Detroit RX8

From Mazda:

Dear Chris,

Thank you again for contacting Mazda North American Operations. I
appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

No, Mazda will not exchange or swap out your audio system for the
SIRIUS satellite radio-compatible audio system equipped in the 2005
RX-8.

Again, thank you for contacting Mazda. It has been my pleasure to
assist you. Please feel free to reply to this message with any further
questions or comments.

Regards,

Lisa Lasky
Specialist, Customer Assistance E-Business

goforwand

That's funny

1st Paragraph-Form Letter

2nd Paragraph- Screw You!

3rd paragraph- Form letter..have a nice day!

LOL!

thew

If your HU is 9.67 Firmware then you have the Sat compatable Firmware.. But the LAck of the Sat button on your HU is an Issue.. WE are still working on that.


The Sat box usese the same 16 pin connecter that the PIE or Icelink connection do.. so your still better off useing the PIE box and then add an after market Sat reciver via the PIE. You can split the Pie inputs to add more audio devices.

thew

I know i posted this in my words somewhere here.. .. Mazda is not going to replace something that is not broken.. Thats like asking them to give you a new 05 rx8 cause they made a newer version .. Not going to happen.

Zaku-8

Can the Sirius unit be selected by the mode control on the steering wheel? Also, is that how the PIE (presumably attached to an aftermarket sat radio) unit is selected?

thew

You get an extra Input when you hit you CD button.. then it actavates the EX1 input.. Anything you have hooked into the RCA inputs on the PIE box will then play in your HU.
Yes it will be selected by the mode button on the wheel.

mazradiodoc

THE 05' RX-8 SOFTWARE VERSION IS 9.73 !!

Thew is correct on all other accounts, the SAT button replaces the AM button position and AM moves over and shares the FM button.

SO SATILLITE FIRMWARE VERSION IS 9.73 or higher.

thew

did i say 9.67 ? just cause i have it on the brain.

draco067

My 2005 does NOT have the SAT button.

snap-on

bump..

The Parts kit for the Tribute will work with the RX-8..

And the display will show channel/song title etc..

NomisR

So it works but we still need a button?

RosenthalMazda

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/sat_info.html

EvilBostonRX8

Well the link says I need three things, a Sat ready HU, an installation kit, and activate the system. I have a Sirius unit already from my Kenwood system, which covers 2 and 3, but apparently getting the Sat ready HU is not an option at the present.....

NomisR

Thanks for the information, the exchange thing is good news. But which TSB are you refering to? I don't see it on your site? Thanks!

RosenthalMazda

I've been trying to find this one but can't seem to locate a copy. I'll keep looking.

NomisR

Thanks! Please keep us posted on this! :D

Thetitanium8

yes if you can find the TSB that would be nice :D

jenkins-crew

So 2004 are out of luck?

NomisR

Any luck? bump!

Thetitanium8

I wrote to mazda this is what their response was.

Thanks for contacting Mazda.

I'm sorry to hear of your disappointment. Currently, only the 2005
Mazda RX-8 comes satellite ready. We have had numerous requests for a
retro-fit kit for the 2004, but at this time we do not have such an
item.

We appreciate your honesty and taking the time to bring your suggestion
regarding the Sirius Satellite system to our attention. Consumer
feedback is always very important to Mazda. Certainly, we want to
offer exciting vehicles and accessories, and comments such as yours
help us to achieve that goal.

Rest assured I have documented your suggestion for our corporate
record. These records are continuously being reviewed by our Product
Planning Department in an effort to provide only the highest quality
products to our customers.

Again, thank you for contacting Mazda. It has been my pleasure to
assist you. Please feel free to reply to this message with any further
questions or comments.

Regards,

Heather Berger
Specialist, Customer Assistance E-Business

rob4001va

iTrader: (2)

I've been reading a lot of these posts and it seems there's a lot of speculation and uncertainty about retrofitting the factgory Sirius radio tuner to an 04 vehicle.
Pardon me for being somewhat ignorant and possibly repetitive, but here's what I want to know...

Has anyone actually done this retrofit? (bought the 05 head unit and Sirius kit and installed it in an 04?). If so, what was the cost, part numbers, etc? I'm assuming Mazda will not swap the HU's or give you any kind of credit.

I also see that the PIE/IceLink adapter option with an aftermarket Sirius tuner appears to operate pretty much the same as what I'd imagine the 05 HU with Sirius installed does.

I gather from the posts that using the PIE adapter and an aftermarket Sirius tuner allows you to use the CD button on the HU to switch to the sat tuner, and the mode button on the steering wheel also cycles thru it.

Does that mean the display function (as documented in these forums) will also work for Sirius with this aftermarket solution? (i.e., you get the song, artist, etc display text). And does that also mean the arrow buttons on the steering wheel works to cycle thru Sirius channels?

Maybe I've missed it but I've not seen any definitive response from folks that have actually done either of these two things to add Sirius (or XM for that matter) to the 04 factory HU.

Thanks to all for your help. I've just joined this forum, though I've been a casual observer for quite some time (I pre-ordered my car in Jan 03 and took delivery in Aug 03). And, I got my wife a Sirius tuner for her SUV for Xmas, my kid has an aftermarket Alpine HU in his GTI which is Sat-compatible, so I'm feeling just a bit left out! And, like many, I'm not keen on major surgery to my car or changing the asthetics of the factory design (OK, the sat antenna has to be there regardless).

For my contributions to answering this question, I've sent specific emails to Trussville and Rosenthal for retrofit kits, part numbers, pricing, and availability and will report on the responses. My car is at the dealer today for the "flooding" TSB fix and I asked my parts guy...he called someone in the dealership who told him the new head unit would be "thousands" of bucks (non-starter). Maybe I'll know something later today from them, as well (though I lack confidence in my service writer).

TIA

thew

its all here.. you just need to read it all

1. yes the o5 sat radion needs the SAt button .. No SAt button No 05 Sat radio..
2 the Pie/aux in allows any kind of RCA input but you willnot get any song data onthe text screen.. With the Icelink set up from Dension you can get MP3 data on the text screen but it will not alow anything else to be added to thet input.. The Pie box will lowy you to split the rca input to have more than one source.

The Pie AUx input is switched by the CD button.. and you do get volum and mode controlls/ Mute etc... from your stering wheel.

and the HU is about 200 bucks MY cost .. Put you only need Firmware or 9.55 or higher for the Pie box to work..

Do a search on HU upgrades and PIE here in the Forum..
you will find about a years worth of data.
good luck and enjoy ..
Zoom Zoom...

rob4001va

iTrader: (2)

OK...I think this answered some of my question.

I've done the searches you described. Was still suitably confused

No one in the forum appears to have actually done the "all-Mazda" retrofit of the 05 HU to an O4 car and added the Sirius. My point is mainly that no one seems to have actually been able to buy the 05 HU from Mazda yet as a discrete, stand-alone part. Or for that matter, are the Sirius tuner/install kits available yet? (I have seen tine installation instructions that were posted).

Am I to undertstand that you sell the 05 HU's for $200? If so, we may have a winner...

Appreciate the clarification of the PIE interface..am thinking about that because I might want the "iPod in the glove box" option someone else has done with the IceLink.

As for my contribution: my parts guy is "still looking into it". Sigh...

Thanks (again)

rob4001va

iTrader: (2)

Update:

my parts guy told me it'd cost about $1200 or so installed to retro fit the 05 unit to the 04. New HU, new display panel (his term for the face plate), the actual sat radio kit, and labor. Parts was about $1000. He did say it was all available for ordering today (not sure I believe him).

Also got an email reply from Rosenthal (Tommy). My questions have the leading ">".

>Can you give me the price/part number for the 05 HU?

There is not a price available for it yet.

>I assume these are available and are backwards compatible with the 04 cars.

Don't know. I'm assuming so but not sure.


>Also, I'd appreciate the complete estimate for parts/labor to buy the 05
>HU, Sirius tuner, install kit, and put the whole thing into my 04 car (and
>yes, I know I have to pay extra for the actual Sirius activation).

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...&preadd=action

Labor can be had by calling my service department at 703-749-6550


>And, lastly, are all the parts readily available for ordering?

Not a head unit but the Sirius unit is.

Regards,

Tommy



My dealer's general manager said he'd check with his factory rep due to increased interest in Sirius. Maybe I'll get a deal as I was a pre-order...mine was in their first shipment they received. But, frankly, I'm not too hopeful. Sigh.