[gofunner]

I had a new model of 2016 X3 recently. I want to install a dash-camera of the BlackVue( 2 Channel ,DR650GW). When I bought this camera from Amazon, this order also came with a product “power magic pro” for free.
No matter what kind of car people drive,lots of them did “ hardwire the fuse box ” to continuously give the power supply to the camera for couple more hours of recording or even longer, after car engine is OFF and in parking mode.

However, In my case, all I need from the camera is recording the live traffic status when car is running on streets. After car ignition is OFF and parked, I don’t need recording anymore. The camera can be powered OFF then. For this purpose, friends, do I really have to hardwire the “power magic pro” with some fuse ? but I don’t want to ruin this brand new car and risk of losing the warranty if I touch and change any electric purposely myself.

I am thinking, another simple way to serve my purpose, would be just to plug the camera 12V jack into the spare cigar jack socket in the trunk. I barely use this spare socket usually. When this car engine is shut off completely, the cigar jacketand the whole car would be powered OFF soon within 20-30 min(may be wrong ),so is the dash camera simultaneously. Also, I don’t need to unplug the camera each time to avoid draining out the battery in the long term.

The main reason I want to choose the cigar jack in the trunk is because, lots of people are using the cigar jacket at front under the dash/radio because of convenience. However, personally I believe this physical connection at front is visible and not a nice looking. So I presume, connecting to the trunk cigar outlet may “ hide” the physical connection and also save the cigar jacket under the radio board for portable GPS or something else.

thanks for any comments. happy thanksgiving~!

[Peter_R]

I use the cigarette adaptor in the passenger compartment with an angled USB connector to power my dashcam. This powers down after approximately 20 minutes. This may not be convenient for families with children who might inadvertently kick/damage it, so you could use the one in the boot (trunk).

In my F31 320d Sport, there was an additional connector in the footwell area. I used that one for 2 years until I changed over to my F25 X3 xDrive30d M Sport.

[pokerface]

I use the 12V outlet in the center arm rest, run the cable down one side and under the mats, and into the weather stripping around the door opening.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by jasonX3

I had a new model of 2016 X3 recently. I want to install a dash-camera of the BlackVue( 2 Channel ,DR650GW). When I bought this camera from Amazon, this order also came with a product “power magic pro” for free.
No matter what kind of car people drive,lots of them did “ hardwire the fuse box ” to continuously give the power supply to the camera for couple more hours of recording or even longer, after car engine is OFF and in parking mode.

However, In my case, all I need from the camera is recording the live traffic status when car is running on streets. After car ignition is OFF and parked, I don’t need recording anymore. The camera can be powered OFF then. For this purpose, friends, do I really have to hardwire the “power magic pro” with some fuse ? but I don’t want to ruin this brand new car and risk of losing the warranty if I touch and change any electric purposely myself.

I am thinking, another simple way to serve my purpose, would be just to plug the camera 12V jack into the spare cigar jack socket in the trunk. I barely use this spare socket usually. When this car engine is shut off completely, the cigar jacketand the whole car would be powered OFF soon within 20-30 min(may be wrong ),so is the dash camera simultaneously. Also, I don’t need to unplug the camera each time to avoid draining out the battery in the long term.

The main reason I want to choose the cigar jack in the trunk is because, lots of people are using the cigar jacket at front under the dash/radio because of convenience. However, personally I believe this physical connection at front is visible and not a nice looking. So I presume, connecting to the trunk cigar outlet may “ hide” the physical connection and also save the cigar jacket under the radio board for portable GPS or something else.

thanks for any comments. happy thanksgiving~!

Can you tap the power from the rearview mirror like this? http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1038061

[gofunner]

thanks,everyone. last night after dinner, i did a real test to see how long the cigar jack outlet will be powered OFF,after i turn off engine and locked the door. i found out all outlet will be OFF in the range 2-3 minutes. this proved i was right. ..then i simply hooked the camera plug into the spare outlet in the trunk and buried all wires into gaps all the way to the front windshield. very beautiful. No wire is visible.

by doing this, i dont have to touch the fuse box or change any fuse myself or hand it to some technician. No risk of loosing warranty... also, it's easy to remove everything of the camera when sale the car or sth in future.

[Peter_R]

From another thread.

You are correct. I stand corrected. As soon as you posted, I went out and checked mine and it was definitely off within 3 minutes.

On my F31 UK 2012 320d Sport was approximately 20 minutes.

There is one explanation! I had a complete software update recently by the dealer and this could be one of the parameters changed because it WAS 20 minutes when I transferred the dashcam across from the F31 320d Sport. I am sure of this because for the very same reason as another poster, I wanted the dashcam to run for a while after locking the car.

[jponline77]

Do you have pictures? I'm thinking about getting a dash cam but don't like all the wires.

I don't understand why BMW doesn't integrate dashcam functionality into the plethora of cameras they have on the cars these days. Seems crazy to be putting another camera into a car that already has like 7 or more.

[rtb001]

Is this legit?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0805-0806-Ca...25.m3641.l6368

According to the eBay posting, you just plug this into the OBD port and not only will you get power during car operation, you will also get power after car has been turned off for parking mode.

Seems to good to be true, since all the youtube videos have people hardwiring the camera into the fuse box.

Anybody know whether this is actually a way to power the camera? If so, it would be so easy, you only have to run the wires around the A-pillar, and then straight up to the OBD port under the dash.

[Polo08816]

Can someone post pictures of the area surrounding the rear view mirror? I want to see if the parts are shared with the F30. My GF just factory ordered a X3 35i this past weekend and I'm interested in seeing if she can can use my setup for a dashcam.

[02420X3]

I'm not familiar with that particular cable, but I do know that power is always available at the OBD port.

[02420X3]

Originally Posted by rtb001

Is this legit?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0805-0806-Ca...25.m3641.l6368

According to the eBay posting, you just plug this into the OBD port and not only will you get power during car operation, you will also get power after car has been turned off for parking mode.

Seems to good to be true, since all the youtube videos have people hardwiring the camera into the fuse box.

Anybody know whether this is actually a way to power the camera? If so, it would be so easy, you only have to run the wires around the A-pillar, and then straight up to the OBD port under the dash.

rtb001,

I ran across this in a file that I had saved. I'm not sure of the original author, but I suspect that it is from an old poster here, Lotus7. You may find it of use in understanding the power state of the OBD-II port. If the source was indeed Lotus7 then the test was likely done on an '11 35i.

OBD-II Info

Today, I was able to check for power on the OBD - II port.

The good news is that the power pin on the OBD-II connector is always "hot", so can be used as access to the battery for "light load" accessories or as a way to connect a low current "battery maintainer" type charger or a solar panel charger.

However, one caution that should be observed is that this connector pin is fused at only 5 Amperes. That means that it's probably safe to connect a small charger like the CTEK 3300 (3.3 Amps.) or a 45 Watt solar panel, but nothing using or providing any more power.

To test the connector power supply I attached a digital voltmeter to the appropriate connector pins and monitored the voltage from the point the car was locked using the key remote.

Door open, car unlocked, "lighter accessory outlets": ON, Interior lights: ON: 12.40 V. @ OBD-II connector

Time: "zero" car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": ON, Interior Lights: ON: 12.40 V.

Time: 0:00:30 car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": ON, Interior Lights: OFF: 12.53 V. (Voltage increased because of Interior light "time out".)

Time: 0:02:30 car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": ON, Interior Lights: OFF: 12.53 V.

Time: 0:05:00 car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": OFF, Interior Lights: OFF: 12.62 V. (The accessory outlet timer shut off the outlets and other acc. circuits.)

Time: 0:10:00 car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": OFF, Interior Lights: OFF: 12.62 V.

Time: 0:30:00 car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": OFF, Interior Lights: OFF: 12.62 V.

Time: 1:00:00 car locked, "lighter accessory outlets": OFF, Interior Lights: OFF: 12.62 V.

Time: 1:01:00 car unlocked, "lighter accessory outlets": ON, Interior Lights: ON: 12.30 V. (Key Remote "Unlock Button pressed - Lights and accessory outlets powered up: Voltage dropped due to load.)

The 12 V. "battery" pin on the OBD-II port is pin (16)
The power ground pin is pin (4)

The OBD-II port power is fused through Fuse No. 3 (5 Amperes)
That fuse is in the "front" fuse block (located behind the glove box), not the big one in the rear fender.

Hope this is of some use. Please keep in mind that this test was on a NA car. It's possible, but unlikely, that UK, Asian or continental vehicles are wired differently.

Hope it helps.

[rtb001]

Thanks 02420X3!

The cable is only like $10, so I'll just order it and try it out once I decide on which dashcam to get. I can't imagine a small dashcam will be drawing enough current to blow its fuse.

Beyond being always on, the OBD port is also nice in the sense it is inconspicuous in the footwell area, and you can easily run a wire down there and not have to waste your 12V port in the center console.

Also slightly off topic, I notice the Blackvue is one of the pricier dashcams you can buy. The Rexing V1 is much cheaper and is has a high number of good reviews on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/V1-Dashboard-R.../dp/B00X528FNE.

Any good reasons to justify getting a Blackvue instead which costs like $150 extra?

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by jasonX3

thanks,everyone. last night after dinner, i did a real test to see how long the cigar jack outlet will be powered OFF,after i turn off engine and locked the door. i found out all outlet will be OFF in the range 2-3 minutes. this proved i was right. ..then i simply hooked the camera plug into the spare outlet in the trunk and buried all wires into gaps all the way to the front windshield. very beautiful. No wire is visible.

by doing this, i dont have to touch the fuse box or change any fuse myself or hand it to some technician. No risk of loosing warranty... also, it's easy to remove everything of the camera when sale the car or sth in future.

I just installed Blackvue DR550-2CH exactly the same way as you described.
Resulted some finger pain due to some tight gaps near the edge of the floor, and the wires were barely long enough.

Would you happen to know if the 12v power in the trunk would disconnect if I shut off the engine and leave the car unlocked? I used to leave my E90 and F25 unlocked inside garage. (Shuuu...dont tell anyone)

[02420X3]

The 12V power receptacle in the trunk will likely shut off similarly to the one in the front - 5 minutes.

[3002 tii]

You connected to 12v in trunk but placed camera in front? Where did you find such a long cable?

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

You connected to 12v in trunk but placed camera in front? Where did you find such a long cable?

They sell them on ebay. Sorry do not have a link to US site for purchase.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by pokerface

I use the 12V outlet in the center arm rest, run the cable down one side and under the mats, and into the weather stripping around the door opening.

What length cable did you need for this?

[pokerface]

I got 15ft USB to be safe. More than enough. Excess cable just looped and placed underneath the mats.

12 ft might be fine, just didn't want to risk it.

[Schmullis]

I have the BlackVue dash cam with rear cam. I just went to my local car stereo store and had them direct wire it.

The PowerMagic Pro is nice, so you can leave it in the standby mode when you're parked in a public area.