Here are a few pics to show you what I did to my XM Commander to make it blend a little more with our interiors. All you have to do is take your XM Commander apart with a small torx screwdriver and slip a piece of clear red plastic film. ( I got this idea from my buddy JDaled...he did this with his Music Keg). You can get the plastic film for less than two dollars at a craft store (Hobby Lobby in the US).

I tried covering the small LED's on the buttons too, but it didnt work.

The cool thing is... the white part matches the liquid crystal of the speedometer and odometer at night =) And the orange is...well...it matches perfectly =)

The pics are a little blurry..but u get the picture...no pun intended =)

another...

at night...

at night

Wow, looks great!

How well does the XM sound, being modulated and all? Always curious about installs that utilize the stock system.

It sounds very good...not quite CD sound.. but better than FM... But it looks like it is supposed to be there.. unlike my old dephi skyfi...

=)

Freakin awesome!!! Exactly what unit is that?

Originally posted by Dugless
Freakin awesome!!! Exactly what unit is that?

Wow bro. It's the topic of the thread and the very first thing he says....

Its all good... The XM Commander hasnt received much press... Even if you go to Best Buy, they usually have those big junky lunch box sized Sirius things.... The best part about the XM Commander is it is small and perfectly matches our interior...

Wow, that looks very good! :cool:
It seems you took out the ashtray and the cig lighter - was that hard to do?
I'll probably use the same location to mount the control panel for my MP3 player. I don't smoke so I don't care much about the ashtray, but would prefer to take things out without breaking anything :D

Hey flyboyindy. looks great.

Good to see it works. I want do similar thing to Alpine Headunit to match green interior of my VW Polo G40.

Can you tell me more about the color film? Is it selfadhesive?

rgds
Tobi

that night shot is especially awesome. Way to go!

flyboyindy - It looks like you had some custom work done to put mount that XM Commander in the ashtray. Did you do it your self or have a shop handle it? Is that fiberglass or some other material?

It looks like the ash tray cover might come down to cover the unit . . . true? Is the power port/cig lighter still available or is it being used for power?

Here is what I did: I cut the ashtray out, and using a moto tool cut a piece of black plastic that I got from a binder from staples. I made a template. ( I will try to pull it out soon and make a copy of the template and post it.) I cut the hole in the center so that when i put the two halves of the XM commander back together, it would secure it in place. To get the color, you just have to cut a slip of the red celophane and slide it behind the plastic shield.
You dont need any adhesive, it stays put nicely. You cant close the lid, which is the only thing i dont like, and knowing me I wont rest till i have a solution where i can close the door. I got the film from Hobby Lobby. It is actually "Fruit Basket Wrap"...

If you have any other questions im on yahoo or aol all the time...chat me up =)

Nice work flyboy. Too bad the RX-8's audio system is not Sirius ready like the rest of the 2004 Mazda audio systems are supposed to be. I guess that way you can choose between XM and Sirius and since your install looks stock, that is not bad at all.

I am installing a new XM ready Pioneer head unit, xm tuner, speakers, and amp in my Miata next weekend. Hope to have and RX-8 someday to add XM or Sirius too as well.

By the way, I added you to my Yahoo messenger list so if you get a new notice, it is probably from me.

Kirk

Nice install and yes the colors really do go with the reat of the dash! Congrats!

I was entertaining the idea of using the upper center dash panel for the nav display and intergrating the socket for the removable/swappable Delphi XM reciever like the one in the commercial that shows the guy driving his red convertible right into his office and then removing the control console and installing it in his desk top unit.

I don't usually post unless I've got some kind of real input, but I have to break my own rule this time. That is an awesome looking setup and a nice job with the red filter. How does it look for you during the daytime? Is it just as visible or does it take more effort to read the disply, etc.?

No extra effort needed to read the display.. You can hardly tell the filter is in place =)

Spiffy!!!

Shweet!

So, can you close the lid over it?

I didn't see the answer to this. Sorry if it's there.

Nope... unfortunatly you cant... =(

Man, that looks really cool, to the tune of 007 cool. Too bad the cover is permanently open. If that could close, it would be a really cool gadget to impress your passengers. Keep it up! :)

Trust me... I will find a way to make it close... muhhaaaaaa...(My best Dr. Evil laugh)

that is so damn tight dude

do you have the XM a direct feed or is it FM modulated?
________
Ship Sale (http://ship-sale.com/)

Its modulated unfortunatly. Once an aftermarket kit becomes available to replace the stock DVD rom unit for the NAV I will probably port the XM into the AV controller on that...

FInally got my commander and installed it. Of course, while pulling the ashtray out, the little metal pivot for the left hand side, as well as the spring basically vanished into thin air. I never heard them fall off, and I looked everywhere for the darn things to no avail. So no ashtray cover until I can make repairs.

Sigh. Oh well. Off to activate the radio!

That sucks... Does anyone know if you can order just an ashtray door or what the price of the entire assembly is? Just curious....

Welp, I aint to woried as I still have 1 spring left, so if thats enough to keep the lid open I will be happy. Just need to make a new axle for the left hand side and thats it.

My antenna isnt in it's final spot yet. Any suggestions on a easy-ish palce to put it? Let me tell ya that getting the radio out was a MOTHER, but everything else was pretty easy. I ended up putting the control box right above the gas pedal on a black metallic box that seemed tailor made for the darn thing.

And I havve no idea if I'll ever get that 10mm hidden bolt back on. It took me 45 minutes just to find the darn thing!

Anyways, tried it out a bit, worked great, very good music selection compared to the local crap FM stations. Very happy. Now I need to make it red as suggested previously and clean things up a bit. Thanks for the tips!

After much thinking about it I put the antenna on the rear lid. It was by far the easiest spot to wire up to, as all the necesary panels are just snapped on and pull of easy. Looks really nice. I might end up putting it above the rear glass, mainly becuase of the cable slack you need to leave for the trunk to open and not yank it off. Thats for another day though :D I fabricated an axle out of a paper clip, and even made a ok'ish replacement spring. Tonight I'll put the cover back on, put in the red filter and hopefully finish cutting the ashtray to get everything to close.

Tried it out on my route today and worked like a champ, except for 1 dropout under heavy tree coverage. But thats to be expected.

How about using your moto tool/Dremel to shave away the backside of the ashtray door? Looks like there's a few ribs of plastic, etc. under there. I'd measure first, but would that give you enough clearance to close it?

If you check out this thread you can see my installation. http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13012 I gutted the ashtray and fit a custom black flocked backing. The ashtray does close. I also mounted the antenna in the on the dash and get a full signal with no drop out. Pretty simple and easy to remove if I need to.

Crutchfield did a similar install to PlanMan's for me. Looks awesome, I'm really happy with it. The antenna is under the rear window glass and it works perfect. I get no dropouts on my regular route to work, which has a lot of trees. I even get reception in the garage with the door closed. I was surprised.

I'm posting a couple pics for anyone who might be interested.

Here's where the antenna is.

(I forgot to mention that I can close my ashtray cover, too. I reaaallly like that I can do that. They used a dremel to shave away part of the plastic piece in the ashtray compartment.)

I just had an XM Commander installed; looks finished and the door closes. Lighter was removed, the plastic divider between lighter and ashtray cut. I now need to add the red filter like flyboy's.

Picture attached.

Ok.. I couldnt stand seeing all those great installs so I got out the old Dremel tool and did some more cutting =) I actually just took that adapter plate unit that came with the Commander and cut the bottom edges to match the contour of the ashtray. I then sprayed it with trim adhesive. I layed a piece of black leather over the top and pushed the commander back into the trim piece. It now fits perfectly, the door closes and looks like it came stock with the car! Finally...3 months later I have the perfect XM install... =) Thanks to Loco and TM45 for getting my ass motivated! =P

Lookin' good flyboyindy

Your new edition looks great day or night.

Ooooh, Flyboy! Nice. Now I'm jealous. :)

I like the red LEDs, too. My car has the black cloth interior, so I think I'll just leave mine as is, but that looks very sharp!

I have to agree and when I decide to get mine installed I think I will show the shop this site. Thanks for the ideas.