Hi Everyone,
I have had quite a few people asking me recently about my radar detector mounting setup so I figured I would do a short write up.
I have been using some variation of this solution since purchasing my 2014 M235i back in 2016. On that car I elected to go with a Blendmount from J28 Designs along with one of their mirror taps, which allows you to power the radar by tapping into the power for the auto-dimming rear view mirror. When I originally set this up I did a thorough DIY write up which should still be helpful and relevant to anyone with an F series car. Here is the link for that.
https://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=998321
The Blendmount basically is fixed to the stem of the rear view mirror and the mirror tap then allows you to power the radar right there as well. This puts everything in a nice clean package all in 1 place without crazy wires and suction cups everywhere.
On top of how much I love the solution, it has lasted me almost 6 years with zero issues and using the same original parts I used on my M235i. That is, with 2 recent exceptions.
First, I was recently gifted an Escort M1 dashcam. The M1 is simple dashcam that draws power from the same type of socket as the radar detectors do. Then the camera has a power output which in turn powers the detector. Blendmount released hardware to get the M1 mounted on the same platorm adding yet another piece to the puzzle. Cost for the hardware needed for this change, $6 USD.
Then in the past month I decided that after 4 Escort detectors over 8 years that I would try something new, the Uniden R7. This required a different clip type but again Blendmount was super helpful and I found that I could buy just the actual mount portion to replace. This came as a big relief because these Blendmounts are not cheap, but their modular construction really leave a lot of room to swap parts out and make changes. Cost for the new clip, $30 USD.
All in all I have been extremly happy with the mount and mirror tap. Yes it is expensive, but if you plan to keep this long term I would say well worth the money. After almost 6 years I would say it has more than shown its value.
See the above DIY for what parts you would need to set up on our cars and see the link to the Blendmount website below:
https://blendmount.com/
Feel free to ask me any questions you might have.