Dashcam Installation in a D2
 

As a follow-up to a request by The_Laird, I've written up a brief guide on installing a dashcam. The one I bought was from Amazon UK, but installation should be pretty much the same:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My first decision was on positioning the dashcam. (In hindsight, I would move it an inch or two lower from the top, as the extra tint at the top has an effect on nightime quality). Ideally high up to get a good view, but discreet enough, so not 'in your face' all the time. The obvious place was behind the mirror somewhere, and I basically just put it in its mount, and then played with different positions. In the end, I opted to have it right in the centre of the mirror. This way, the mirror helps to conceal it both inside and out. It also helps mask the blue flashing LED at night (you could tape over it, but then won't know if there is an issue with it). The dashcam also has a small display which remains active for about the first minute. Once I decided on its final position, I removed the adhesive cover and stuck it to the screen.

With the holder now in place, I removed the dashcam in order to install the wiring. Since I needed a power source, the obvious cable route was towards the fuse box, so I initially plugged the lead into the mount, and then gently pushed the cable up behind the headlining. The only tools I used for this were just my fingers to prise the headlining slightly and a cheap chopstick... yes, a chopstick. I needed something that I could push the wire back with, and a screwdriver was going to be too sharp, and I just happened to have some cheap chopsticks. The good thing about them was that they had a pretty broad flat point (ideal for pushing wires, without damaging them).

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/picture.p...&pictureid=697

Next step is to repeat the process down the front of the A pillar. The lining on the A pillar is more difficult to move, so I resorted to having to push all the cable in behind it. After that, the cable was fed along the base of the A pillar and the dash, again just using the chopstick to push the cable down out of sight.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/picture.p...&pictureid=698

With the cable now heading out the door, it was pushed in between the dash and the pillar lining, with the tricky bit getting it turned in just before the plastic door liner, towards the fuse box.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/picture.p...&pictureid=699

From here, it only remained to terminate both wires. To do this, and for the final part of the cable feed, I removed the trim from below the steering wheel. For the 12v feed, I used a piggyback fuse holder into the fuse at Yellow 2 (telephone/navigation). For the ground, from memory, I secured it to a nut near the steering column.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/picture.p...&pictureid=696

And what it looks like from outside:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/picture.p...&pictureid=639

The quality of the video is excellent for the price, and when I renewed my insurance, I mentioned the dashcam, and got a £40 discount (£30 over the phone and a further £10 when I went to pay, as I had to wait 10 minutes).

For those who haven't seen them, here's a link to the videos taken from it during the annual meet in Scotland this year:

https://www.youtube.com/user/seanswilson/videos

Cheers Sean, very easy to follow and - importantly - looks like it can be done pretty easily. I might follow your example, having had two prangs in the last six weeks (one in the '8, one in the Coupe) - a dash cam would have been handy for both!

Very impressed, by both the install and the image quality. Do you have any more info on the camera, as the link isn't behaving.

I found the same problem Prof P, but found this link to it (I think) in Sean's post on the other thread:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had originally thought of buying a BlackVue dashcam as they got very good reviews, but the price put me off. For what this is intended for, the quality is more than adequate.

Weird, as I copied the link from the other thread :Confused:

Excellent folks, cheers.

Sean, was all the cabling provided, including a piggyback fuse holder, or did you have to source that?

Jim, the fuse holder was the only additional item bought. £2.00 from eBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADD-A-CIRC.../251650492205?

Thanks Sean, I've just ordered the same package exactly. :)

i also ordered two for xmas tried one the other day but found that on HD video with the internal 16gb got full up very very quickly!
so i would recommend not paying the extra for the internal memory and going down the SD card route if you want to use HD recording for extended periods

great write up though!!!

ive bought a roadhawk 720hd but it came with a ciggy plug power source and will buy a hardwire kit after xmas

Lloyd, you can purchase a 12v Female Cigarette Lighter Socket, similar to the following:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-Female...item233e0a0244

The_Laird - Apologies Jim, having just seen Lloyds post, it reminded me that I also bought the above socket as well.

Road hawk do a proper hardwire kit that will give a nice tidy install

Why, if you hard wired it?

I honestly can't remember why I did it. It may have been because the lead came with a cigarette lighter plug on it, and rather than cut it off to wire it in, as the wire is quite thin, I just used the adaptor which has decent thickness wire.

Hi All,
I have a D3 2004.
There are no ignition fed fuses on the right hand fuse box.
There are two (31 & 32 in my case) in the left hand fuse box.
I have wired my camera as described in the foregoing writeup but on the left instead of the right. At the same time I have added a tyre pressure monitor to the same "add a fuse" connector.
Thanks Steamship for a clear and concise description.

Finally figured out why I used the cigarette lighter adaptor. The USB connector is a 5V feed to the camera and the cigarette lighter supplies 12V, so it wasn't a simple case of cutting the cigarette lighter adaptor off and wiring it in.

Glad it was of use. The forum has been great, and since I can't offer much in the way of mechanical advice, this is my way of saying thanks to everyone here.

Laird, did you wire the 12v feed into the USB cable or gut the internals of the CIG adapter and keep the 5v stepdown?

I've just got mine (801 version) and have been having a little play with it :)

That'll teach me to read properly! I'll butcher the CIG lighter and keep the 12v step down :)

Not fitted mine yet. It was a Christmas present. But I'm still confused about the power source. Sean first said that he's used a piggy back fuse (which I bought) and then there was talk about the cigarette lighter adapter.

Perhaps it'll be clearer once I get it unpacked

Has anyone had a look inside the D2 rearview mirror housing, I wonder if there is enough room in there to squeeze in the 801 camera?
Then again it would be a real pain if it has to be taken out for any reason.

Sorry for the confusion. That's partly because I wrote it up some time after installing it. The lead supplied with the camera has a USB connector on one end and a plug to go into the cigarette lighter at the other end. As Andycaca mentions, it has some 5V stepdown circuitry in it. It's therefore not possible to just hardwire it as I mentioned previously. That is where the cigarette lighter adaptor comes in (which I linked to in a previous post), and avoids having to muck around gutting the supplied cable.

The full wiring would be Camera - USB/cigarette lighter lead - cigarette lighter adaptor - piggy back fuse holder. It may not be a very elegant solution, but at least it's guaranteed to work, and only requires you connecting the red wire to the piggy back fuse holder and the black wire to a suitable earth.

So you're not plugging the ciggy adaptor into the cigarette lighter socket, but taking additional cables to a fuse?

Yup.. That's what he's doing.

If I have understood it right he has additional cigarette lighter socket connected to the piggy back fuse and hidden it somewhere, then cigarette lighter USB adapter goes in that socket and USB cable to the camera.

Exactly. Part of the problem for not taking photos during the install, with all the cabling hidden up inside the dash.

Hi All,
I had time to think last night and remembered that I could not find the piggyback that I bought for the job when I fitted the dash cam in my D3. So I damaged a 5 Amp fuse and soldered a wire to one of the legs but made sure that I put that leg in the supply side of the fuse socket. I connected an inline fuse holder to the wire and used that as my cam supply. My cam operates at 12 volts, so I did not need a supply dropper.
The reason I had time to think was because I became stuck on the M1 in the snow. Needless to say I was not in the A8, just a scummy Merc. I stayed the night in a Travelodge near Mansfield, good bed and a very good breakfast this morning.:ROFL:

That will teach you.:ROFL:

Your story reminds me of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAORFjO3cGI

Hope you got home safely.

Arrived home safe and sound Saturday lunchtime. Did two local jobs, and even managed to attend today's (Sunday) Xmas A8 meet at the Leopard.

slightly back on topic :)
you could buy one of these and cut off the cig adapter. then wire it into the fuse adapter.
much smaller than other suggestions. i was planning on gutting the cig lighter internals but for the sake of a few quid this would be nice. or you could make your own with some bits from maplins :)

http://www.eeweb.com/blog/circuit_pr...tage-regulator

Nice one Andy,
The two items I have wired to my home made piggyback are both 12 volt so this time I do not need a volt dropper.
I am filing this for future reference, because I am sure I'll need to build one sooner rather than later.
Thanks for the info.:cheers:

Reviving this thread as I have just installed a Nextbase 402. Its worth mentioning that Nextbase sell a hardwire kit ((£14) that includes the 12/5V transformer, piggyback fuse holder (2 in fact as one is for mini ATM fuse holders), ferrite suppressor and plenty of cable.

One problem is that the 402 is GPS capable but the heated screen effectively shields the unit from the signal and it wont synch with the satellites. (It works OK on my motorhome).
Is there any way of getting a feed from the RNS-D satnav aerial?

Odd that it isn't syncing with the satellites. I have the heated windscreen as well, and since you know that your unit works in your motorhome, I'm wondering if it's the position on the windscreen. If you look at the image I posted at the very start, I have the camera mounted right at the top of the windscreen. I keep meaning to move it down an inch or two, as the tint dulls the nighttime footage. I can't honestly say that mine gets 100% GPS signal, but there are always stacks of GPS data files.

Thanks Sean,
Due to the rubber sucker mount that comes with it, it is sited just below the tint and project slightly below the mirror too. I'll monitor it and see how it does.
In fact I'll take it ona run in the snow this pm. There's always a good excuse to drive!

I have the same model.

As a tip remove it so it's not left in the car when not in use. Over the summer SWMBO parked in direct sunlight while at work. 9 hours of cooking was too much for it's internal battery.... Thankfully Amazon exchanged it. +++

Despite a longish run the dashcam never achieved lock with GPS satellites and there was no file or positional speed info when put through the playback software. Any suggestions?

I wonder if the heating element (or whatever) doesn't up into the tinted area. It's about the only thing I can think of, since you know it works in another vehicle. That at least proves it isn't faulty. I'll see if I can dig out the box for mine, as it had additional sticky pads. I'll then mount it below the tint and see if I still get a GPS lock. Might take a day or two though.

Thanks Sean that'll be useful. I'll do the opposite.

I get satellite lock with the unit outside the car but cannot get it in the car. I know that a standalone tomtom i had would never achieve lock either. So I am back to the question of whether its possible to share the GPS aerial feed for the inbuilt satnav. Anyone?