Radio Conversion: Sirius (NA) to DAB+ (EU)

[GrabThatBlue]

Hi,

This is a thread for everybody in Europe and/or other regions in the world that also use DAB+.

Since I gathered more confidence in converting my car there is still 1 thing I need to do before I feel satisfied.

As you all know, I bought my Mustang from NA and I now live in Europe. I converted all mandatory things to pass inspection but there is still 1 thing I need to convert to have some rest in my head.

In Europe we use DAB+ signal to receive digital radio. My car only has Sirius and ofcourse it doesn't work here. I never use radio, but still I feel the need to fix this, because it should be standard on the car.

Now there are 2 parts we need to do to get it fixed.
1. Forscan changes in APIM Disable Sirius (SDARS) and enable DAB. This is very easy and I already have all the forscan lines that we need to change. I will update this post with all the forscan lines when I'm behind my laptop.

2. Hardware conversion. I've learned that the European Mustangs have a different roof antenna that has the DAB+ signal. The NA Mustangs use a different antenna. Also we need to wire the antenna to the ACM which is behind the dashboard screen.

This is something I can't lookup myself. Does anybody has acces to official Ford parts to look up the difference in how the European antenna looks like compared to the NA version?

Also, there is a chance that changing lines in Forscan is not enough but I'm not sure yet. In the worst case we also need a European ACM. I've heard that the European ACM has 1 extra slot which the NA version lacks. Unfortunately this info is not verified, and would appreciate if someone can look this up as well.

This will be the hardest conversion to do.
You have to remove the middle console and the infotainment screen to acces the ACM module.

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[GrabThatBlue]

I tried to use ford parts websites to see how many different shark fin antenna's I can find.

I only found 2.

JD9Z-19A390-AAPTM and MB5Z-19A390-BA

I wonder if one is NA and one is EU or they are both NA, one from the base model and one is the premium model.

I'm going to identify my antenna to see at least what is what.

Investigation started!

Update:

My sharkvin has JD9Z-19A390-AAPTM and is the antenna for receiving Sirius.

The sharkvin with MB5Z-19A390-BA is without digital radio. So this one could be the European one.

 

[Fruitstang]

If you're willing to skip this DYI challenge and to pay a bunch of Euros, you could contact

https://www.geigercars.de

They import and convert US cars and is to my know the most reputable company.
I brought a Challenger 12 years ago with me and had them do everything.

Another, smaller and probably cheaper could be this one:

https://www.kom-ford.de/umrüstung-audiosystem-us-zu-eu

 

[GrabThatBlue]

If you're willing to skip this DYI challenge and to pay a bunch of Euros, you could contact

https://www.geigercars.de

They import and convert US cars and is to my know the most reputable company.
I brought a Challenger 12 years ago with me and had them do everything.

Another, smaller and probably cheaper could be this one:

https://www.kom-ford.de/umrüstung-audiosystem-us-zu-eu

Kom.ford didn't want to work on my car.
He only offers a full sync4 conversion with:
- Language
- dab+
- european tsr

Since I already turned the above myself on and only want dab+, he said he won't do it. Lol. And he asked 1360 Euro's for this. On top of that he could also change the navigation and it will cost 1300 Euro extra. 2660 Euro's for dab+ and navigation.

The other one called geigercars is new for me.
I just contacted them and they said they don't do DAB+ conversion on the Mustang.

 

[GrabThatBlue]

Today I did some more research and I came closer to my goal.

If you have to change the ACM module to get the DAB+, then I found the European ACM module part number and it is PR3Z-18C869-F for the Mustangs with B&O 12 speaker system. For the ones without the B&O sound system, I'm not sure, the part number can end with C, D or E.

 

[GrabThatBlue]

Oke so now I confirmed with a technician on what to do to get it to work.

1. New ACM
2. New shark vin antenna for DAB+
3. Wire the cable from the antenna to the ACM.

Too much work, money and trouble for making radio stations work while I'm not even using the radio.

Case closed.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

I had no idea Sirius did not put any satellites over Europe.

I guess they do not think the market would support it over there. I know many European countries are poorer than the US, but I remember music being a big thing to Europeans when I lived there, so this is something a percentage of them would pay to use.

 

[GrabThatBlue]

I had no idea Sirius did not put any satellites over Europe.

I guess they do not think the market would support it over there. I know many European countries are poorer than the US, but I remember music being a big thing to Europeans when I lived there, so this is something a percentage of them would pay to use.

We don't have Sirius because we have DAB+.
DAB+ is very good and it's free. Europe has less "middle of nowheres" unlike the US, so there is less need for expensive sattelite radio while the free and cheaper system works well. I also know that audio quality of DAB+ is better than Sirius. So it's not about poor countries but a market thing.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

We don't have Sirius because we have DAB+.
DAB+ is very good and it's free. Europe has less "middle of nowheres" unlike the US, so there is less need for expensive sattelite radio while the free and cheaper system works well. I also know that audio quality of DAB+ is better than Sirius. So it's not about poor countries but a market thing.

I thought DAB+ was just digital radio broadcasting. Like FM and AM radio stations here in the US.

I do not know much about it.

Does it have the same selection as Sirius? For example, I can listen to news stations or I can listen to First Wave, all late 70s early 80s new wave and punk rock, or Lithium, 90s grunge, or listen to a radio classics channel with radio broadcasts from the 1930s or 40s like The Shadow "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

Is DAB+ like that?

 

[GrabThatBlue]

I thought DAB+ was just digital radio broadcasting. Like FM and AM radio stations here in the US.

I do not know much about it.

Does it have the same selection as Sirius? For example, I can listen to news stations or I can listen to First Wave, all late 70s early 80s new wave and punk rock, or Lithium, 90s grunge, or listen to a radio classics channel with radio broadcasts from the 1930s or 40s like The Shadow "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

Is DAB+ like that?

Yes, DAB+ is digital radio broadcasting and the audio quality is overal better dan Sirius.

They work both differently. And it depends on what you prefer to say which one is better.

You want 300+ channels? Sirius.
You want better audio quality? DAB+
You want it for free? DAB+
You prefer stable radio? Both have their ups and downs in different situations.

I don't see anybody using Sirius in Europe when there is DAB+ for free. Almost everbody has Apple Carplay or Android Auto where you can litterally listen to everything you want for free.

I wanted DAB+ just because it comes standard on every vehicle in Europe. I don't even listen to the radio lol. But since it's way too hard to get it to work I leave it as it is.

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