VIDEO GUIDE - Installing and Hardwiring a Dashcam - NO BATTERY WARNINGS OR CUTOFF

[Boosted Autos]

Installing a dashcam can seem rather daunting, but it's actually a relatively straight forward DIY project if you take your time.

Modern cars, especially European cars have features which monitor battery load when the car is off and can either cut power, or throw error messages when a dashcam is hard wired in parking mode, in this video I'll show you how to work around this.

You'll also learn how to conceal all the wiring neatly so nothing is visible inside the cabin.

The car in the video is a BMW M240i, but the process is the same for all current BMWs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuTs9oD64Dc

[Octavius]

Why not remove trim to route the wires correctly with the original harness ?

[Boosted Autos]

original harness?

[Locoblade]

Cheers for the video, I actually found this on Youtube having just ordered an F770 to install into my M240 so absolutely ideal for me. I wondered if it had been posted here

Hopefully you're following the thread as I was wondering if there's a reason you didn't mount the front camera a bit higher up the screen? I'd like to minimise the wire showing above the camera so was hoping to mount it fairly close to the roof lining but was wondering if the central mirror cowl etc might interfere with the view?

[Buxter]

Awesome. Thanks for the video!

[spencertully]

Great video! thanks to the author for practical advice.

[Bunford]

This wasn't useful for me with an E87. I didn't want to route cables beyond glove box fuse box. Problem was they are all constant 12v except for a single fuse for accessory switch on. For me that was the only switched power which was the fuse with the circle icon with a line either side and a + and - icon.

[Locoblade]

Probably not worth a thread in it's own right so I thought I'd post these here, it's my my dual camera F770 install using the video above as a guide for cable routing which may help others get a stealthy-ish install.

My windscreen doesn't have the perforated "sunblind" behind the centre mirror which I wanted to hide the body of the camera, so I added one using perforated film from Ebay (under £4 for an A4 sheet here) taking the shape from my wife's Seat Leon screen that does have it! I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I'm quite pleased with how "OEM" it looks from both inside and out.



As I wanted to hide the camera as much as possible I also put a small cutout on the corner so the film obscures the camera body as much as possible.





From inside I'd have liked to hide the cables a bit more and might have a go at routing them across the top of the unit and up the side of the mirror shroud when I have some time. I was planning on mounting the camera on the other side of the mirror shroud so the cables would sit against and tuck under the shroud but as Boosted Autos mentioned in the video, fitting it that side means the shroud gets in the way of the camera field of view unless you mount the camera about 2" away so losing all the benefit of mounting it that side.



The rear camera I mounted on the drivers side of the high level brake light, doing it that way means the cable can run around the brake light cover and come out at exactly the right height to plug straight into the camera leaving very little cable showing







Overall I'm really happy with the end result. Both cameras get a good view of the road, there's no RF interference on DAB which I was concerned about with cables going across the top of the rear screen where the aerial is, and with the Thinkware voltage set to cut off at 12.1v I've left the car parked for several days at a time with no low battery warnings from the car.

[Jem2369]

This wasn't useful for me with an E87. I didn't want to route cables beyond glove box fuse box. Problem was they are all constant 12v except for a single fuse for accessory switch on. For me that was the only switched power which was the fuse with the circle icon with a line either side and a + and - icon.

Hi Bunford,

I'm looking at wiring up a thinkware dash cam for my E87 too. - I can see an icon matching your description for the the switched power. On mine its fuse 8. Did you use a fuse tap for this? Also where and how did you tap into for the +ve and -ve supply?

Thanks,
Jem

[riccie_120i]

I am very grateful for this guide. I a looking (in the UK) for a dashcam and there are so many brands it is impossible to choose!
They all seem to be basically about four or five models that are re-branded but essentially the same. There are some on ALiExpress from about £40
through to 200+ if I go to halfords.

I am not too fussed about in car display/screen, just something discreet that sits by the mirror that can be hard-wired into the fuse box.

Has anyone got a dash cam model they would recommend me?

[riccie_120i]

well I ended up buying this unit https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06 ... UTF8&psc=1

it sounds OK, might write up about it once installed.

It has option to power off the OBD. Anyone got views on this? Seems very pragmatic.

[Nathan135i]

well I ended up buying this unit https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06 ... UTF8&psc=1

it sounds OK, might write up about it once installed.

It has option to power off the OBD. Anyone got views on this? Seems very pragmatic.

So many to choose from It's a minefield. Did that fit on top of the rv mirror?

I have a similar on to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blueskysea-Min ... =mini+0906 and it fits with all the wires in the headlining. Invisible from the outside and hard to see from the inside really.

[riccie_120i]

Hi

I ended up sending this back as it was a POS. SO please avoid. I ended up buying a Hoadhawk HD camera, refurbished from eBay for about £80. This has no screen, but that works for me as its compact. The image is great and it fits behind the rear view. I would recommend a Roadhawk.

[Nathan135i]

Hi

I ended up sending this back as it was a POS. SO please avoid. I ended up buying a Hoadhawk HD camera, refurbished from eBay for about £80. This has no screen, but that works for me as its compact. The image is great and it fits behind the rear view. I would recommend a Roadhawk.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take a look as that fits the bill.

[riccie_120i]

eg this is direct from manufacturer.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Remanufactur ... SwqClasSc7

i had to buy a hardwire kit seperately but the iage is really goood and super wide field of vision. hardwired to ignition so i start the car, the camera tells me its recording, then that it has picked up gps and then drive off and forget about it.
has an emergency button to capture key moments, but its hassle free and i think very good indeed.