Hello all, Looking to hardwire my Valentine One radar detector in my 2002 745Li. I have done this ine Toyotas, Mercedes and Fords with no problem. My buddy warned me that doing this in a BMW could cause major problems because of the computer. I would thing that all I would need to do is find a switched wire and tap into it because I am only looking for power that will shut off whe the car is turned off. I can do it from the fuse panel or perhaps the wires to/from the rear view mirror. Any suggestions, feedback or guidence would be very much appreciated. Thank you... Michael
I hooked ours up in our E39 following the directions found at this link: http://www.ideaphile.com/bmw/v1/index.html I don't know if the wiring would be similar, but you may find it helpful. Good luck and enjoy it.
Thanks for the 411... Thanks for taking the time to send me this information. I plan to give it a shot while listening to the NFL draft.
12 Volt Switched Power Source IToday I attempted to locate the switched power and, like warned, the electricial setup in my 754 Li is different than the diagram above. That was VERY helpful in other ways though. I was able to see how to remove the plates and trace the wires. However, I still need to find a line to tap into that will ginve my switched 12 volt power. ANY assistance would be appreciated!!! THANKS... Michael
I dont know if this would be possible with your car, but if the fusebox in the cabin is in a decent spot, you might be able to do something similar: What I did was buy a fusetap from a autoparts store, and wired up the V1 power cable to that. I put the fusetap in the fusebox behind my glovebox, plugged into the PDC/Homelink spot, and placed the exisiting fuse from that spot in the other fuse plug of the fusetap, then ran the wire up the passenger side a pillar, across the headliner, to the V1 right below the rearview mirror. I dont know where the pics I saw of a BMW install, but here is one pic of a fusetap on a MINI: http://www.jwardell.com/mini/fusetap.html Make sure its grounded properly as well.
Oh, here is the V1 install on a BMW, more in depth pics. Hope it helps! http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpost.php?p=284161&postcount=9
I hardwired a Valentine One into a 2001 325ci as well as a 2003 M3 with no problems whatsoever. Looking forward to doing the same with my new 2008 M3.
