Posting this with new header in case people need to research it down the line. This was a suggestion to fix an A3 owners issue. His dealer couldn't figure out how to swap a Sirius box for an Xm box. They tried it and said it wasn't possible... Ha!

Reason it's funny is that we've all read posts on the boards that the tuners are being swapped all the time.

DIY thread for Satellite by Steve M.: http://spaces.msn.com/members/mcdonst1/Blog/cns!1pt6HJLQ8RUTj7GTLFugwSCA!178.entry

Anyhow. Here are the possible reasons your service department couldn't handle this simple swap...

1. They had a bad sirius tuner box (unlikely). Or they had a tuner box that was not intended to be used for an A3 (packaged wrong, or something like that).

2. They failed to connect one of the 4 plugs in, properly. Green & brown cable = antenna connections. And two large black harness plugs, power and audio out (how hard could this be).



3. When they turned on the head unit, didn't find the proper "free channel" to test it. And therefore, quit and said it's not possible.

4. When they started this project, the tech made a mistake. He went to the passenger side kick panel, and switched the plug to the "sat.off" position. He may have done this if it was his first Satellite project. Meaning, he was following the directions to install it in a car without a satellite tuner box previously. Explained further: he unplugged the unit forgetting that you already had SAT in the car.

5. They didn't feel paying the $150 transfer fee they incur for having to swap service. And just said they couldn't do it for you. This 'fee' was explained to me by a local dealership. Not sure about the details.

6. You have the tire pressure monitoring system and/or navagation. In which case you had the wrong unit completely. You need to add a D to the regular box.

If you don't have tire pressure monitoring or Navigation you need the standard sirius tuner box. 8E0 035 593.

If you have tpm and/or Nav, you need 8E0 035 593D.

I took a picture of the plug on a SIRIUS BOX.




And I compared it with an XM BOX. NO differences in plugs.





My gut tells me that #4 or #6 is the reason it didn't work.

I'm sure the tech or service manager will not fess up to unplugging the door accidently, or will even remember it.

JUST GET THE SIRIUS BOX FROM THE DEALER. GIVE THEM THE OLD XM BOX. AND LEAVE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. When you're back in the car and it's safe, compare the item # on the tuner box with the one in the picture below.

If you have the tire pressure package, and/or navagation, you will need to add a D to the #. It's also about 116$ more! If this was the problem the dealer just didn't do their homework.

Since you have an IOU from the dealer, you should NOT come out of pocket for anything, and should demand that they fix this. My dealer has done over 10 swaps already with no trouble.



> Remove passenger side kick plate by door and connect CAN bus plugs

* Carefully remove kickplate cover - Typical VAG plastic part with metal clips. Requires a firm tug in strategic places to remove w/o breaking anything. Take it slow and be careful. The plastic above the top clip needs some care to remove without stressing the plastic (FIG 6)
* locate cables, they are wrapped to exisiting wiring bundles with masking tape
* remove tape, plug CAN connectors together (FIG 7)




Good luck, keep me posted please!


Major credit goes to don rosen for allowing me to open the two boxes and determining that they are indeed the same exact plugs. AND to spearheadx for the original sat instructions.

-RyanA3

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