Dashcam wiring

[askyar]

Hi. I just got a 2008 135i and it's a fascinating car. I wanted to wire my dashcam to the vehicle power and I see a lot of places recommending wiring directly to the battery. Not super excited about routing a cable all the way there so I was wondering about alternatives. I know in my E46 you could take off the cover holding the sunroof controls and just tap into the 5V wires there and then route a short cable behind the headliner. I'm wondering if it's possible to do something similar in my car. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[mecheng03]

Just take it along the headliner/a-pillar to the glove compartment with a fuse tap (i use the cigarette lighter fuse). I have this for both a camera and radar detector. I would recommend taking the a-pillar liner/cover off so that the wire is not in front of the airbag though. I even have a battery pack under the passenger seat for parking mode as well with the wires running from the fuse box along the door panel carpet to the seat. It took me about 1-2 hours to wire my car and my wife's van. You just need interior panel removal plastic tools so you don't jack up the plastic parts.

[mr.fabulous]

Originally Posted by mecheng03

Just take it along the headliner/a-pillar to the glove compartment with a fuse tap (i use the cigarette lighter fuse).

+ 1

Simple install. Remove the A-pillar trim by prying up the rubber bolt cover that says AIRBAG and removing the bolt. Then lift up and out (there are tabs at the base of the trim that slide into slots in the body, easy to break but not a big deal if you do).

I removed both the glove box and under dash panel to access the fuse box and to give me room to tie things down (I have a Goluk T2 and its power comes from a 5V cigarette adapter that I secured to the car with tie wraps). I use a loooooong needle nose to handle fuses (worst thing about this car).

[WDE82]

Similar to the E46 actually except you're tapping mirror power I believe. This is 12 VDC. Convert to USB 5V with this or similar:

DROK DC-DC Buck Converter 3A Adapter Power Supply Module Step Down Regulator 12V/24V/36V to 5V Transformer
http://a.co/9pcTQtx

Getting the light and sunroof controls out is a bit harder than the E46. You have to get your fingers around the front of the roof liner and push the clips holding the light in from above.

12VDC here:



Ground here:

[tock172]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Similar to the E46 actually except you're tapping mirror power I believe. This is 12 VDC. Convert to USB 5V with this or similar:

DROK DC-DC Buck Converter 3A Adapter Power Supply Module Step Down Regulator 12V/24V/36V to 5V Transformer

Getting the light and sunroof controls out is a bit harder than the E46. You have to get your fingers around the front of the roof liner and push the clips holding the light in from above.

This is actually not a good place to tap in. I used the same wire for my V1 and whenever I operated the sunroof, power would get severely interrupted.

I was disappointed, because the same wire had worked perfectly on my E46 330i and my E36 M3.

I ended up removing all of the wiring from the overhead console and instead running it through the headliner, down the A-pillar and to a fuse tap on the fuse block. Problem solved.

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by tock172

This is actually not a good place to tap in. I used the same wire for my V1 and whenever I operated the sunroof, power would get severely interrupted.

I was disappointed, because the same wire had worked perfectly on my E46 330i and my E36 M3.

I ended up removing all of the wiring from the overhead console and instead running it though the headliner, down the A-pillar and to a fuse tap on the fuse block. Problem solved.

This should be for the dimming mirror or something up there. I haven't noticed an interruption yet but I'll check it out tomorrow.

[WDE82]

It is doing something strange but not with the sunroof. Don't know why I didn't notice before. I might hook a multimeter up to it and drive around trying things to see what's up.

[Mach1er]

This was my reference for installing my dash cam. Ran from the cam behind the rearview mirror, up in the headliner, down under the A-pillar rubber trim, through the hole between the glove box plastic and the steel door frame, into the fuse box.

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/thread...ies-bmw.17069/

Edit: I used fuse #5, which is listed as steering wheel power to tap into. It was unpopulated, but I used an Add-a-fuse and a 3Amp fuse in the Add-a-fuse. Worked perfectly and powers on and off with the engine.