[TambourineMan]

I am basically following Calvino's method except as it needs to be modified for a E92 and for a steptronic

Well I figured out how to remove the center console on a steptronic. Yes you do pull hard on the shifter knob to remove it so the leather boot can slip off the shaft.

I could not get the steptronic panel to come out by pulling on the leather boot. I used some plastic spatulas to pry under the edge of the panel. You do need to remove two electrical connectors on the bottom of the steptronic panel.

I could not get the center console panel to come out be pulling up on the hole created by removing the steptronic panel. I used a screw driver at various points around the circumference of the steptronic panel hole and also the outer edge of the wood trim to leverage the wood trim center console panel out.

The space in the E92 engine compartment near the firewall access is ver y sparse. I was able to cut a hole in the rubber protrusion through which you put the wires to go through the firewall. I pushed a long narrow dowel through the protrusion from the driver compartment and sawed the tip of the rubber off with a serrated knife against the dowel by working from the engine compartment.

So the good news is that I got my heads installed securely and leveled. I routed the wires through the firewall. The bad news is that the LI does not power up. It's the first time I used wire taps and I probably did not make a good connection - but I'm done for tonight.

Here are some pix:

First two show the bracket I fabricated to attach the lower end of the head to the curved bottom of the grill (compared to the one that came in the box). I used a saber saw to cut a strip out of a cold air door sweep (the kind that has a rubber flap and attached to the bottom of a door.) Mine was made out of aluminum of about the same thickness as the OEM bracket and was very malleable, I made a cardboard template to figure out where and at what angle to bend it. I used a vice and a hammer to bend it.





Here's a view from the back of the grill:



Here's a closeup from the front:



Here an installed view - (my car is dirty but not that dirty)"



The bubble is slightly recessed from the front edge of the grill slat but compared to a horizontal installation I think it should be much less obstructed. Plus the bubbles are close to the headlights. It is fairly stealthy and fairly secure compared to an installation using tape.

[ZTZ1010]

I didn't get my wire taps to work the first time either, so don't worry. I had to reopen my center piece and actually tape the tap so it would stay closed and into the main wire

[Moth]

Tambourine-Man's setup is pretty awesome. I tested it today with 4 generation 3 Police Lidar guns and he jammed them all. If installed correctly, the Laser Interceptor is "The Truth!!!"

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...tml#post426449

[calvino]

that looks great TambourineMan I'm going to try to do the same and I will edit the DIY

[Lotus99]

Hey guys, I'm sure you read about the vertical vs. horizontal debates, but what I'd read from a laser jammer vendor was that (and it seems Tam man's testing refutes this) they're best mounted horizontally because the beam is transmitted in a wide angle shape fanning out. If that is true, then it would make sense to have them mounted horizontally rather than vertically which would give you a narrow beam up and down, but Tam man's testing now proves otherwise...

I'm confused! Obviously the less they're blocked, the better, but I wondered if the horizontal mounting pros would outweigh the cons of having a slight blockage by a slat.

[TambourineMan]

It's possible that other makes of laser jammers must be mounted horizontally. However, Laser Interceptor itself says theirs can be mounted either vertically or horizontally. The heads should be mounted as close vertically and horizontally to the headlights as possible. For a BMW, this usually means mounting in the grill.

Mounting under the bumper may work, but could be too low for over the rise shots as the gun will catch the headlights before the jammer can block.

For mine L.I. and their US rep recommended mounting vertically in the grill. As mentioned by Moth above, this location was tested against four different guns and was found to be effective (although we did not try a shots from way off to the side of the road which may be the weak point). But in my opinion the trap would have to be far off in a wide median or side of the road as the bubble is almost at the front edge of the grill slat.

The L.I. has two receiving diodes - one oriented vertically and one horizontally. My understanding is that detecting the laser beam is a big part of the game. (The L.I. prototype tested by GOL had two transmitting diodes similarly oriented, but the retail only has one probably because diodes of this type are expensive and one seemed to do an acceptable job.)

[Hunter399]

Does it still provide good coverage behind the grill?

[TambourineMan]

There are some threads of people who have had success mounting behind grills.

But think about it logically. Laser beams are light, invisible light, but light nevertheless. It will only go through transparent objects, but even those can be a problem as some may be reflected back and confuse the the pulse timings needed to confuse the laser gun. Some glass/lenses are treated to purposely reflect back infrared (heat) light.

There is no doubt mounting behind the grill looks better and is more secure, but honestly here is a picture of my front - you can barely see the heads:



You may be protected from direct on shots if mounted behind the grill, but what about ones from off axis?

If you mount behind the grill be aware that not only does the bubble need as much of an unobstructed line of sight as possible, but also the transmitting diode - which located about three quarters of the distance from the bubble.

Here is a pix that shows where the transmitting diode is located:

[calvino]

TambourineMan why did you had to fabricate a bracke instead of using the two OEM bracke

[calvino]

well guys there are bad news for the e90 owners the grill is compleatly different we don't have were to screw the heads on the top

[Hunter399]

Isant vertacle ineffective?

[TambourineMan]

I was able to use one of the original L-brackets, but I estimated that they were not long enough to use at the bottom - although possibly they could have been flattened out and re-bent and might have just made it. I didn't try as I wanted enough material to further adjust so that the heads were level (perpendicular to the plane of the road).

LI suggested using the mounting piece that comes with the slim heads for the rear but use the door sill draft stopper worked easily for me.

I gotta get my car washed tonight and the touch-less wash is right near my dealer. I will go look at an E90 grill. I can't believe there is no place to attach the short end of the L-bracket to the underside of the top surface of the black part of the grill. You will have to temporarily take the silver/chrome piece off, but it just un-clips. You can't put the bracket itself on the upper (outside) surface of the black grill as the chrome trim will not fit back onto the black grill. See my earlier picutre: "a view from the back of the grill." The shorter end of the OEM L-bracket should fit to the bottom of the top (that is, the inside surface) fot he black grill. Only the head of the screw will stick out at the top of the black grill and that will fit under the chrome piece.

As for whether vertical works, read just a couple of posts above. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by TambourineMan

As for whether vertical works, read just a couple of posts above. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Seeing that I don't even have one, explains part of my confusion. I thought that the bubble was in fact the transmitter, but looking at your diagram, the little round hole is...

So I guess now I'm wondering how the light shoots out of the hole. If it comes out in a ray and spreads out 360 degrees in three dimensions (if that makes sense, like in this picture):



then it shouldn't matter at all how you mount it, heck, even diagonal?

But if it comes out like in two dimensions only, a type of flat beam that fans out, like this then horizontal would make more sense.


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[TambourineMan]

The total beam divergence for the Osram SPL PL90_3 that the LI (and probably other diode jammers) uses is 11 (+/- 5.5) degrees vertical and 25 (+/- 12.5) degrees horizontal. At those angle, power output is half the peak. At twice that angle, the output is virtually zero:

http://catalog.osram-os.com/catalogu...00a3dd000100b6

Therefore, if your jammer heads (or input and output diode locations) have +/- 11 degrees clearance vertically, and +/- 25 horizontally, there is no point in wanting extra clearance.

Conclusions:

A vertical head will provide better overpass/underpass protection, and worse to the side protection, compared to a horizontal head.

It is extremely important to have your heads level, especially vertically.

[doba_s]

I would skip step 3/4 ... Why would you want to drill something in your car ? There is plenty of space to rout it without drilling anything and you can also use factory clips that are right underneath the front support .

Also it looks getto that way ...

It also would be much better to mount heads behind the grills on the lower part of the shroud support . You can use double sided tape and level it later. That way you can hide the rest of the wires and nothing will be hanging and blocking your front radiator like it does in post #6.

Make sure to put your grills back to check that your transmitter and receiver are not blocked.

[calvino]

Originally Posted by doba_s

I would skip step 3/4 ... Why would you want to drill something in your car ? There is plenty of space to rout it without drilling anything and you can also use factory clips that are right underneath the front support .

Also it looks getto that way ...

well is MY CAR and I can do what ever I want with it, so I will appreciate if you can keep such useless comments to yourself.

if you found a better way to rout the cables then share it with everyone.

[TambourineMan]

Mounting the heads below the bumper may work except for overhead shots, or when cresting a hill. The heads are then further away from the headlights which, along with a front plate are the most critical areas to be defended. Head placement has to be a balance of form and function.

[doba_s]

Originally Posted by calvino

well is MY CAR and I can do what ever I want with it, so I will appreciate if you can keep such useless comments to yourself.

if you found a better way to rout the cables then share it with everyone.

How is it useless ? I just told people to skip those steps and not to drill anything ...

Also, you can mount LI heads horizontally behind the grills - it works !!!

[E90 ANdy]

I have an Escort SRX system that i might put on my car or sell for 650 shipped** but yeah, when doing the mockup on my car i was worried that the grill slants would block the "shifting" capabilities of the heads. Another member is right, laser is essentially light, and at angles the slants could block the heads ability to "shift" and therefore you'll get a ticket. The heads must have an unobstructed horizontal view of the road within a +/- 5degree margin. People have tested this and with in +/- 2degrees is optimal for the best jamming results. Escort recommends mounting the heads horizontal, im not sure about other manufacturers..... I know it looks better behind the grills, but are you sure you're getting the BEST performance your jammer can do?

[T2x]

This guide is funny because my car is the exact same color as the OP's and I installed it in the exact same way as the OP except it was over a half year ago.

The only thing i did was route the power cables through the compartment under the steering wheel to the center console through the very narrow space that goes into there. That way it isnt pinched by the center console as it appears yours might be? If I'm mistaken then nevermind.


Good DIY though.

[stikya]

I realize this is old; but i just used it to do my install so people must still read it. I had a couple of options / thoughts.

My Experience: I have installed 4 jammers on my 4 cars in 2 years, and have had 22 out of 22 sucessful jams at >15 MPH over the limit into laser traps. Some as high as 35 MPH over. I learned everything I know on www.radardetector.net and Guysoflidar.com over the last 3 years of research.

1) mounting horizontally is always better than vertically; every jammer performs at it's best that way. Yes, the LI is good enought to work well vertically. But, not optimally, due to the disperson patterns. Even the best jammer (LI) is only 90% accurate (mounted horizontally) in real life road tests w/ hills and curves. Why reduce that at all?

2) Mounting under the inner part of the headlights, in the upper part of the bumper opening, flush with the bumper line, will most likely yield better results than in the grill, especially for headlight shots. Reason: A headlight shot that kills is usually on the outer part of the headlight, from closer range, i.e. as you come around a corner.

So, if you measure from the all yellow part of the outer headlight to the 1st grill slot large enough for a jammer head, it's about 25". If you measure from the bumper spot to the yellow part it's about 22". While you may be closer to the inner headlight, mounting in grill, you are farther from the outer headlight, and, also note, far from the fogs which are reflective too.

Under the headlight in the upper bumper is the only place on the front you are 22" or less from all parts of every reflective surface on the car front.. Much over 22" from a head to any reflective surface and you risk closer range punch-throughs. Just a thought.

And as far as an overhead, and under bumper not being as good. As long as it's flush w/ bumper, performance will not be hindered.

The only downfall to under bumper flush is it isn't as stealth.

Note, over 3 years, fingers crossed, I've never had a head stolen or damaged in the bumper location I have chosen on all my cars.

Easy and Cheap Improvemnt: Get the Matte black grill, and a Veil plate cover, or no front plate (if legal). Each of these will reduce the reflective nature of your car emmensely.

Pics:
2nd pic shows under bumper (fasia) head mounts. This is the only location on the car that has 22 inch or less (jammers best coverage range) distance from corner of headlights, grill, and fogs.
1st pic shows Blinder warning light mounted in the OEM headlight switch housing, and BLinder on1/off/on2 switch mounted next to headlights switch.
I think the install looks nice and clean. Happy driving!

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by stikya

So, if you measure from the all yellow part of the outer headlight to the 1st grill slot large enough for a jammer head, it's about 25". If you measure from the bumper spot to the yellow part it's about 22". While you may be closer to the inner headlight, mounting in grill, you are farther from the outer headlight, and, also note, far from the fogs which are reflective too.

Under the headlight in the upper bumper is the only place on the front you are 22" or less from all parts of every reflective surface on the car front.. Much over 22" from a head to any reflective surface and you risk closer range punch-throughs. Just a thought.

I think the install looks nice and clean. Happy driving!

Nice clean install first of all! You don't seem to have a front license plate, but I've got one, and that is probably the first spot they'd hit, I'm guessing. Wouldn't the grill locations be closer to the plate?