Dash Cam

[Sladester100]

I recall a thread a short while ago about the BMW Advanced Eye but didn’t see one for Dash Cams generally.

I had tried to look around and get some research done prior to buying one but not much info out there for G29 owners as yet and I often overthink things like this spending far too long researching what should be a relatively simple purchase. I had considered primary the size of device as I don’t like things on my screen / in my vision generally, then; how to track the cable, how to connect it, do I need uninterrupted power, parking mode, front and rear or front only and that’s before considering the lens, resolution and +/- HDR!

Then, a couple of weeks ago the wife bought me one for my birthday so that got rid of all that worry ^ (let’s face it, I’ll be happy regardless right

So, I ended up being the owner of a Garmin 46 Dash Cam as her requirements were small, unobtrusive and 1080HD. Got to say I’m actually really really impressed. It’s a nice small size and has a great little app to connect.

I wanted to get it fitted before we came away for a week in North Devon in case there was some lovely scenery to capture (currently sheltering from the storm in our holiday farmhouse rental!) so last week I set about installing, I didn’t have time to get the fuse fitting which was my plan to then wire into the fuse box area under the steering wheel but made do with the standard USB fitment (for now).

Comes with a very handy adhesive magnet fitting thing which is great. Managed to track the cable into the plastic trip behind the mirror, up and around the screen and tucked into the end of the dash then along the grooves, under the door rubber and back along the grooves then under the main carpet behind the plastic trim in the foot well and into the sliding storage tray area into the USB there. Overall I’m really happy with it and managed to measure it perfectly to avoid excess cable flapping about...!
Then decided to move the cam slightly which means I needed to ease some more cable back so now it’s hanging slightly which is a bit annoying but I’ll probably adjust after hols)

So here’s the install, overall was quite chuffed;

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General view from behind the wheel

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You can see my initial location magnet here - I’ll deal with removing that another time

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Tuck nicely behind the plastic gently (I used the leather key ring that came on my keys!)

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The dash trim grooves lead perfectly to and from the door rubbers

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From behind the plastic trim which is removed with 3 plastic screw handles and drops down (be careful of the wires for the footwell lighting, I also didn’t like the cable being so close to the leg airbag area where I put it initially so then ran it round the back just under the main carpet area before putting the plastic trim back on holding it tight.

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This is the temporary fix, the only bit that isn’t tight and neat enough for me but will do for now. Might try and stick is down the edge of the trim piece.

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End result it smart, subtle enough and (more importantly;) central.


I moved it as I had placed it out of my sight behind the mirror but as it turns out the Garmin safety data is actually kept up to date via the app, is useful and as it’s a very small device, it doesn’t upset me just below/behind the mirror. Now I can see the alerts it’s giving me (fixed cameras and safety camera van area’s etc) also for anyone that doesn’t have it also does a fair job with lane departure, forward collision warning and a convenient bleep when stationary traffic ahead has moved off! All in pp a decent device. Also my OCD is a bit happier now it’s central as being every so slightly off to the left behind the mirror wasn’t quite right for me

This is the view I get when I duck down slightly to view any alert it comes up with, so happy with that;

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To sell it more, it comes with a cool travelapse setting and the ability to take photos using your voice with a simple command, “Ok Garmin, Take a picture”.

So what devices are people using?

[Sladester100]

Here’s a still using the voice command picture capture from the journey down to North Devon on Friday... a rare 5 minutes of beaming bright low sun between the constant rain and grey

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Fairly happy with the quality, not really had chance to check the low light/night shots yet.

[Rucky]

Ever think about permanent wiring with one of these into the Mirror console?
Car Hard Wire Kit Power Supply Dash Cam Nextbase 12v-128v Stepdown to 5v 3A 15W
Works great on my nextbase and also the internal battery runs park mode.