Service Provider

Important information for enabling SDARS:

• Park vehicle with clear view of the sky; tune in to weather channel on channel 184 (The weather channel is enabled for 360 days)
• Call SIRIUS and apply to enable the SDARS module
• The radio is muted and the "Updating list..." information appears during activation

Fig. 121: Display - Searching SDARS Station List

• Wait until the pop-up disappears and the radio can be heard again
• Check that a credit card symbol no longer appears next to the enabled channels (see picture below).

  Otherwise, repeat the previous steps.

After successfully enabling the channels, on selection, the diskette symbol appears to the right next to the station. It indicates that the station can now be stored in the "All channels" list.

Fig. 122: Display - Stored Station

The ESN number is always shown in the "Options menu" of the satellite radio.

Fig. 123: Display - ESN Number

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