Dash cam fitting

[Chippie]

I recently fitted the BlackVue dr750x 2ch dash cam and thought I would share my experience with it so far.
Fitting was relatively straight forward apart from access to the fuse box, remove the 3 retaining screws from the panel above the passenger footwell and then unscrew the fuse box retaining screw, this then allows it to drop down and slide forward (a certain amount of pulling and tugging is required) there’s also a connector at the front right that needs to be disconnected to allow it to drop further down, as others have said it’s a right pain in the neck (literally). To connect into the fuse box I used a couple of piggy back fuse’s, these are the mini type, (took 3 attempts to get the right size), to fuse number 8 cigarette lighter and number 77 interior light.
I also removed the clip out panel above the fuse box, sun visor, A pillar and cill trim and then removed the rubber seal to the door cill for ease of routing the cables, at the rear I then removed the trim where the seatbelt pulls out and then the wind deflector and mounting clip to the passenger roll hoop and then the hoop cover, which simply pry apart starting at the bottom, a set of trim removal tools make things easier, either side of the roll hoop there’s 2 screw holding the rear trim in place, removing these allowed enough movement to feed the rear camera cable underneath.
Once the all the cables were in place I refitted all the trims and cill seal.
To mount the rear camera I used a piece of metal Strapping bent into a L shape and fitted it behind the wind deflector bracket top screw running the camera cable up to it from where it came out below the hoop cover.
I mounted the front camera at the top of the screen on the passenger side next to the rear view mirror, it’s not in the centre as recommended but because the e89 screen is quite short the camera would have been too low down and would capture more bonnet than road.
Not having used a dash cam before I can’t really compare the video quality but I’m very happy with it although I’ve only replayed a few clips.
The bracket I made for the rear was a little flimsy and caused the camera to shake so I’ve glued a piece of right angled plastic too it to give it some rigidity which seems to work, a slight heavier gauge steel would probably have worked better but overall I’m pleased with the result.
One issue I had was with the power supply, fuse number 8 (20 amp) worked fine but number 77 (10 amp) powered down when the car shuts down after about 20 minutes, meaning I couldn’t use the parking mode, I tried numerous times checking I had the correct fuse but due to the confined space of the fuse box I gave up and ended up running a constant live feed straight from the battery, feeding it behind the carpet trim in the boot and up to where the seatbelt pulls out and then along the route of the cable of the rear camera, so now everything works perfectly.
The dr750x has Wi-Fi to connect to your smartphone for altering settings and for ease of viewing video footage it can also be connected to a network so you can view recordings or real-time footage when at home, or it can have a SIM card fitted and connect to the cloud anywhere. I fitted a 256gb micro SD card instead of the 16gb supplied with it, this can also be easily removed and inserted into a pc/laptop to transfer any video footage.

[cococola]

I like the look of this camera and I may consider one of these once I get my Z4. Its just as important to have a camera covering the rear as well as the front these days with some of the amazing driving that we see on our roads.

[flybobbie]

That cam a bit of an ugly thing stuck on the back.
I would have at least mounted in centre some how.

[Chippie]

That cam a bit of an ugly thing stuck on the back.
I would have at least mounted in centre some how.

Trouble with mounting in the middle is that it would need something fitting between both roll hoops and I think that would look even worse, and mounting on the rear deck would make it too low

[AnubisZed]

From a previous post, this is where I mounted mine...

Here we go, a few shots of the location I've got mine in.
Although the rear one looks badly fitted its actually only slightly off horizontal (screen shots in next post)
Front cam has the GPS base that fits onto the windscreen which has the power lead in it, although there is a power point on the other edge of the base and on the cam itself.

and

I've attached various front and rear screen shots to try to show you the quality and the angle you will get from the rear one.
Oh the corners missing in the front cam shots are the outer edge of the CPL filter that comes with it (if it's included), but you don't have to use it.

As you'll see from the screenshot dates I've had it in almost four years now and it's perfect, 1080p HD from both cameras and although my rear is slightly off-set it seems to cover enough even with the roof up from behind.

[flybobbie]

I'm going to try it behind the mesh where the centre speaker sits.
Reason being you can find lenses can focus beyond the mesh.
And can be more stealth.
Will have to see how it needs to sit.
I ordered a dual Viofo some days ago, so i can use my existing Viofo cam on a van.

[Chippie]

From a previous post, this is where I mounted mine...

Here we go, a few shots of the location I've got mine in.
Although the rear one looks badly fitted its actually only slightly off horizontal (screen shots in next post)
Front cam has the GPS base that fits onto the windscreen which has the power lead in it, although there is a power point on the other edge of the base and on the cam itself.

and

I've attached various front and rear screen shots to try to show you the quality and the angle you will get from the rear one.
Oh the corners missing in the front cam shots are the outer edge of the CPL filter that comes with it (if it's included), but you don't have to use it.

As you'll see from the screenshot dates I've had it in almost four years now and it's perfect, 1080p HD from both cameras and although my rear is slightly off-set it seems to cover enough even with the roof up from behind.

Thanks for that Dave, I’m not sure my rear camera would fit where you have fitted yours as the BlackVue is quite long, I’m happy with how it looks so I’ll probably leave it as it is.
Did you have any issues with a permanent live or do you just use the Ignition live?

Mick

[AnubisZed]

Thanks for that Dave, I’m not sure my rear camera would fit where you have fitted yours as the BlackVue is quite long, I’m happy with how it looks so I’ll probably leave it as it is.
Did you have any issues with a permanent live or do you just use the Ignition live?

Mick

I did a lot of looking around so I could find a rear camera that was suitable and found this one. There are quite a few small rear cams available, but this one had a swivel bracket that worked how I wanted it to. Alas the image is slightly diagonal, but that's not a biggie.

I have Parking Guard on mine so I have switched and permanent live taps off the fusebox via piggyback fuses, I also had the wrong piggyback fuse the first time as well

[flybobbie]

I ordered a A129 duo, but only comes with the sticky pad on the gps module.
I find they tend to fall off with summer heat, so sent back.
My current A119v1 is screwed to the the rear view mirror trim, been faultless.
Tempted just to get another A119 v3 to fit in the rear.

[DMike]

I find they tend to fall off with summer heat

Had an A119 that kept doing that but since then I’ve installed three more with a sticky pad with no worries - I think a proper IPA wipe was the key.

[Silverstar]

When I installed my dashcam I used the same fuses in the fuse box and run into the same issues however there are fuses in the box that you can use which doesn't shut the power after 30 mins but I can't remember which number fuse I used, does save running a cable to the battery though! I still haven't seen any elegant solutions for a rear cam hence why I haven't got one.

[flybobbie]

I find they tend to fall off with summer heat

Had an A119 that kept doing that but since then I’ve installed three more with a sticky pad with no worries - I think a proper IPA wipe was the key.

The duo came with a thin plastic sheet to stick to window, but didn't want to try it, as wanted to return it. Wanted mechanical fixture.
If a buy another A119 i would mount above the centre speaker trim looking through mesh. A bit low but perhaps better than nothing.
But all the years driving, is it really needed.
Bit like life jackets or parachutes i suppose.

[Sandy91]

Brilliant going to have a go my self now

[Argyll Andy]

I hope TF you had that switched off yesterday

I forgot to have a look, especially at the rear install. Remind me next time

[Chippie]

I hope TF you had that switched off yesterday

I forgot to have a look, especially at the rear install. Remind me next time

I’ve got footage of both days with speed and GeForce graph, although there isn’t much of you only a dot in the distance

On a serious note though the dash cam is fine for close ups but I think a go pro would be better for replaying sections of a drive