2001 Mercedes R129 SL500 hidden satellite-radio installation
In a 2006 write-up, mebeJOE fitted a removable Sirius receiver inside the dashboard compartment and concealed its power wiring. The exterior antenna location was still temporary.
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A receiver behind the compartment lid
mebeJOE showed the dashboard compartment closed, then opened with a Sirius Starmate Replay receiver inside. He described the unit as removable rather than permanently installed. In a follow-up he explicitly identified the car as a 2001 model and corrected a reader’s suggestion that it was a Silver Arrow.
Power wiring hidden below the dashboard
The author removed the compartment and drilled a hole at its rear left corner. He described removing the heater controls, radio and ashtray to route the receiver’s power and antenna leads behind the dashboard toward the passenger footwell. An additional cigarette-lighter socket was connected behind the ashtray and secured out of sight near the footwell light grille. The next pair of photographs shows the concealed arrangement from the footwell and outside the car.
Routing the antenna lead to the trunk
mebeJOE continued the antenna lead through the carpet joints toward the door jamb and beneath its seal. He then described taking the top off, routing the lead around the top-opening mechanism into the trunk and securing it near the existing phone-antenna wiring boot before continuing beneath the trunk-lid lining. The photographs accompany his routing account; they do not establish clearance or durability on another car.
The outside antenna position remained temporary
He placed the satellite antenna next to the existing phone antenna on the trunk lid and said he disliked the arrangement, asking for a better location. The thread does not document a subsequent relocation. These final photographs show his temporary arrangement.
