[SSBMW14]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx3

Thanks!! I'm actually from South London but went to Watford to by my first car from Riaz and he gave us a good deal on our cars this time too.

I'm not sure how long before I hit 1200 miles don't do many miles, but looking for places to go just so I can drive her!!

What a car!!

You need do a road trip! 😁 I hit 1200 today on my way back from a long weekend. Put in sport and let go - had forgotten how quick this beast of a car moves.

[mrbmwx3]

Originally Posted by SSBMW14

You need do a road trip! 😁 I hit 1200 today on my way back from a long weekend. Put in sport and let go - had forgotten how quick this beast of a car moves.

I know, got a few weekends of working, then summer holidays so will look for places to go :-)

[X3M40i_Nev]

Originally Posted by MattXYZ

If you do decide to get a Thinkware, see my install write up:
https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=24423958

It should be pretty similar for newer Q800 model and probably can be adapted for other brands/models depending on wiring - but hopefully the fuse box and hiding of wires will be useful information.

It really is pretty straight forward! I know a few forum members have followed my guide and have asked me some questions for clarity.

Really good write up and guide there 👍 I also have a F770. Did you install a battery at all? Any issues with them or working as expected?

[MattXYZ]

Originally Posted by X3M40i_Nev

Really good write up and guide there 👍 I also have a F770. Did you install a battery at all? Any issues with them or working as expected?

I didn't fit a battery. I've set mine up with parking mode that records when motion is detected. I can't remember what voltage level I've set the cut off. I can't be sure that it's stays active through the night when parked up! But I have cctv on my drive and front of my house anyway.

[X3M40i_Nev]

Originally Posted by MattXYZ

I didn't fit a battery. I've set mine up with parking mode that records when motion is detected. I can't remember what voltage level I've set the cut off. I can't be sure that it's stays active through the night when parked up! But I have cctv on my drive and front of my house anyway.

Fair enough, I also have cctv on my drive, but had heard BMW’s can throw voltage warnings, but my fitter assured me as long as correctly wired should not be an issue. Had it set on 12.4V in my Q5 without issues, but did power off after a few hours even when setting motion only.

[sinopath]

I don't drive a BMW yet, but I'd like to share some of my experiences with dash cams.

Hardwiring vs an additional lithium ion battery
My first dash cam was a Lukas model that was hard-wired into the car's battery. Although a cut-off voltage was set, the constant draining and recharging deteriorated the battery significantly. I changed the battery 1.5 years after installing the dash cam. Now I'm using a BlackVue dashcam with a BlackVue battery pack that only recharges when the car is on.

Parking mode to catch hit-and-run?
This mode really appealed to me when I chose to invest in high-end dashcams. However, after 3 years using two dashcams I have never caught a single hit-and-run. The problem is, the moment you notice a scratch on your car it is probably too late unless you inspect your car every time before you drive it. You will need a large enough SD card (128GB minimum) so you may trace back 2-3 days of footage. And most of times this is futile. Lots of the door scratches are not hard enough for the impact sensor to register anything but sufficient to leave a mark on your paint. The BlackVue camera does remind you of an impact during parking, but would you get off your car to inspect, would you view the recordings on your phone through WIFI? Sometimes you are in such a rush that you wouldn't even have time to switch to a new SD card to preserve the footage. And most of time I found the "impact" was just a loud motorcycle driving by.

Dashcam theft
The dashcam is such a valuable item that attracts attention of break-in thieves. My first dashcam was lost this way. The thieve actually came inside our gated parkade, broke my passenger side window, and yanked the dashcam off from the windshield. Ironically, I couldn't trace the footage of that incident! My car was the only car broke-in that night. Total lost: $330 dashcam +$100 256GB SD card +$300 deductible on the repair.

[mrbmwx3]

Originally Posted by sinopath

I don't drive a BMW yet, but I'd like to share some of my experiences with dash cams.

Hardwiring vs an additional lithium ion battery
My first dash cam was a Lukas model that was hard-wired into the car's battery. Although a cut-off voltage was set, the constant draining and recharging deteriorated the battery significantly. I changed the battery 1.5 years after installing the dash cam. Now I'm using a BlackVue dashcam with a BlackVue battery pack that only recharges when the car is on.

Parking mode to catch hit-and-run?
This mode really appealed to me when I chose to invest in high-end dashcams. However, after 3 years using two dashcams I have never caught a single hit-and-run. The problem is, the moment you notice a scratch on your car it is probably too late unless you inspect your car every time before you drive it. You will need a large enough SD card (128GB minimum) so you may trace back 2-3 days of footage. And most of times this is futile. Lots of the door scratches are not hard enough for the impact sensor to register anything but sufficient to leave a mark on your paint. The BlackVue camera does remind you of an impact during parking, but would you get off your car to inspect, would you view the recordings on your phone through WIFI? Sometimes you are in such a rush that you wouldn't even have time to switch to a new SD card to preserve the footage. And most of time I found the "impact" was just a loud motorcycle driving by.

Dashcam theft
The dashcam is such a valuable item that attracts attention of break-in thieves. My first dashcam was lost this way. The thieve actually came inside our gated parkade, broke my passenger side window, and yanked the dashcam off from the windshield. Ironically, I couldn't trace the footage of that incident! My car was the only car broke-in that night. Total lost: $330 dashcam +$100 256GB SD card +$300 deductible on the repair.

Thanks for the input, I guess with anything there are always pros and cons, yes it won't catch everything, for me I'm not too concerned about a small scratch that can be polished off but want to be able to catch anyone that scrapes and reverses into me, happened twice before. Damaged already done by then but I would have the satisfaction of reporting them if they don't leave a note. Maybe they would spot the cam and leave a note as it would be better than getting done for leaving the scene of an accident, however minor.

With Thinkware you can leave it in time lapse mode which records everything at 2 frames per sec until an incident happens and it saves a clip with full frame.

In terms of getting it stolen, that was also on my mind but I guess it really is just pot luck. My car has comfort access so has the additional security risk there already, hasn't stopped me from spec'ing it. The way I see it if someone really wants to steal something they will or at least give it a go. Just having a car like this is already security risk, just have to accept it unfortunately. Luckily the X3 M40i is subtle and if you don't see the badge it's just another X3 to the common person on the street.... until you start the engine ;-)

[willjames]

In terms of getting it stolen, that was also on my mind but I guess it really is just pot luck. My car has comfort access so has the additional security risk there already, hasn't stopped me from spec'ing it. The way I see it if someone really wants to steal something they will or at least give it a go. Just having a car like this is already security risk, just have to accept it unfortunately. Luckily the X3 M40i is subtle and if you don't see the badge it's just another X3 to the common person on the street.... until you start the engine ;-)

I have the Blackvue and due to fit in my new car hopefully this weekend. Because it quite sleek and small with no screen then the only the thing that gives it away is the WiFi lights on the end and the front facing light and rear facing light. I set all lights to turn off when in park mode and I covered the WiFi light on the end with a small black sticker. It's really difficult to see high up behind the mirror especially with Sun Protection Glass. But as you said, if someone wants to steal it they will. But by configuring lights off and covering the WIFI light then it wont attract attention in the dark.

[jimcolyer]

Regarding the battery, any old LiPo or LiFe 12v lithium battery will do the job.

There is no need for anything specific, it’s only an extremely low current draw.

I bought this 20ah lithium battery from China for £28, and it will keep my 750/2 camera running for several days non stop.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F323503418341

Just put it inline with your camera, it will charge all the time your car is running.

[sinopath]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx3

Thanks for the input, I guess with anything there are always pros and cons, yes it won't catch everything, for me I'm not too concerned about a small scratch that can be polished off but want to be able to catch anyone that scrapes and reverses into me, happened twice before. Damaged already done by then but I would have the satisfaction of reporting them if they don't leave a note. Maybe they would spot the cam and leave a note as it would be better than getting done for leaving the scene of an accident, however minor.

With Thinkware you can leave it in time lapse mode which records everything at 2 frames per sec until an incident happens and it saves a clip with full frame.

In terms of getting it stolen, that was also on my mind but I guess it really is just pot luck. My car has comfort access so has the additional security risk there already, hasn't stopped me from spec'ing it. The way I see it if someone really wants to steal something they will or at least give it a go. Just having a car like this is already security risk, just have to accept it unfortunately. Luckily the X3 M40i is subtle and if you don't see the badge it's just another X3 to the common person on the street.... until you start the engine ;-)

Blackvue also has time lapse mode, but what I understand is that in time lapse mode it disables the motion sensor and continuously shoots 2 fm/s videos. Well, if you park in a quite parking lot, you probably don't need that. However, if you park on a busy street you don't want the motion-triggered parking mode video rolling either. But switching between these modes is a pain in the ass, at least with Blackvue.

Getting it stolen is not news, Blackvue sells an anti-theft cover with two allen key screws (https://www.blackvue.com/tamper-proof-case/), in the hope that the burglar won't bring an allen key with him. However, the whole mounting base is still glued to the glass, and the cover only provide additional troubles when you wanna switch SD cards. The problem with Lukas camera was that it clips in to the base and it's easy to remove, while for blackvue, you have to press a button, unplug two wires, and twist the camera out.

Another thing is my car's alarm won't sound if the glass shatters. I would assume BMW has it, you can try out by tapping a metal key on the glass and see if it goes off.

Lastly, there're no side view cameras unless you install two sets of 2-channel dash cam (which means you need 2x battery). So even if someone dings your door, it's hard to catch their license plate if they just make a sharp turn and drive away.

[mrbmwx3]

Just had the Thinkware Q800 pro installed by Bromley Car Audio, very happy with the job, everything hidden. Driven off the Thinkware iVolt.

Scary seeing my new car trim taken off, but Sunny (the owner of BCA) did a fab job and showed me exactly what he was doing!!

I'll write up a full review of the install later.

[mrbmwx3]

As promised a little write up off the install at Bromley Car Audio (BCA). Hopefully this will give some idea of how the place works and gives another option if someone wants to have their dash cam fitted by an installer that can be trusted.

This isn’t a guide, as there has been a very good write up by MattXYZ which will show you much more detailed info on how to install this if you want to go down the DIY route, see previous posts in this thread.

Arrived at BCA and met Sunny (Owner of BCA) who quickly explained what he’ll be doing and asked me did I have any more questions before he started.
I was always worried about taking trim off, it doesn’t matter who the installer is or how good the installer, it was something that I never liked doing or being done to my cars. But obviously these guys do it day in day out and it was pretty quick to remove.

He showed me the fuse box and ideally there is a nice space for the battery (Thinkware iVolt). He continued to take off the tailgate panels showing me the clips that could break if going about it the wrong way, although he said he had spares just in case. He also showed me the Ariel for the DAB radio and why it can cause issues, so he fitted a ferrite around the cable.

We decided on the placement of the rear dash cam and continued to run the cable along the tailgate to the right, running along side and tied to existing OEM cables. He removed the tailgate hinge cover and fed that through again securing it to existing OEM cables, then fed that through the head liner heading towards the right side of the car. That’s the hard part done.

Cables ran along under the door rubber trim, pretty much standard method for installers. We then decided on the placement of the front Cam. There’s only two places to put the front camera unit, left hand side under the rear view mirror housing unit or left to the housing unit which will be a bit further to the left but slightly higher up. Both positions aren’t ideal for me, under the housing unit the unit is more central but it’s a bit to low for my liking and looks silly from the outside and extremely eye catching. So we went with the 2nd option which puts it a bit further left but at the top and less obvious when looking from the outside.

Cables from the unit ran along the headliner to the right, the A pillar cover removed and cables ran down behind the airbags (important) into the area behind underneath the dash. This is where he joined the hardwired kit for the camera to the cables from the back.

Once all done he connected the battery using the hardwired kit connecting to spare fuse slots using a multimeter to test which as was ACC and which was constant live.

He made sure the unit started up before putting back all the panels. He asked me to check everything and ran through what he did again, all good at this point. He then sat with me setting up the camera and explained how to use it.
Asked me the check the DAB which was fine, but he said the real test would be when I’m driving around, which I knew being in London the signal should be strong and prob won’t be show any signs of interference.

Overall I was very happy with the install, the car was left clean, he took care not to damage or scratch anything, he showed me what he was doing and the install was neat! He used fabric tape where needed especially when more than one cable was ran, cables tied where necessary and tested the tailgate cables to ensure they don’t catch when tailgate is opening and closing. He didn’t mind me watching over and he didn’t mind me asking loads of questions. He doubled checked the work he was doing and he certainly wasn’t rushing.
The whole fitting probably two hours for him but it wasn’t rushed. He knew what he was doing and gave me confidence that he will do a good job.

End result cables all hidden, battery hidden, only thing you can see is the dash cam and cables running from the camera to the headliner.

Everything works, recording, camera switches to parking mode roughly 10s after car engine turned off. Thinkware specifically says that this won’t work if you use the cigarette lighter adapter even if that from an external battery. If you don’t get the iVolt batt, e.g the Cellink Neo, then you need to get another cable that connects to the Thinkware hardware kit. With BlackVue cameras you can use the cigarette lighter adapter.

This is a post about my experience of BCA, I’m pretty sure other installers are just as good, but its good to have information and reviews on installers, the more the better in my opinion, especially ones you can trust as I found it just as hard to decide on the installer as deciding not he Dash Cam.

Any questions, let me know, in the meantime if you would like to contact Sunny, google Bromley Car Audio and mention this forum.

Give me a few days and I’ll give some thoughts on the camera.

Below are some photos of the install.

[SSBMW14]

Great write-up! Thanks for posting the update. Keen on getting your feedback re DAB so please keep us updated. A couple of questions - does the placement of the front camera impede the use of the passenger sun visor? And if you don't me asking how much BCA charge you for the install?

[mrbmwx3]

Originally Posted by SSBMW14

Great write-up! Thanks for posting the update. Keen on getting your feedback re DAB so please keep us updated. A couple of questions - does the placement of the front camera impede the use of the passenger sun visor? And if you don't me asking how much BCA charge you for the install?

No as the windscreen is quite a bit more forward, sun visor not at all impeded.

With the dashcam Q800 pro, iVolt battery and hardwire kits it was £729.
Certainly not the cheapest but I got taken care off, and felt I got a personal service. Watched the whole install.

Will let you know about interference when I've driven around more, although unlikely I'll venture out of London very soon, maybe next few weeks.

[SSBMW14]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx3

No as the windscreen is quite a bit more forward, sun visor not at all impeded.

With the dashcam Q800 pro, iVolt battery and hardwire kits it was £729.
Certainly not the cheapest but I got taken care off, and felt I got a personal service. Watched the whole install.

Thanks! Sometimes it's worth paying the extra for peace of mind - let's face it our cars are not cheap!

[mrbmwx3]

Originally Posted by SSBMW14

Thanks! Sometimes it's worth paying the extra for peace of mind - let's face it our cars are not cheap!

Absolutely!

Link to his Instagram which has my car on there now.



Excuse the dirty car, pi$$ed down with rain yday.

[X3M40i_Nev]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx3

As promised a little write up off the install at Bromley Car Audio (BCA). Hopefully this will give some idea of how the place works and gives another option if someone wants to have their dash cam fitted by an installer that can be trusted.

This isn’t a guide, as there has been a very good write up by MattXYZ which will show you much more detailed info on how to install this if you want to go down the DIY route, see previous posts in this thread.

Arrived at BCA and met Sunny (Owner of BCA) who quickly explained what he’ll be doing and asked me did I have any more questions before he started.
I was always worried about taking trim off, it doesn’t matter who the installer is or how good the installer, it was something that I never liked doing or being done to my cars. But obviously these guys do it day in day out and it was pretty quick to remove.

He showed me the fuse box and ideally there is a nice space for the battery (Thinkware iVolt). He continued to take off the tailgate panels showing me the clips that could break if going about it the wrong way, although he said he had spares just in case. He also showed me the Ariel for the DAB radio and why it can cause issues, so he fitted a ferrite around the cable.

We decided on the placement of the rear dash cam and continued to run the cable along the tailgate to the right, running along side and tied to existing OEM cables. He removed the tailgate hinge cover and fed that through again securing it to existing OEM cables, then fed that through the head liner heading towards the right side of the car. That’s the hard part done.

Cables ran along under the door rubber trim, pretty much standard method for installers. We then decided on the placement of the front Cam. There’s only two places to put the front camera unit, left hand side under the rear view mirror housing unit or left to the housing unit which will be a bit further to the left but slightly higher up. Both positions aren’t ideal for me, under the housing unit the unit is more central but it’s a bit to low for my liking and looks silly from the outside and extremely eye catching. So we went with the 2nd option which puts it a bit further left but at the top and less obvious when looking from the outside.

Cables from the unit ran along the headliner to the right, the A pillar cover removed and cables ran down behind the airbags (important) into the area behind underneath the dash. This is where he joined the hardwired kit for the camera to the cables from the back.

Once all done he connected the battery using the hardwired kit connecting to spare fuse slots using a multimeter to test which as was ACC and which was constant live.

He made sure the unit started up before putting back all the panels. He asked me to check everything and ran through what he did again, all good at this point. He then sat with me setting up the camera and explained how to use it.
Asked me the check the DAB which was fine, but he said the real test would be when I’m driving around, which I knew being in London the signal should be strong and prob won’t be show any signs of interference.

Overall I was very happy with the install, the car was left clean, he took care not to damage or scratch anything, he showed me what he was doing and the install was neat! He used fabric tape where needed especially when more than one cable was ran, cables tied where necessary and tested the tailgate cables to ensure they don’t catch when tailgate is opening and closing. He didn’t mind me watching over and he didn’t mind me asking loads of questions. He doubled checked the work he was doing and he certainly wasn’t rushing.
The whole fitting probably two hours for him but it wasn’t rushed. He knew what he was doing and gave me confidence that he will do a good job.

End result cables all hidden, battery hidden, only thing you can see is the dash cam and cables running from the camera to the headliner.

Everything works, recording, camera switches to parking mode roughly 10s after car engine turned off. Thinkware specifically says that this won’t work if you use the cigarette lighter adapter even if that from an external battery. If you don’t get the iVolt batt, e.g the Cellink Neo, then you need to get another cable that connects to the Thinkware hardware kit. With BlackVue cameras you can use the cigarette lighter adapter.

This is a post about my experience of BCA, I’m pretty sure other installers are just as good, but its good to have information and reviews on installers, the more the better in my opinion, especially ones you can trust as I found it just as hard to decide on the installer as deciding not he Dash Cam.

Any questions, let me know, in the meantime if you would like to contact Sunny, google Bromley Car Audio and mention this forum.

Give me a few days and I’ll give some thoughts on the camera.

Below are some photos of the install.

Really good write up there 👍 I know what you mean about trim being removed 😬

Had my Thinkware F770 that came out of Q5 installed on Thursday by Alex @ ASC Audio in Swindon. He knows his stuff and like your installer took his time and double checked. I chose the same location as you for Front, but he recommended installing rear on headlining (which I am not 100% convinced about) but he felt the boot mechanism and movement could cause issues. The advantage is that you don’t see it in rear view mirror, but when boot is open see a bit more cable. He is confident it will hold but would make me a plastic bracket if it doesn’t.

[mrbmwx3]

Yeah I was a bit concerned about the rear but he double checked everything to ensure it wouldn't get caught and secured it against oem wiring so should be OK. Glad someone else has gone for the same location, not sure if we have much choice to be honest.

Driving it all day, and DAB hasn't cut out on me once, not sure if it would in London but not sure what other people been experiencing and if cutting out has been in areas where's there is weak signal.

External Battery has been brilliant so far. Been in parking mode for 4 hrs without issues.
I now realise I'm gonna need a 128GB card. 32GB car is not enough for just a few hrs of parking.

Now do I got for a Thinkware card or try and find one that's compatible for much less, any recommendations?

[mrbmwx3]

I'll write up a short review later about the Q800 Pro but one thing that stands out is the implementation of the filenames! I'm confused, I have filenames beginning with PAK and TIM which I assume is for Parking and Time Lapse, what's the difference? In the OS X app, TIM files comes under Motion and PAK comes under Event. Am I correct is saying PAK is event that occurred when parking and TIM is just normal time lapse video?
Takes a bit of digging around, the Mobile app is confusing me too lol, or am I just being thick?

[X3M40i_Nev]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx3

Yeah I was a bit concerned about the rear but he double checked everything to ensure it wouldn't get caught and secured it against oem wiring so should be OK. Glad someone else has gone for the same location, not sure if we have much choice to be honest.

Driving it all day, and DAB hasn't cut out on me once, not sure if it would in London but not sure what other people been experiencing and if cutting out has been in areas where's there is weak signal.

External Battery has been brilliant so far. Been in parking mode for 4 hrs without issues.
I now realise I'm gonna need a 128GB card. 32GB car is not enough for just a few hrs of parking.

Now do I got for a Thinkware card or try and find one that's compatible for much less, any recommendations?

I have two of these, but 64gb, but 128gb should be fine

SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSDXC... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073JYVKNX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

[lochview]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx3

Yeah I was a bit concerned about the rear but he double checked everything to ensure it would get caught and secured it against oem wiring so should be OK. Glad someone else has gone for the same location, not sure if we have much choice.

Driving it all day, and DAB hasn't cut out on me once, not sure if it would in London but not sure what other people been experiencing and if cutting out has been in areas where's there is weak signal.

External Battery has been brilliant so far. Been in parking mode for 4 hrs without issues.
I now realise I'm gonna need a 128GB card. 32GB car is not enough for just a few hrs of parking.

Now do I got for a Thinkware card or try and find one that's compatible for much less, any recommendations?

Maybe try one of these:

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/sandisk-1...r-160mb-s.html

128GB Micro SD UHS-I spec memory card with 160 MB/s for just a tad under £22

[Cooperlino]

I had quite a few issues with thinkware SD cards. They are expensive and it seems they are some overheating issues. I had 3 of those cards replaced so far within the last 6 months. In terms of third party SD cards it’s hit and miss but the one that has not given me any problems so far with thinkware cameras is Samsung Pro Endurance. Any other type of card will throw in an error message after a couple of hours of use.