PHOUND5

Hello, long time lurker 2nd post

I have owned a 2001 LS 430 for about 7 years and I want to add XM Radio.

My car has the Mark Levinson Stereo but no NAV.

Has anyone here installed one of the VAIS TRK-SR2 XM Kits ?


http://www.vaistech.com/dev/sl2xD2-tkit.php

A few questions.

Does it work as promised ?

Has anyone figured out how to change the rear shark fin antenna on an 2001 LS 430 to one of the later 2004-06 shark fins that can accept an XM cable and be used as an XM antenna

If I have to use an aftermarket antenna for my XM what is the strongest one as far as reception quality

Thank you for your help

LS430Lexus

I haven't used the Vais SoundLinQ2 aka SL2xD2 but I am told it works well.

Rather than use the roof antenna that was intended for the analog Lexus Link system, many have successfully used the supplied satellite antenna hidden in the "third" brake light housing mounted on the rear deck. Look using the search function for past posts, I seem to recall one with pictures. Basically, the housing has sufficent room to mount the antenna using velcro. The wire comes up from under the trunk, through the housing and is virtually hidden.

Frankg2

I noticed in the documentation it indicates for 2004-2006 LS430's it can use SAT emulation, but on 2001-2003 it uses MD. From a Nav screen perspective the difference is huge. With MD emulation, all of the SAT information is presented in non-intuitive fields (i.e., station # is shown in disc and track fields) whereas with SAT emulation it operates exactly as a SAT radio should, including three SAT preset screens.

I'd like to know if the difference here is with the Gen3 vs Gen4 Nav units, and if so, can I get to this by replacing the Nav ECU in the trunk with a Gen4 unit? Thanks..