Dealer confused?

I had a long email exchange today with one of the local BMW dealers here in Houston over whether my car needed a complete new head unit for Sat Radio or just the coding. My car has Nav and Sat Radio Prep (0693). I've attached what they sent me with the part circled. I countered that what they have circled is under the heading of cars without Nav and that my car does have Nav. They wrote back saying I was in fact correct and that all my car needs is the coding. After all this, I'm doubting whether this is accurate.

(I know there's a contingent of owners that don't like the Sirius Sat Radio, but I do like it)

Just to clarify, look on the door jam for the production date stamped there. That will give you the answer as the document clearly shows that cars produced after 9/10 only require the coding to get Sirius operational. Cars produced before Sept 2010 may require some hardware... Having Sat Prep on cars produced before Sept 2010 only means the wiring is in place for the antenna in the shark fin etc. You may still need the head unit. Go check your door jam!

My build date is 3/10 but that's not conclusive. The 09/2009 - 09/2010 statement in the bulletin clearly states that under the heading of "Vehicles Equipped Without Navigation".

Yes, I noticed that but don't think it matters. I'm pretty sure (not 100%!) that all E9x's up until 9/2010 production were not equipped with the Sat unit and therefore require the head unit install. When BMW describes a car as having Sat Radio prep, that only refers to having all the wiring in place but does mean the proper head unit w/ Sirius receiver is there. Others will have to chime in to confirm this 100%, sorry...

Confirmed with a different dealer here in Houston that said all I needed was the coding, so I placed my order with BimmerTech (who also confirmed via my VIN). I love my new M3!

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Yes, I noticed that but don't think it matters. I'm pretty sure (not 100%!) that all E9x's up until 9/2010 production were not equipped with the Sat unit and therefore require the head unit install. When BMW describes a car as having Sat Radio prep, that only refers to having all the wiring in place but does mean the proper head unit w/ Sirius receiver is there. Others will have to chime in to confirm this 100%, sorry...

Sat activated today via bimmertech. No additional hardware required. Took about 20 mins. Called Sirius and got my 1 year free. Again, my build date was 03/2010.

Thanks bimmertech!

Excellent, glad you got it sorted! It really is sad how uninformed dealers and their service departments are about the cars they sell...