I happened to be one of those unfortunate people who found a H3 with everything I wanted except for XM Radio. Well, GM has just come out with a "dealer" installed "factory" XM kit for those vehicles that did not come from the factory with XM.

I had wanted XM but didn't want any of the aftermarket kits that do not integrate into my factory navigation radio.

The GM/Hummer part number is 17803005 and retails for $225. I was able to find mine online from a GM parts dealer for around $185 including shipping and tax.

I have a 2006 H3 with a factory navigation radio.

The kit includes a new Onstar/GPS/XM antenna, new antenna cables, the XM digital receiver, and wiring harnesses for the radio.

The procedure requires the following steps at a high level:
1. Remove both sun visors, brackets, and front pillar trim pieces (even though the instructions say to only remove the passenger side).
2. Pull down the headliner carefully so as not to break the rigid foam insulation. This part can be tough to get your hand in above the headliner without damaging it so that you can reach the nut holding the antenna onto the roof.
3. Remove the old antenna and replace with the new one.
4. Remove the old cabling for the antenna that goes down the pillar and behind the glove box. This is not absolutely necessary and make take additional time to remove the cable clips. You may simply decide to zip tie the new cable to the old one which is also fine and should not cause any problems.
5. Remove the glove box door and pull down the inspection panel. Attach new antenna cable to old connector for Onstar.
6. Install an adapter bracket onto the XM receiver and attach to existing bracket behind glove box. Note that the adapter bracket was not included in my kit. I contacted the parts house and they contacted the GM parts distributor who said that it appears that the kit is not shipping with the bracket. They also offered to send me the bracket at no charge. Note that the bracket is required and the instructions for the XM kit state that the bracket should be included. I expect GM to correct this eventually. Just check your kit for the bracket before leaving the parts department.
7. Remove the radio and existing wiring harness.
8. Remove two of the wires from the existing wiring harness and insert two loose wires from the new harness into the old one. The two wires that you removed from the old harness need to go into a connector on the new harness. This part may be a little difficult for some. GM has a tool that allows you to remove wires from a wiring harness. I used a paper clip and was able to gently compress the wiring clip/catch that held it into place. Be gentle so as not to damage the wire end.
9. Activate the radio with XM. Note that the new XM digital receiver comes with three months of free service that includes all XM channels just as if the receiver came from the factory with your vehicle.

With the factory navigation radio, the XM programming is automatically recognized. When you press the "band" button, you will now see XM1 and XM2 with preset station buttons just like the FM1 and FM2 bands.

 

Ronjohn,
Where did you but the kit from at that price?

 

You can get it here http://www.hummerpartsonline.com/ind...rtnum=17803005

 

At $185, the price is right for the whole factory kit including antenna! Wifey has been bugging me for XM ever since the last Country/Western station closed shop in the NY/NJ metro area.

Thanks for the tip and part number!

 

Tex...that would be Country and Eastern...No?

 

I purchased mine at this location. They are based in Southern California. Excellent service, too.

They didn't have the part number listed on their website so I had to call them. They were reasonable for shipping, too. I believe the total price I listed originally included shipping.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=213906

 

I may get the dealer to do it, they only want $335 for parts & labor. My roof rail pillars have airbags so I don't want to go playing around with them.
Also, pics of my new ride will be posted soon. It's only 6 days old but I have some accessories to put on this weekend and get her cleaned up.
It's a near clone of Sewell's blacked-out H3.
And GM offers new financing deals 4 days after I purchase one. Ughhh!!!

 

I'm NJ, wife is TX. She's convinced that there is no "eastern music" LOL. She also doesn't appreciate my jokes about "her music" either.

I'm also dreading the day that she get's another Texas flag decal for the rear window like she had on our last truck. I've been searching for two years for a NJ flag decalwithout luck. If I can find one it'll be fun to paste it over her TX flag decal that is sure to show up sooner or later!

 

$335 is a good price. I probably would have paid the dealer to do it at that price. It took longer than I expected. I spent two evenings to do the install. The instructions are technically correct but don't go far enough in telling you what to remove. I had to remove both headrests and front pillar covers (mine have airbags, too, and are not a big deal as long as you disconnect the power from the battery first) and should probably have removed the passenger side pillar cover but didn't have the correct size Torx driver to remove the seatbelt upper harness brace.

 

Honestly the easiest, cheapest and best way to get XM in a non XM radio is to buy an XM walkman. Then connect it to your headunit like an IPOD or play it through the built in wireless fm modulator. The xm walkmans are awesome!! You can record a few hours of xm programming and replay it whenever you want, and you can take it with you and hear xm wherever you go...my brother listens to it at work and gets perfect reception...and he works in a hospital operating room. This is the one I got my brother for christmas last year:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Tao-Portable...QQcmdZViewItem


The pioneer units are slighty smaller but are more money, this tao unit works great and is small enough that it's kinda stealthy, not huge and ugly like the old delphi xm car recievers.