I keep seeing these odd little stumpy fins on cars – a vaguely aerodynamic shape like an inverted V, right above the middle of the rear window. I’ve gotten as far as all cars that have them being BMWs, but don’t know if all BMWs have them.
What are they?
The “shark fin” contains antennas for the GPS, satellite radio, mobile phone, and other such technologies.
Aha. I’d wondered about antennas, but being completely non-techno-savvy, dismissed the idea because there wasn’t anything sticking out of what looked like the “base.”
Thanks.
Apparently, the local trendy/geek factor is pretty low by you as out here those little fins are popping up on anything with four wheels out here in the Trendy Geek Capital of the World. You know it’s gone beyond a toy for the idle rich when people with tired old Honda Civics and Ford Festivas have the things.
The fin, by the way, is purely for looks. The actual antenna is a little stub, about two inches long.
On most BMWs, the fin has antennas for GPS, real time traffic, BMW Assist (like Onstar), sat radio, the HD radio receiver and phone (bluetooth). Even if you have none of those features, you will still get it since cars are pre wired for BMW Assist.
Non-US bound BMWs can come without the fin assuming you have none of the fancy gadgets.