XM Satellite Radio has been an option for the C6 Corvette since 2005 and became standard in 2008.  While many Vette owners are not interested in subscribing to XM, having a working XM receiver gives you opportunities for adding other devices, including an auxiliary input.  An auxiliary input allows you to plug in your own personal music device like a smartphone or iPod, or even a Bluetooth device that allows high quality wireless music streaming from your device.  But without XM, there is no external input to the radio head unit (Nav or non-Nav) that can be used for the auxiliary input circuitry.

The XM radio option is Option U2K on the C6 Corvette.  If you have XM, you will see U2K listed on the silver options label in the glove box - all options are listed alphabetically.  If you have a Nav radio and XM, your display will look something like this:

The photo above is from a Corvette with a PAL (Personal Audio Link), but note the four buttons on the left:  AM, FM1/2, XM1/2, and CD.  (If you have a factory external CD changer, the CD button will be CD/CDX.)

If you don't have XM, the four buttons will be AM, FM1, FM2, and CD.

If you have a non-Nav radio, it will look something like this:

If you have XM, press the BAND button repeatedly, and XM1 and XM2 will show up.

WHERE IS THE XM RECEIVER?

If you want to add XM and you have a 2005 C6, you are probably in luck.  Unfortunately, in 2006 and 2007 GM chose to eliminate the XM wiring unless XM was ordered as an option*.  XM became standard in 2008.

Most (if not all) 2005's already have the wiring in place for the XM receiver.  If you have a coupe, look for the receiver or the wiring above the left rear wheel well behind the carpet:

                                                                                                                                                                                 NOTE:   *Although the XM wiring harness is not present in a 2006 or 2007 Corvette without XM, the circuitry required for an XM receiver is present at the back of the radio head unit.  It is likely possible to install a factory XM receiver in an '06 or '07 with a suitable wiring harness.  Since I have the connectors, terminals, and wiring to build such a harness, if an owner with an '06 or '07 Vette would like to try to add XM, please email me.  If you are willing to buy a used XM receiver and try the modification described on this website, I will build you a harness to try the installation to see if it works the same as in a 2005.  Email me at ray@kawal.net.

Without a receiver:

The XM 16 pin connector (Note that it is often covered with black tape):

In a convertible:

Without a receiver:

For more details and information about the getting to and removing the XM receiver, CLICK HERE.  This link will take to you the installation of a Version 2 PAL, but you will find the XM receiver information useful.

Adding the XM Receiver

Although I haven't done this myself, some owners have successfully added an XM receiver, simply by plugging one in to the 16 pin connector.  (Some owners have also been successful in adding a GM1 Sirius module instead of a factory XM receiver, but it hasn't worked for other owners, so I'm not sure how to comment.)  

UPDATE as of 6/15/19

The instructions below advise you to modify a chip on the circuit board so the used XM receiver will work in your car.  Quite a few Corvette owners have found and purchased used XM receivers and NO MODIFICATION was necessary for the XM receiver to work in their car.  They just plugged it in and it worked fine.  So I'd suggest you try the one you buy in your car before going to the trouble of modifying the circuit board.  You might get lucky like the rest of the Vette owners.

Ray

  IMPORTANT UPDATE as of 1/12/21

Over the past couple of months, another 2005 Corvette owner, Jeff Havelin, tried John Opper's modification technique and found that his XM receiver circuit board was different than John's, so he wasn't able to modify it.  But he did find a YouTube video online that was ultimately able to allow him to successfully get XM working with an inexpensive used XM receiver from eBay.  Before discussing further, here is a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WD-LPipkvU&feature=youtu.be

(The author of the video is Dr. Shock, who willingly assists watchers with their projects.  He helped me on a project with my 2006 GMC Sierra pickup, and he's quite generous with his time.)

What Jeff found was that the used XM receiver was "married" to the original car's VIN number, in this case a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier.  Dr. Shock helped Jeff by changing the VIN number in the circuit board EEPROM so that it matched that of Jeff's Corvette.  But when Jeff then installed the modified XM receiver, he found that his Corvette did not recognize that the XM receiver had been connected.  This is because his body control module (BCM) was not set up for having the receiver installed at the factory.  When the car was originally ordered, it did not have RPO U2K ordered as an option, so the BCM was set up without that option.  So Jeff needed a Tech 2 to change the settings in the BCM so it would recognize the XM option.  

I recently learned of an inexpensive alternative to the Tech 2 called a VXDIAG VCX Nano on YouTube, available from amazon for a little over $100.  (Tech 2 clones currently cost over $300).  I bought one for my son for his GM cars and it seems to work well.  They aren't as convenient as a Tech 2, because you need to connect them to a laptop, but otherwise they seem to duplicate the Tech 2 functions.  Do a search on YouTube for the device and judge for yourself.  I told Jeff about the Nano and he bought one for this project.  He was able to make set up his BCM to enable the XM receiver recognition.  He was also then able to set up a used Navigation radio he bought on eBay for his Corvette.

Once Jeff's modified VIN XM receiver was recognized, his XM bands were immediately shown on his radio.  He added an XM antenna and had fully functional XM reception, then decided to sign up with Sirius/XM for a subscription.  Subscriptions are often available for about $5 per month, so they are easily affordable.  

It turns out that Jeff had a second used receiver that was not modified with the correct VIN number.  He replaced the working receiver with the spare one, and it too was recognized and showed the XM Preview channel.  But once he started the car, he found the XM receiver was locked:

He reinstalled the receiver with the modified VIN and it worked fine.

John Opper also assisted on this project.  In John's case, he didn't need the setup procedure from his Tech 2.  We don't know why he didn't but Jeff did.  Also, John pointed out that a Corvette Technician advised John that the early 2005 XM receivers were not locked by the vehicle's VIN number.  So if you want to buy a used XM receiver, it MIGHT be that if you can find one from an early 2005 Corvette, you MIGHT not need to change the VIN number to match your car.

So the bottom line is that you might get lucky with an easy installation if you have the "right" receiver.  But it seems that with most any XM receiver, if you have a Tech 2 or a Nano, you should be able to set your Vette up to recognize the receiver.  If you find the receiver is locked, you should be able to unlock it by either changing the VIN number on the circuit board or perhaps clipping the EEPROM leg as shown below.

One other thing to note is that XM receivers were built by different manufacturers and there were a number of different GM part numbers for the receivers over the C6 years.  Jeff used GM part number 22729350, but other part numbers are 28045272, 28010039, 15854742, and 15217080.  My '07 Z06 has the 15854742 receiver.  Many of these receivers can be found on eBay for around $25 bucks, so you might want to try one in your own Vette.

Back to the 2017 Discussion

If you find a used Corvette XM receiver on places like eBay, be aware that they will NOT work in your Vette without a modification.  What happens is that the original XM receiver is "married" to the original car and the VIN number is stored in the receiver.  That prevents someone else from using the receiver.

John Opper, a Vette owner with a 2005 coupe, just emailed me about his successful installation of a used XM receiver in his Vette without the XM option.  From John's research, he wrote me the following:

Ray,

 I found the answer and tried it this weekend and it worked.  There is an eight legged chip on the XM radio board.  Once you snip a specific leg the unit is unlocked and can be used once the service is activated.  This does not “hack” XM but just unlocks the unit for your Corvette to be used with the service once activated through the usual XM process.

John found that once he clipped the leg of the chip on the XM circuit board noted by the arrow below, he could simply plug in the used receiver and the XM buttons appeared on his Nav radio:

Closeup photo:

Since he only paid $20 bucks for his used receiver on eBay, there wasn't much to lose.  He has a Tech 2, but he found he didn't need it for his installation.  Note that we haven't tried a brand new XM receiver, so we don't know whether or not a Tech 2 would be required for that installation.

So for those of you with a 2005 C6 without XM, you might want to try this option.  Simply take the lid off of the receiver and clip the leg of the chip noted.  If you get your XM buttons, you can add an auxiliary input to your Vette.  Note that a subscription to XM will also require an XM antenna.  John just emailed me the following information:

I purchased this one which is a two lead version with the right secure connectors.  Plugged it in and cranked the car.  After a minute the satellite signal was acquired and I received the XM preview channel with no problem.  I then routed the antenna wire beneath the side carpet from the XM module toward the rear of the car and used 3M tape to secure it against the rear of the tub sort of under and near the rear hatch latch and replaced the carpet which you can just pull down after releasing a couple of push tabs.  Seems to work fine.  As you know since the car is not metal so the antenna location is not so sensitive as it might be in other cars.