What am I doing wrong? (Radar Hardwire)

[makrop]

So I've got everything running where I want it, even mounted the mute display in a SWEET spot and no cords/wires are visible whatsoever. All of that would be well and good if the dang thing worked! I searched through a bunch of threads and the general consensus was to tie the power wire into the "green/white" wire, which I think I did. I've never done anything electrically but it seemed pretty straight forward with this fancy little connector that came with the smartcord. The only thing I can think of is that my ground isnt actually grounded. I didnt put that where I had seen others since I didnt have a tool to get to the bolt.

Any advice?


edit:

I tried powering it from the standard cord into the cigarette lighter and it worked so the radar itself isnt the problem. Also changed locations of the ground and that didnt do anything...




Here is the ground:

[adevangel84]

Make sure you are making good contact with green/white wire from the wire tap. I had the same issues with my Passport not powering but after looking at the wire tap, the wire wasn't making good contact.

[tgxmike]

Check the fuse too.

If you have a multimeter, you can read the voltage across the Green/white and any metal ground to make sure you are getting 12+V

[makrop]

Yeah my friend has a multimeter and we will give that a shot tomorrow. As far as the wire making good contact, how would I know? Are you talking about having the red and black wire for the radar being pushed in all the way or making sure the connector is all the way shut?

[SlickShift]

It looks like the medal tab can be pushed into the blue connector a little bit more.

[makrop]

Originally Posted by SlickShift

It looks like the medal tab can be pushed into the blue connector a little bit more.

I can try... I even squeezed them together with pliers. Idk if it will go further.

[jordantii]

With the meter put the black lead to ground and the red to your power source you should see voltage with the car running. You can also go to your local auto parts store and but a test light the has an alligator clip on one end and a probe on the other. Put the clip on ground and the probe to power and if there is a connection it will light up.

[makrop]

Alright so funny thing... When I installed this I had the sunroof all the way open so I could set a fan up on the roof and blow it down into the car on me since it was really hot in my garage haha. Anyways, I left everything hooked up for the heck of it and as I was driving on the highway, I saw a bunch of dust ahead so I went to roll my windows up and close the sunroof. And low and behold, the radar comes on once the sunroof gets about halfway closed! Haha I thought maybe I just had a bad connection and it was lucky, so I tested it. It works when the sunroof is fully closed, halfway closed, or tilted but not when its fully open. Weird.....

I'm gonna roll with it as is for now because its my understanding that I cant reuse that connector and would have to get a new one?

[jordantii]

You can use it again.

[makrop]

Originally Posted by jordantii

You can use it again.

I know I could use the connector again but once I take it off, wont the wire I tapped into be split in half and not work?

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by krop135i

I know I could use the connector again but once I take it off, wont the wire I tapped into be split in half and not work?

No, the wire tap only cut through the insulation.

Simply just take it off and electrical tape the wire.

I gave up trying to find a tap in the sunroof area and went to add-a-fuse in the glove box

[JTB]

Looking at your wiring... You selected the wrong green/white wire. You need to use the one on the smaller connector. You can see the correct wire clearly in your last picture.

Here are the instructions I used:
http://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=669250

Note his reference to the "passenger side connector".

Good luck,

[makrop]

Originally Posted by JTB

Looking at your wiring... You selected the wrong green/white wire. You need to use the one on the smaller connector. You can see the correct wire clearly in your last picture.

Here are the instructions I used:
http://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=669250

Note his reference to the "passenger side connector".

Good luck,

How did I never find that thread...

I pulled up so many trying to figure out how to do this haha. I'll switch it to a different wire eventually, right now I'm content with it since I mostly just vent the sunroof or leave it closed since its getting near 100 degrees every day here now

[shah269]

huh....those instructions are kind of crap...mostly because the picture is kind of crap....
I get the groud wire...but where does the power wire go?

"Step 5: Next grab your wire T Tap and join the Green/White from the passenger side clip and your power (red wire) from your radar's hard wire harness. (For me My t tap failed and I couldn't get a solid connection so I stripped my harness wiring and wired twisted the wire on from the exposed portion of the green/white wire where the T Tap had removed the wire insulation, then covered it with a small piece of electrical tape, this worked like a charm. I did not solder due to the fact that I want to be able to remove the harness later on.)"

huh?

[JTB]

Originally Posted by shah269

huh....those instructions are kind of crap...mostly because the picture is kind of crap....
I get the groud wire...but where does the power wire go?

"Step 5: Next grab your wire T Tap and join the Green/White from the passenger side clip and your power (red wire) from your radar's hard wire harness. (For me My t tap failed and I couldn't get a solid connection so I stripped my harness wiring and wired twisted the wire on from the exposed portion of the green/white wire where the T Tap had removed the wire insulation, then covered it with a small piece of electrical tape, this worked like a charm. I did not solder due to the fact that I want to be able to remove the harness later on.)"

huh?

I actually agree. I just used a tap. It does, however, reference the correct wire.

Here is another:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=274313

[shah269]

That's a little better! I just got it and will have to do it next week..I just hope i can find those freaking release tabs they are talking about!

[makrop]

Originally Posted by shah269

That's a little better! I just got it and will have to do it next week..I just hope i can find those freaking release tabs they are talking about!

It is definitely easiest (for me and my long skinny fingers) to un-do the sun-visor clips nearest to the mirror (the part where the visor snaps in/out to rotate to side windows). Just pop open the little flap and there is a single T-15 screw to undo and the whole "bracket" comes out. This allows you to pull the headliner down enough to slip your hand in and "push" out the clips. If you reach in there, the clips are aligned just about in line with the two reading lights. Rest your finger nail against them and push down and against them and it will pop them out. Doesnt take a lot of force at all, just an awkward way to get to them. Definitely dont try to poke them out from underneath. Literally no gap on mine and you will end up just gouging the crap out of it.

[MZWIE]

I wired mine directly to the fuse box. Was very simple. Just bought a connector made for this purpose. Comes with a pigtail to connect to the + lead for any accessory.

Costs a few bucks in any auto parts store. Even WalMart sell them.

[MZWIE]

Now with picture

[doublevanosrc]

I had the same issue when i did mine, ended up tapping into the fuse box instead. In my previous bimmers i always tapped in the sunroof not sure why it didn't work with the E82.

[drcollie]

Modern BMW's use a CANBUS system that operates with a number of relays. The days of simply tapping into a 12v hot lead are gone. Best to run a wire to the fusebox and power off that. If that's too long a run, then use a 12v test light to probe wires to see if you can find one that will give you a hot lead when the ignition switch is "ON". Most will not.

Good luck

[rking117]

use a test light to fidn the correct power wire. be careful though I hit the wrong wrie with my test light and called BMW assist. I was like yes i have an emergency, can you tell me which wire i should hook to? hahaha then i quickly apologized for my bad humor and noted that was not the correct wire and decided to run a power wire fromt he fuse box below.