[RTCalifornia]

Thought I share how I tap power for my Garmin Dashcam to the dome light wiring.

I thought about running the wires down but decided it was be easier to just tap a pin that has power that energize and de-activates after ignition has been turn off. Turns out there are no wires in the Dome compartment that would immediately cut power after ignition off or "Door Lock" activated but there are a number of wires that will eventually (10 minutes) turn off.

Disclaimer: I did not have an electrical diagram of the overhead dome light so I basically used a Volt meter to find several power source and did testing to see which wires looses power after the vehicle sleep. I do not know the rated power supplied by the wire I am tapping so CAUTION, do this at your own risk. I did make sure the Garmin Adapter does not load the 12v line voltage beyond 0.5V once tapped.

Steps:

1 Remove Dome light assembly by removing the plastic cover on with a plastic pry tool. Pry starting from the outside edges. Be very careful not to crack the cover.


Then remove the 2 torx #1.5 screws.


Push in the spring clips to release the Dome assembly from the top bracket. Do this for both sides.


2 Tap the power from the 3rd wire from the right on the connector. I tapped from the orange-red with yellow stripe wire. This seems to be able to hold power when energized.



For the negative side, I found a pale green color bolt and used that as my ground connection.


There are many different automotive style wire taps available. I decided to solder as I am very comfortable with soldering.

3 Close everything up and test. I notice the Garmin Dashcam would power down after about 8 minutes after I lock the vehicle. The Garmin Dashcam would quickly turn on as soon as I un-lock the car. So far, its working very well.


I will attach a video of the entire process soon.

[AbleDanger]

Very nice! I just got my Garmin Dashcam 56 in today, and was wondering where a good place to wire it in would be, and it looks like this would be ideal. I notice you didn't use the parking mode cable?

How long have you had this in place?

[RTCalifornia]

Originally Posted by AbleDanger

Very nice! I just got my Garmin Dashcam 56 in today, and was wondering where a good place to wire it in would be, and it looks like this would be ideal. I notice you didn't use the parking mode cable?

How long have you had this in place?

Hey, I just did this a few days ago. So total of 3 days. So far so good. Works great. No issue.
However, which one is the parking mode cable? If there is another cable that would turn off quicker, i would like to know about it and perhaps test it.

Thanks,

RT

[eX3Werks]

Parking mode cable is sold separately. It is usually tapped into the fuse box. I had the Thinkware front and rear done and the fuse box was in the back right side in the trunk. It was a pain to get all the cables hidden from the front to the rear.

[JDsX3]

Originally Posted by AbleDanger

Very nice! I just got my Garmin Dashcam 56 in today, and was wondering where a good place to wire it in would be, and it looks like this would be ideal. I notice you didn't use the parking mode cable?

Very nice write-up RT and helpful pictures.

AbleDanger: There is an issue using 'parking mode' on dash cams unless you have either the dash cam auxiliary battery option or another source other than the X3's battery to power it. As I mentioned in my detail on installing the Blackvue DDR900S 2Ch dash cams (see https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...lackvue+dr900s the X3 has software that doesn't like unknown drains on the battery while parked. In this case, the X3 continued to allow the BlackVue system to fully operate in 'parking mode' but started to shut down 'non-essential' functions and post a message. The non-essential function I noticed it shut off was the remote FOB's ability to open the trunk, for example. The message displayed when I got in the X3 was that it did not shut down properly and electrical management issue.

Unfortunately this X3 software designed to ensure you can always start your X3 after prolonged parking, ends up defeating the usefulness of the parking mode dash cam settings.

[eX3Werks]

Originally Posted by JDsX3

Very nice write-up RT and helpful pictures.

AbleDanger: There is an issue using 'parking mode' on dash cams unless you have either the dash cam auxiliary battery option or another source other than the X3's battery to power it. As I mentioned in my detail on installing the Blackvue DDR900S 2Ch dash cams (see https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1696342&highlight=blackvue+dr900s the X3 has software that doesn't like unknown drains on the battery while parked. In this case, the X3 continued to allow the BlackVue system to fully operate in 'parking mode' but started to shut down 'non-essential' functions and post a message. The non-essential function I noticed it shut off was the remote FOB's ability to open the trunk, for example. The message displayed when I got in the X3 was that it did not shut down properly and electrical management issue.

Unfortunately this X3 software designed to ensure you can always start your X3 after prolonged parking, ends up defeating the usefulness of the parking mode dash cam settings.

That's interesting. I have the Thinkware ones and they have that kind of warning. I set it to automatically turn off if it detects voltage drop below 12.2V and I haven't encountered any issues.

[JDsX3]

Eric, how long after your X3 shuts off does your Thinkware unit continue to record?

[JSY]

Very cool - those are some great pictures too. Somewhere amongst this forum there are threads about tapping into the fusebox for dash cam and I also went the route of the front right fuse box and tapped into the fuse for the lighter, which also turns off after I think 7 minutes. Turns on when anything electrical is turned on. It's great that you were able to shorten the route for wire by going directly up there.

[plagm]

Hard wire kit looks like this , you can wire for parking or not, this might be neater than using the adaptor that comes with it and an extension plug.

[eX3Werks]

Originally Posted by JDsX3

Eric, how long after your X3 shuts off does your Thinkware unit continue to record?

I haven't ran into it shutting off yet, but the most I've parked my vehicle is around a couple of days. I use my vehicle quite regularly. So far I haven't encountered dashcam turning off due to low voltage. The type of dashcam will make a difference, I have the Q800Pro front and rear.

Also you would need to have a big memory card for it to record all footages for at least a couple of days. I currently have 128gb in it.

[JDsX3]

Originally Posted by eric_88

I haven't ran into it shutting off yet, but the most I've parked my vehicle is around a couple of days. I use my vehicle quite regularly. So far I haven't encountered dashcam turning off due to low voltage. The type of dashcam will make a difference, I have the Q800Pro front and rear.

Also you would need to have a big memory card for it to record all footages for at least a couple of days. I currently have 128gb in it.

Thanks Eric. I also run a 128gb in the Blackvues.

[dinan5m3]

Originally Posted by plagm

Hard wire kit looks like this , you can wire for parking or not, this might be neater than using the adaptor that comes with it and an extension plug.

Says that box is supposed to allow adjusting the voltage cutoff to allow this cable to disable recording if drops below that threshold.

Wonder if this cable can be used on other dashcam if same usb connection.

Anyone know if such parking mode cable exists with other brands of dashcam?

I recall other brands carry dedicated battery unit for parking mode. But this Garmin's solution looks okay to me as an alternative to that separate battery solution, and will stop car battery from draining completely.

[eX3Werks]

Originally Posted by dinan5m3

Says that box is supposed to allow adjusting the voltage cutoff to allow this cable to disable recording if drops below that threshold.

Wonder if this cable can be used on other dashcam if same usb connection.

Anyone know if such parking mode cable exists with other brands of dashcam?

I recall other brands carry dedicated battery unit for parking mode. But this Garmin's solution looks okay to me as an alternative to that separate battery solution, and will stop car battery from draining completely.

Major brands will offer their own parking mode cable. I would recommend pairing the brand of dash cam with brand of parking cable. Ie, don't mix them. You never know if it'll work well, why take the chance.

[AbleDanger]

Still makes me wonder if the parking cable for the Garmin will still show up as unknown voltage drain, and cause the car to start shutting down ancillary things (as described in that other thread).

If not, I'm inclined to just wire in the parking mode cable in the overhead console and just run with it - easier than running it down to the fusebox.

Right now I have it just temp ran to the 12v receptacle, and it works fine, but I'd like the parking mode feature.

[plagm]

Originally Posted by AbleDanger

Still makes me wonder if the parking cable for the Garmin will still show up as unknown voltage drain, and cause the car to start shutting down ancillary things (as described in that other thread).

If not, I'm inclined to just wire in the parking mode cable in the overhead console and just run with it - easier than running it down to the fusebox.

Right now I have it just temp ran to the 12v receptacle, and it works fine, but I'd like the parking mode feature.

i had this kit in my 4 series for 2.5 years, however wired to fuse box (cost £25 for Halfords to fit, and never saw a cable again.) parking worked no battery issues, the Garmin camera itself failed after 2.5 years.

[AbleDanger]

Originally Posted by plagm

i had this kit in my 4 series for 2.5 years, however wired to fuse box (cost £25 for Halfords to fit, and never saw a cable again.) parking worked no battery issues, the Garmin camera itself failed after 2.5 years.

That's good to know. Yeah it isn't hard to run it down to the front fuse box, so I might just do that. Any issues with ASS (auto start/stop)?

[plagm]

Originally Posted by AbleDanger

That's good to know. Yeah it isn't hard to run it down to the front fuse box, so I might just do that. Any issues with ASS (auto start/stop)?

only reason i paid Halfords to do it as in the car i had at the time (4 series's) i had to wire into the rear.

X3 better as you use the front and there is loads of lovely people who have figured out which fuses to tap into, BMW's are a nightmare in regards to whats live, when and for how long.....i will fit the next one in this car myself, when i pick one, unfortunately wont be a Garmin,

Halfords did a great job for the money, i was actually quite shocked...

no issues with instal and ASS.

Sorry just realised your in NA, Halfords is just a national Car parts/accessorises supermarket that fits a few aftermarket items like dash-cams, stereos, sat navs and carries out some servicing.

[Jeffola]

How in gods name do you get the tiny grille out without damaging it?

[RTCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Jeffola

How in gods name do you get the tiny grille out without damaging it?

Very carefully. If you use a really thin plastic pry tool, and pry it from the edge, it comes out easily.

Good luck.

[iamrusso]

Are there any wires under the dome light that power off when the car is turned off/locked? The ones I found would still provide power after the car is turned off/locked.

[avi66]

Originally Posted by iamrusso

Are there any wires under the dome light that power off when the car is turned off/locked? The ones I found would still provide power after the car is turned off/locked.

Suspect they power off after several minutes, similar to the 12v cigarette lighter socket.

IIRC there are limited fuse options for instant power off with the ignition, but there is spare one #206(?) in the rear fuse box on mine.

[glennbk]

Had Best Buy install it and did an excellent job.