BMW Sirius Receiver Installation Guide For X5 (E53) with Navigation (MY03+)

This installation guide is intended to supplement the BMW Installation Instructions to help you with the installation of the BMW Sirius Receiver for X5 (E53) with Navigation. I opted for the Terk SIR3 Low-Profile Magnetic Mount antenna and mounted it in the spoiler. As a result, this guide will not cover the installation of the BMW Sirius Satellite Antenna and you should follow the instructions supplied with the BMW Sirius Satellite Antenna Kit if you decide to go that route. I found no signal loss or weak reception with the antenna being in the spoiler and would strongly recommend if you want to be stealth and do not like the obtrusive shape of the BMW Sirius antenna on your roof.

You could also try to mount the BMW Sirius Satellite Antenna in the spoiler, but it is too big to fit in there. I attempted to remove the antenna cover to make room, but could not pull back the weather stripping to expose the torx screws. Pictures of the BMW Sirius Satellite Antenna are attached in the last section to show you more details.

Cost wise, the Terk SIR3 and SIR-SP splitter cost about $65 plus sales tax and can be purchased from Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Sound Advice, or your local audio shops. The BMW Satellite Roof Antenna is retailed at $125.00 and can be purchased for as little as $93.60 from Pacific BMW, Circle BMW, or Crevier BMW.

It takes me about 3 hours to complete the project, and the bulk of time was spent on mounting the Terk SIR3 antenna on the spoiler and fishing the antenna lead through the rubber grommets (about 1 and ½ hours!). But I also wanted to take my time and do it right, especially not rushing through the procedures and kink or crimp the antenna leads. Last but not least, some of the pictures included in this guide came from Slappy, who had mounted his XM antenna in the spoiler as well.

MOUNTING OF TERK SIR3 LOW PROFILE ROOF ANTENNA IN SPOILER
The Terk SIR3 Roof Mount Antenna is a low-profile magnetic-mount antenna with a single lead. However, in order to use it with the BMW Sirius Receiver (which is a dual antenna input receiver), you will also need to purchase the Terk SIR-SP Splitter.

REMOVAL OF THE ROOF SPOILER
Remove the spoiler by unscrewing the five (5) Torx-30 screws from the underside of the spoiler. As you can see from the photos below, four (4) of the Torx-30 screws are located on the left and right sides, and one is in the middle of the spoiler. One of the screws on each side is hidden under the black, round plastic cover. Use a thin-blade screwdriver to pop the cover off, and remove the screw underneath. Take your time and be very careful removing this screw. You do not want to drop it in the hatch compartment because it would be a nightmare to retrieve it (if at all possible).

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