[raceyBMW]

Wire ties if you don't have them. Add-a-circuit (mini-fuse version) is all you really need as long as you have all the proper tools. I can't remember if I needed anything special for the ground wire, I don't think I did though...but you may want to research.

[Noncom23]

On the Torx Driver. I need to buy a set.
I assume everyone has the socket set
or drill socket set? Recommendations?

[PINOY_E90]

Ok, found the fusetap from autozone, now when i test connecting the red cable of the fusetap and the red cable from the v1 hardwire kit, it will not fit, the fusetap connector is circular connector like the original pics here and the v1 red wire has rectangular shape?

Thanks

[mr_milo]

cut and crimp then

[raceyBMW]

Cut and crimp/solder, that's all you need to do.

[Noncom23]

So finally got all the parts. Ran the Vi cable to the glove and under through to the fuse area. Wow! Tight in there. So don't need to take out the whole glove box. Just work through the back panel, right? Thx ahead.

[Mech_Man]

Originally Posted by Noncom23

So finally got all the parts. Ran the Vi cable to the glove and under through to the fuse area. Wow! Tight in there. So don't need to take out the whole glove box. Just work through the back panel, right? Thx ahead.

Great that you are doing this. Any chance of pictures? Also, what fuse number did you tap? (for those with your specific Make/Model/Year).

Also, while I agree that you don't have to remove the glove box to run the wires, I should mention that it actually is pretty easy, and gets you a lot more elbow room for when you're putting in your fuse tap, and finding a frame-mounting bolt to use for a ground.

[AndreyT]

As I posted in a another thread (Garmin hardwiring), HomeLink fuse works fine. It is fuse number 7 in 2011 335i.

Here's my picture



Also shows how the fuse tap is supposed to be oriented in order to work (fuse tap wire exits downwards).

On the left side of the above picture you see a Garmin power adapter Vecro-strapped to the metal bracket. That metal bracket has a large-headed torx screw in it (obstructed by the power adapter in the above picture). That torx screw works perfectly for ground connection. Just crimp a ring contact on your ground wire and put it under that screw.

In this picture

http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...1&d=1201683695

from another DIY you can clearly see that screw (one of the yellow arrows). The author of that DIY also used that very same screw for ground.

[Noncom23]

Originally Posted by Mech_Man

Great that you are doing this. Any chance of pictures? Also, what fuse number did you tap? (for those with your specific Make/Model/Year).

Also, while I agree that you don't have to remove the glove box to run the wires, I should mention that it actually is pretty easy, and gets you a lot more elbow room for when you're putting in your fuse tap, and finding a frame-mounting bolt to use for a ground.

Thx. I am almost finshed. The post above with the fuse helped with identifying the right fuse number. Thanks. His pic above shows it all.

[Noncom23]

Originally Posted by Noncom23

Thx. I am almost finshed. The post above with the fuse helped with identifying the right fuse number. Thanks. His pic above shows it all.

Ok all done. Yes you can work easily enought through the back of
the glove box. Fues no.7 for us with more recent e92 Coupes.
Be sure and buy some of the above velcro felt binder to strap everything
to the upright like in the picture above. By the way my torx screw was already
lose, but worked well for the ground. I tightened it up. Over all this is the
easiest way to install the V1 for me. All the above pics really tell the tale.

[Mech_Man]

AndreyT: I'm glad you posted that excellent picture as it shows something I've said here and other threads.


To all who are thinking of adding a Save a Fuse or tapping into the fuseblock:
YOU CAN"T DEPEND ON OTHER PEOPLE / POSTS to determine the fuse number. You need to look it up for your own specific car's make/model/date.

While AndreyT found that #7 worked, and that was the number that I found worked for me for my 03/2008 e92 335i, my fuse tap is upside down from Andrey, (see green arrow), and my block has fuses in different places than Andrey's later model. And I know that my fuse block is totally different than the ones installed on e92s in 2007.

So find the fuse block legend, look for the cigarette lighter symbol (picture shown below), and that's the number/location to use.

Also, see the blue arrow for the bolt that's useful for a ground connection.

[chirp]

I want to thank you guys (Josh49 & bilbarstow)! Awesome instructions and pics. I didn't want to order a detector until I could see pics of what it would look like and now I'm one Alt-Tab away from getting the V1 with concealed display! Nice job guys. I knew before buying my 335 that the forums like this one would be 10X better than any other car brand. Hate to be stuck up but BMW owners will figure stuff out like you guys did and articulate it a lot differently than on a Nissan et. al. forum! Thanks again guys!

[redz06]

Why can't I have V1 powered by the circuits in the rear view mirror, like on my Corvette. The installation is pure simplicity and it works great. The adapter wire only costs about $15.

[Mech_Man]

Originally Posted by redz06

Why can't I have V1 powered by the circuits in the rear view mirror, like on my Corvette. The installation is pure simplicity and it works great. The adapter wire only costs about $15.

I don't see why you can't. There are really only two concerns.

1) Do you know enough about the wiring specific to your car to be able to know what wires to connect to, and where?

2) Is the circuit you are tapping protected with enough fuse to be safe after you modify it?

I think most of us solve (1) by tapping the cigarette lighter fuse at the fuse block, since the fuse block diagram will show which car fuse tap to connect to,
and that also fixes (2), since the cig circuit is VERY heavy duty, but almost never used (especially for us non-smokers). So it is very unlikely that the power draw of the new accessories will, when added to the existing (probably zero) power draw, exceed the safe limits of the fuses.

If you connect to the rear view mirror circuit and happen to be adjusting the mirror when your alarm sounds, will you be exceeding the amp rating? What IS the amp rating for that circuit?

[redz06]

Not for me to know man, but for the supplier of the connector wire and pins, he or she should know where to make the taps on the BMW wiring. This is the way it is on the Corvette and it works flawlessly. Why should it be different on the BMW?

The problem with tapping the fusebox is that you bave to run the wiring down the sidepost and to the fusebox, which is more invasive and more work.

[Morpheus]

thanks to all. I may try this over Christmas.

[Vigorous]

I attempted to do the hardwire through the fusebox, however I ran into a problem with my I-drive knob.

There was thread about the issue before, but without a posted solution:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=445968

HELP PLEASE!

Originally Posted by reign528

Pulled out a few fuses to hardwire my Radar and noticed my iDrive knobs aren't working... The menu, knob, and voice button isn't working.

The display still works and I can still listen to music using my AUX connection.

I checked the connection under the iDrive knob and its connected. There doesn't seem to be power connected to the knob because it spins continuously instead of giving the feedback click when you normally turn it...

Any ideas? I rather not take it to the dealer because i have my mods...

[wahoo]

It would be sweet if someone could figure out how to get the detector concealed in the rearview mirror connection to the windshield. It would probably entail effectively cannabalizing the V1 and running wiring to the mirror.

[jello]

So i just bought an escort passport 9500ix. This is the hard wire kit i want to buy with the option of the mini blade fuse tap instead of the T Tap.....

http://www.safe-n-sound1.com/Escort%...at%20Mute.html


So correct me if i'm wrong, i dont need to buy anything else anymore right? i just hard wire it directly through my homelink, fuse 28 and im good to go?

will this be ok? or i need to buy the additional add a fuse tap (double fuse)? Please I would really appreciate any input please...

[Mech_Man]

I have a 9500ix and didn't know that others made such specialty cords. That's pretty nice.
It does look like you are OK, but you do have to realize that your detector will be piggybacking onto the fuse your tapping, and won't have it's own fuse. For the very slight power draw RDs use, that actually should be OK.

I can't comment on if your Fuse 28 is the right number, since I've found that fuse blocks were changed from one year to another, even within the same car model. If you got that fuse ID from your own fuse chart, then great!

One thing tho. You might want to hold off on getting the cable for a month or three if you are considering Escort's Live!,
http://www.escortradar.com/escort-live/
as I understand they are planning to release a direct-wire version.

[jello]

Originally Posted by Mech_Man

I have a 9500ix and didn't know that others made such specialty cords. That's pretty nice.
It does look like you are OK, but you do have to realize that your detector will be piggybacking onto the fuse your tapping, and won't have it's own fuse. For the very slight power draw RDs use, that actually should be OK.

I can't comment on if your Fuse 28 is the right number, since I've found that fuse blocks were changed from one year to another, even within the same car model. If you got that fuse ID from your own fuse chart, then great!

One thing tho. You might want to hold off on getting the cable for a month or three if you are considering Escort's Live!,
http://www.escortradar.com/escort-live/
as I understand they are planning to release a direct-wire version.

Thank you so much for the feedback! really appreciate it! Actually, if you look closer to the picture of the cord, there's two fuses. 1 mini to go straight to the fuse box and 1 bigger fuse right after the mini fuse. Do you see it? So i'm assuming 1 fuse to protect the fuse box and 1 for the detector, is my assumption correct?

And yes, its fuse box 28 for me. I checked my diagram last night!

wow thanks for the info regarding the cable for the escort live. def something to consider down the line...

[Mech_Man]

Originally Posted by jello

Thank you so much for the feedback! really appreciate it! Actually, if you look closer to the picture of the cord, there's two fuses. 1 mini to go straight to the fuse box and 1 bigger fuse right after the mini fuse. Do you see it? So I'm assuming 1 fuse to protect the fuse box and 1 for the detector, is my assumption correct? .....

From the way I read the web site, and from the ordering page, it seems like you have one of three options when you order the cable. 1) connects to the car using a "T" cable tap, (connecting to 'any' powered wire), or 2) a Blade Fuse Tap or 3) Mini-Blade Fuse Tap.

So if you want to connect to the fuse block (rather than just "T" into a wire), then they need to know if your fuse size is standard or mini. That should be easily detectible when you look at the block.

I've never used this kind of tap. I used a "Save-a-Fuse" tap that had it's own fuse piggy-backed onto an existing fuse, so the existing fuse wasn't stressed and the new circuit had the fuse size I chose. Here's a picture of my installation:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...8#post10874998

Here is another thread, also with good pics:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48403

Oh, be warned that those "Save-a-Fuse" taps are cool, but it's plugs are definitely polarized. If you put it in one way, it's dead, flip it over and it works fine.

So if I had to do it again, I'd use the "Save-A-Fuse" that I got from my local auto store for about $5, and order the "T" tap connection. That way I don't mess with the existing circuit and get a new fuse on the new circuit. (And I'd order the Mute button, On, & Alert LED options too!)

Originally Posted by jello

And yes, its fuse box 28 for me. I checked my diagram last night!

hey bro, any additional advices on how to use the detector? modes that you like? dislike? i haven't plugged it in yet. I'm waiting on the hard wire to arrive before i install of course.

Where did you place yours by the way? I'm planning on buying one of the mounts that goes to the back of my rearview mirror. One of the post here has the web site.

I'm curious, what circuit did you decide to tap?
Here is a post I did showing the Fuse Chart Icon Legend for the three most-chosen circuits to tap into for RDs:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...27#post3242227

I mounted mine along the top of the windshield, just above the starboard corner of the rear view mirror so the RD's port-corner could rest on the mirror's starboard corner. (My suction cups are getting old and stiff and it's fallen down a couple of times - I guess I need to think of getting some more). I ran the direct wire hand-tucked into the headliner trim at the top of the windshield, removed the A-Pillar trim and ran the wire beside the skinny air-bag, then behind the glove box, and to the fuse box.

Also, I'd suggest you temp-install your RD so you get it working soonest.
That way it can start the process of memorizing the false-positives at your GPS coordinates. And maybe alert you to a speed trap or two. Just mount it wherever, run the cable round the rear view mounting pillar once, and dangle the cord straight down into the cigarette lighter. It's not as clean as a hidden install, but it gets you working.
Do make sure your detector isn't shadowed by any metallic-based window tints though, as that will degrade your RF and GPS signal receptions, both.

Good Luck!