BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
M2 Technical Topics > Navigation, iDrive, Audio, Video, Bluetooth, Phone, Cameras, Electronics > VIDEO GUIDE - Installing and Hardwiring a Dashcam - NO BATTERY WARNINGS OR CUTOFF

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      04-26-2017, 07:43 AM   #1
Boosted Autos
Private
145
Rep
81
Posts

Drives: M235i
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

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

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.

Appreciate 17
zenmaster1574.50
PiK61.00
Prodigy.697.50
Bazgab132.00
Chills26.00
ZPrime610.50
dj202093.50
abirmaher834.50
963mw331.00
geogerf115.50
ORG52.50
      04-26-2017, 02:44 PM   #2
hshot_rooke
First Lieutenant
Canada
123
Rep
326
Posts

Drives: 2017 BMW M2
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Toronto

iTrader: (0)

Thanks for the post, very informative.
Appreciate 1
      04-26-2017, 07:13 PM   #3
Boosted Autos
Private
145
Rep
81
Posts

Drives: M235i
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

You're welcome. Glad you found it useful.
Appreciate 0
      04-26-2017, 11:24 PM   #4
Prodigy.
Lieutenant Colonel
Prodigy.'s Avatar
Australia
698
Rep
1,514
Posts

Drives: ///M2
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

Thanks for the video, shame it wasn't 12 months ago before i paid to get mine installed lol.
Appreciate 2
      04-26-2017, 11:25 PM   #5
Boosted Autos
Private
145
Rep
81
Posts

Drives: M235i
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prodigy. View Post
Thanks for the video, shame it wasn't 12 months ago before i paid to get mine installed lol.
Sorry! Well you know for next time
Appreciate 0
      04-27-2017, 01:47 AM   #6
PiK
Private
PiK's Avatar
Poland
61
Rep
67
Posts

Drives: M2 6MT
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Poland

iTrader: (0)

Great video! Thank you very much.
Appreciate 1
      04-27-2017, 08:15 AM   #7
Boosted Autos
Private
145
Rep
81
Posts

Drives: M235i
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by PiK View Post
Great video! Thank you very much.
Thanks! Glad you found it useful
Appreciate 0
      04-27-2017, 06:03 PM   #8
CantComplain
Second Lieutenant
United_States
117
Rep
220
Posts

Drives: '17 6MT AW M2
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: San Rafael, CA

iTrader: (0)

DAAAMMMMNN. Thought you had reposted someone else's video, which was useful enough. And then I realized that was YOU. Very nice, consider me impressed. I did a front-facing only dashcam using the the wires in the mirror console but maybe I'll spring for a front and rear-facing setup at some point. And when I do, this is where I'll come. Nice work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boosted Autos View Post
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.

Appreciate 0
      04-27-2017, 07:34 PM   #9
Boosted Autos
Private
145
Rep
81
Posts

Drives: M235i
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by CantComplain View Post
DAAAMMMMNN. Thought you had reposted someone else's video, which was useful enough. And then I realized that was YOU. Very nice, consider me impressed. I did a front-facing only dashcam using the the wires in the mirror console but maybe I'll spring for a front and rear-facing setup at some point. And when I do, this is where I'll come. Nice work.
HAHA! Every video I post in forums (unless otherwise indicated) and on my YT channel/website is my own original content.
Appreciate 0
      04-28-2017, 10:07 PM   #10
Bazgab
Private First Class
United_States
132
Rep
190
Posts

Drives: 2017 BMW M2
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Raleigh, NC

iTrader: (0)

Thanks for the video. This will definitely be very helpful when I install my 2CH dashcam setup when I bring my M2 home in a little over a week. I just have to worry about the addition of a Cellink B battery as well but that won't be hard.
__________________
:::: 2017 AW M2 :::: (SOLD)
Appreciate 0
      04-29-2017, 03:58 AM   #11
Boosted Autos
Private
145
Rep
81
Posts

Drives: M235i
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bazgab View Post
Thanks for the video. This will definitely be very helpful when I install my 2CH dashcam setup when I bring my M2 home in a little over a week. I just have to worry about the addition of a Cellink B battery as well but that won't be hard.
Honestly if you wire up this way there's really no need for the auxiliary battery unless you want the camera to run for days on end in parking mode.

I had one in my old car and ended up taking it out becasue it was more trouble than it was worth.

Good luck with the install.
Appreciate 1
Ymalo22113.00
      05-17-2017, 10:30 AM   #12
hshot_rooke
First Lieutenant
Canada
123
Rep
326
Posts

Drives: 2017 BMW M2
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Toronto

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boosted Autos View Post
Installing a dashcam can seem rather daunting, but it's actually a relatively straight forward DIY project if you take your time.

My front & rear dashcam goes:

CAM -> Power Magic Pro (battery voltage monitor) > INLINE FUSES WOULD BE PUT HERE > Trunk battery/fuse box

Is it necessary for the inline fuses at the end?

Last edited by hshot_rooke; 05-17-2017 at 10:44 AM..
Appreciate 0
      10-05-2017, 11:25 PM   #13
dtmurf
Captain
dtmurf's Avatar
477
Rep
755
Posts

Drives: M2
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: PNW

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
1996 BMW 318is  [4.75]
2012 Audi Q5  [4.50]
2017 BMW M2  [10.00]
Nice video, clean install.

You used individual pieces of heat shrink for each wire when you extended the power cable and then you use electrical tape to wrap the whole thing. I can’t think of a reason for not using another, slightly larger, piece of heat shrink instead of electrical tape other that you just didn’t have any to hand?

I would like my set up to run for about a week or so in parking mode. What problems did you have with the auxiliary battery in your old car?
__________________
'17 M2 DCT Long Beach Blue
Appreciate 0
      10-31-2017, 07:38 AM   #14
GHarris
Enlisted Member
United_States
18
Rep
29
Posts

Drives: 2017 LBB M2
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Stuart, FL USA

iTrader: (0)

Good info, thanks for sharing!
Appreciate 0
      12-26-2017, 07:54 PM   #15
Duke Silver
Private
76
Rep
98
Posts

Drives: '17 MG M2
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Brisbane, Australia

iTrader: (0)

Great video. I picked up the F770 at the Boxing Day sale, managed to get 30% off the kit.

Not going to lie, my fingers are sore from tucking the cables down the seats/trim. Damn soft office hands....

Question, how did you attach the yellow wire to the battery?
Appreciate 0
      12-30-2017, 03:44 AM   #16
ZPrime
I INDIC8
ZPrime's Avatar
United_States
611
Rep
1,282
Posts

Drives: 2018 LBB M2, 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Cleveland, OH

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2018 BMW M2  [9.50]
One question - your fuse tap, did you test with the multimeter which side of the fuse box is the output and what is the input? IOW, is the right side (from camera perspective) the portion directly attached to battery, and the left is post-fuse and going out to the car equipment?
__________________
2004 Matrix XRS 6MT => 2008 VW R32 DSG => 2012 Audi TTRS 6MT => 2018 BMW ///M2 6MT
I'm an IT guy by trade and tech nerd by choice.
I like HPDEs, parts of US Hwy 129, NC 28, and the Cherohala Skyway.
I'm also a fan of aural pleasure.
Appreciate 0
      12-31-2017, 06:28 PM   #17
Nezil
Major
Nezil's Avatar
1402
Rep
1,466
Posts

Drives: LCI '18 6MT M2
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZPrime View Post
One question - your fuse tap, did you test with the multimeter which side of the fuse box is the output and what is the input? IOW, is the right side (from camera perspective) the portion directly attached to battery, and the left is post-fuse and going out to the car equipment?
I'm not sure who you were asking with your post, but it should be pretty obvious... one way it will work, and one way it will not... It's not going to do any damage if you get it wrong, it's just not going to work. Not sure why you'd need a multimeter to confirm that.

I'm personally working through an issue now where my parking mode switches off after approximately 6 hours. I'm trying to diagnose if it's battery voltage related, or some serious inaccuracy in the Power Magic Pro, which I had set to 12 hours. I left the trunk open last night so that I could check if the permanent 12v was being switched off by the car somehow, but that wasn't the case because there was still 12.3v at the fuse when I checked first thing this morning. It was 12.3v last night as well when I checked before leaving the car, so the voltage drop, unless it somehow recovered, certainly shouldn't be the issue.

I've set it to indefinite now and am waiting to see how long it stays on for.
__________________
2018 ///M2 LCI, LBB, 6MT...

Current Performance Mods:
CSF FMIC, ER CP, Fabspeed Cat, Aquamist WMI, GFB DV+, NGK 97506, BM3 (Stage 2 93 OTS), CDV delete, UCP, M2C/M3/M4 Strut Brace, M3/M4 Reinforcement Rings
Appreciate 0
      01-01-2018, 04:31 AM   #18
963mw
BMW Fanatic
963mw's Avatar
United_States
331
Rep
1,076
Posts

Drives: M2
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Mexico

iTrader: (0)

Used this guide to install my Thinkware F800 Pro. Hands down most helpful video. Followed every step for a perfect install.
__________________
18 BMW M2 | ER DP | ER CP | Wagner Evo 2 Comp Intercooler | Aquamist HFS4 | BM3 | CSF Oil Cooler | AFE Drop-in Filter | Bilstein B16 PSS10
Appreciate 0
      01-02-2018, 11:39 PM   #19
ZPrime
I INDIC8
ZPrime's Avatar
United_States
611
Rep
1,282
Posts

Drives: 2018 LBB M2, 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Cleveland, OH

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2018 BMW M2  [9.50]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nezil View Post
I'm not sure who you were asking with your post, but it should be pretty obvious... one way it will work, and one way it will not... It's not going to do any damage if you get it wrong, it's just not going to work. Not sure why you'd need a multimeter to confirm that.
With the fusetaps, that's not always the case. You can install it either way, and it will provide hot out the tail... but if you install it the wrong way you're actually putting both loads on the fuse that came from the car, rather than drawing off the intended hot and using the separate fuse correctly. Or at least, I had a fuse tap in the past that worked either way... maybe it was a crappy fusetap?

With a PMP, it shouldn't really matter since the fusetap is basically only used as a voltage sense and there shouldn't be any real load there... but I prefer to "do it right."

Quote:
I'm personally working through an issue now where my parking mode switches off after approximately 6 hours. I'm trying to diagnose if it's battery voltage related, or some serious inaccuracy in the Power Magic Pro, which I had set to 12 hours. I left the trunk open last night so that I could check if the permanent 12v was being switched off by the car somehow, but that wasn't the case because there was still 12.3v at the fuse when I checked first thing this morning. It was 12.3v last night as well when I checked before leaving the car, so the voltage drop, unless it somehow recovered, certainly shouldn't be the issue.

I've set it to indefinite now and am waiting to see how long it stays on for.
What did you use for the permanent 12v, direct on the battery or something else? There's no way for it to shut off the battery AFAIK, but any other fused "always hot" location may not actually always be hot, because of modern battery management techniques. What did you use for switched too, the radio like in this video? It shouldn't really matter since I wouldn't expect the PMP to care about the switched power going away (I would guess it is only used so it knows when to start its timer).
__________________
2004 Matrix XRS 6MT => 2008 VW R32 DSG => 2012 Audi TTRS 6MT => 2018 BMW ///M2 6MT
I'm an IT guy by trade and tech nerd by choice.
I like HPDEs, parts of US Hwy 129, NC 28, and the Cherohala Skyway.
I'm also a fan of aural pleasure.
Appreciate 0
      01-03-2018, 12:49 AM   #20
Nezil
Major
Nezil's Avatar
1402
Rep
1,466
Posts

Drives: LCI '18 6MT M2
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZPrime View Post
With the fusetaps, that's not always the case. You can install it either way, and it will provide hot out the tail...
That isn't the way it was with my fuse-taps, one leg went to the same leg of both fuses, the other leg went to the other leg of the bottom fuse, and the wire went to the other leg of the top fuse. If you put it in the wrong way, you got nothing out of the wire, but the regular car fuse (bottom one) worked fine.

Quote:
I prefer to "do it right."
Absolutely!

Quote:
What did you use for the permanent 12v, direct on the battery or something else? There's no way for it to shut off the battery AFAIK, but any other fused "always hot" location may not actually always be hot, because of modern battery management techniques. What did you use for switched too, the radio like in this video? It shouldn't really matter since I wouldn't expect the PMP to care about the switched power going away (I would guess it is only used so it knows when to start its timer).
I used a fuse for the both the permanent 12v, and the switched 12v, because it resulted in a neater install, and I haven't noticed any issues with the battery voltage at the fuse, even though I have at the battery - see this new thread: http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1453669.

One additional thing I noticed in my testing yesterday, is that if the PMP switches off because of low voltage, it seems to require BOTH a voltage on the switched wire, AND a voltage sufficiently higher than where it shut off previously. In other words, if you switch the ignition on the next morning after the PMP has switched off the car, it's not enough to turn it back on again; you need to start the car to get the voltage up a bit higher than just the 12.35v that my car was at rest, or it won't turn the camera back on.
__________________
2018 ///M2 LCI, LBB, 6MT...

Current Performance Mods:
CSF FMIC, ER CP, Fabspeed Cat, Aquamist WMI, GFB DV+, NGK 97506, BM3 (Stage 2 93 OTS), CDV delete, UCP, M2C/M3/M4 Strut Brace, M3/M4 Reinforcement Rings
Appreciate 1
Poochie9099.00
      01-03-2018, 07:54 AM   #21
hshot_rooke
First Lieutenant
Canada
123
Rep
326
Posts

Drives: 2017 BMW M2
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Toronto

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by 963mw View Post
Used this guide to install my Thinkware F800 Pro. Hands down most helpful video. Followed every step for a perfect install.
Totally agree...used this for my install and haven't had a problem.
Appreciate 0
      10-30-2020, 08:32 PM   #22
M2 shift
Registered
United_States
0
Rep
2
Posts

Drives: BMW M2C
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Walnut Creek CA, USA

iTrader: (0)

This is a great video. I had a hard time following what happened in the direct wire to the + terminal on the battery. How did you do that part?
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
battery, dashcam, installing, wiring

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:25 PM.




m2
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST