hyde wrote

Hi everyone, I just picked up my X3 m40i and I was going to do the same what I always do. Install my Viofo dash cam on passenger side of the mirror, run the wire across top of the windshield, hop over A pillar at the seam, tuck the cable into seals and make it all the way to rear of the car and plug it to 12v socket. This worked well for me in my previous vehicles (except Q7 where it was really easy to hardwire to fuse box).

I still have my hardwire set with mini fuse, I don't have add-a-fuse, so what I used to do is just find an empty fuse slot, and just plug it in there, in my older cars there were unused fuse slots like ventilated seats or massage seats or rear heated seats etc.
I have drive recorder in my X3 but I don't always remember to press and hold the camera button to keep the recording.

Any suggestions on simple fused installation or any other way to get parking mode without draining the battery, without complicated wiring? I am OK with just regular driving recording while I look into parking mode option.

My VIOFO is about 5 years old, but it works fine. Though I heard newer ones might have low voltage protection and compatible with external battery packs which is not a bad idea.

Thanks in advance.

avi66 wrote

The usually issue with parking mode is parasitic power drain detected by BMW power management.

There is a BMW ACE 3 dashcam (made by Thinkware) with radar based parking mode that works without this issue. The parking mode depends on battery charge level, it can last 24-36 hours on a good charge. It also has buffer video, so is able to record video prior to the trigger event.

hyde wrote

Thanks. Is F27 supposed to be empty? Do we know what it was meant for? This is in front oassanfwr side fuse panel on G01?

hyde wrote

I have to check that brand. I heard of thinkware but never heard of that.
Has anyone managed to get external USB battery powered parking mode? Basically I thought about keeping a battery charging bank plugged into USB, and that bank will keep powering the dash cam. If the car stops, dash cam can keep getting power from battery bank, if it needs to record in parking mode. Since parking mode only needs a little draw for detection, I thought something like 15000mAh batter should last every night, when car starts next day again it can charge battery and cycle continues. Is this possible?

avi66 wrote

I timed a new 12000mAh USB battery pack on a Nextbase 4k and it lasted around 6 hours recording. Depending on the dashcam the video is also constantly captured in parking mode, just not recorded until triggered, hence why some are able to record video before the actual trigger event.

Personally, I’d look into a battery solution designed for this purpose, as there are a number of modular options.

I found dashcams consume more power than I thought and this can impact the car battery, even with a voltage cut off in parking mode.

Here’s the BMW Advanced Car Eye 3.0, and there are threads on here covering this -

https://www.group1auto.co.uk/bmw/accessories-offers/special/bmw-advanced-car-eye-30

ContactPatch wrote

I used F46 for a radar detector, it powers down when the ignition is witched off and 6 to 8 minutes elapse. Not sure about F27 but it could be vacant and usable. Someone on here will have the answer for the usability of F27.

hyde wrote

Still confused by why bmw does not enable drive recorder to capture on impact while car is parked, and simply notify via mybmw app. I would even pay subscription fee for something as clean as drive recorder.


I will search more dash cam threads. Thanks. Was F46 unused in your case or did you use add-a-fuse?

hyde wrote

Still confused by why bmw does not enable drive recorder to capture on impact while car is parked, and simply notify via mybmw app. I would even pay subscription fee for something as clean as drive recorder.

ContactPatch wrote

Add-a-Fuse, and it works perfect.

avi66 wrote

I guess the clue’s in the name “Drive” Recorder.

Probably a limitation of the current G01 SP18 and OS7. There’s then the power requirements to consider of the current G01 camera solutions, and impact based “wake up and record” type devices often miss the actual event due to time lag, hence next to useless, and why buffered pre event video is a must imo. That’s also before you start adding remote cell based alerts to the power requirements.

hyde wrote

Got it. I prefer to use empty if possible but I'll consider this, I'm sure it's just as safe but I guess I got lazy when I had bunch of empty slots that were switched power only. Is there a bolt you used for ground near the fuse block?


I get what you are saying but if there are fixes for aftermarket, I am sure bmw can come up with a way to solve it. On these mild hybrid cars there should be more than plenty of power for a little bit to reserve for cameras, they could even have a little slot where you could add a supplement battery, but bmw chooses to remove all the buttons and slap a big screen on dash and call that improvement, instead. BMW eye is a nice solution but it also adds a big screen on windshield, I prefer to get as small as possible. I would even go with no screen on dash cam.

hyde wrote

Got it. I prefer to use empty if possible but I'll consider this, I'm sure it's just as safe but I guess I got lazy when I had bunch of empty slots that were switched power only. Is there a bolt you used for ground near the fuse block?


Yes, you will see the bolt when you get the plastic cover off below the glove-box, you cannot miss it, makes for a good chassis ground. If sitting in the passenger seat it would be on the right side under the glove-box.