Dash cam recommendations?

[ProfCJJ]

Hi all, I’m looking at getting a dash cam for my new E89 - I am looking for one which is not too big and bulky that I can fit in front of the rear view mirror and forget. If it has motion detection even better.

My other car had had its mirrors vandalised a while back and I just want to keep an eye out on the Z4.

Any suggestions of anything anyone has fitted?

I have a couple of these £20 ones from petrol stations - they work even if they are a bit clunky- I just don’t like how big they are on the windscreen.

Thanks

Christopher

 

[dhobbs]

I'm thinking of getting the mini 0906. It's a front and rear camera from China.
Had the mini 0801 for a few years and has been good. Less than £100 and good reviews.
It's small and discrete too.

 

[AnubisZed]

I've just fitted the Mini 0906 front / rear camera complete with a Parking guard kit as well, all in a shade over £100.

Fitting the front was simple, but finding a suitable (hidden) path to the rear was a pain in the backside!!
I ended up going along the inside of the passenger door sill and then removing various panels to get the cable up the inside of the passenger side roll hoop. Then with a little bit of cutting to allow the cable to sit properly within the plastic of the hoops fed it out of the join between the two halves on the inside of the top and stuck the camera to the inside of the hoop.
This is the only rear facing camera I've found that has the ability of turning round enough to mount it like this (alas i have no photo, but will try to get one later and post it up here).
As for quality (1080p on both cams), love it, there is still some very minor pixelation in certain conditions but other than that I'm more than happy, especially as an upgrade to my previous front only Mio Mivue (also 1080p). The parking Guard seems to be working perfectly.
Oh and when the roof is up nobody can see your rear cam but is in a good position to see behind you while driving.

 

[AnubisZed]

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.

 

[AnubisZed]

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.

 

[Lynchy]

That looks good and I like where you've fitted the rear

 

[Lynchy]

Does the mini 0906 come with a front and a rear camera and if so does the rear take its power from the front camera ?

 

[AnubisZed]

Does the mini 0906 come with a front and a rear camera and if so does the rear take its power from the front camera ?

Yes all you need for both front and rear are included. You'll notice that in my photo of the front cam on my windscreen there are two cables plugged in. The one that is plugged into the cam and not the base is for the rear cam, and that is plenty long enough to reach. The other one is the power feed cable, either from the 12v socket or via the parking guard from the fuse box (I'd recommend using "add-a-fuse" if you decide on using it via parking guard).

 

[dhobbs]

That's good instructions on the install.
I have a blackvue in my other halfs car and that isn't too reliable, keeps on reformatting the SD cards.

 

[Lynchy]

Does the mini 0906 come with a front and a rear camera and if so does the rear take its power from the front camera ?

Yes all you need for both front and rear are included. You'll notice that in my photo of the front cam on my windscreen there are two cables plugged in. The one that is plugged into the cam and not the base is for the rear cam, and that is plenty long enough to reach. The other one is the power feed cable, either from the 12v socket or via the parking guard from the fuse box (I'd recommend using "add-a-fuse" if you decide on using it via parking guard).

Thanks Dave

 

[alane29]

i had the mini 0806 was great until started playing up im now using a £30 one from lidl and its excellent

 

[ProfCJJ]

Does the mini 0906 come with a front and a rear camera and if so does the rear take its power from the front camera ?

Yes all you need for both front and rear are included. You'll notice that in my photo of the front cam on my windscreen there are two cables plugged in. The one that is plugged into the cam and not the base is for the rear cam, and that is plenty long enough to reach. The other one is the power feed cable, either from the 12v socket or via the parking guard from the fuse box (I'd recommend using "add-a-fuse" if you decide on using it via parking guard).

Thanks for the detailed info and instructions Dave, I'm going to study these carefully.

Best

Christopher

 

[AnubisZed]

Glad I could be of assistance, more than happy to be able to help.
Any questions please ask away and I'll see what i can do.

One thing I will say though is DO NOT buy cheap, at the end of the day your dashcam is there to protect your no claims and if it's of poor quality and you can't read the number plate in a hit-n-run then you might as well not even have one.
I watch them on YouTube (yes I know, I have no life!! ) and the amount of really poor quality is astounding, but then there are some really nice clear quality ones out there without spending a small fortune. Saying that, for the money and quality, I don't think you can go far wrong with the 0906 Mini.

 

[Nictrix]

Is it a good idea to have the speed in the text at the bottom of the screen?
Could this be used against you in an accident if you were over the speed limit even if it wasn't your fault?

 

[markeg]

I have the Thinkware F800 Pro in my daily. Fantastic piece of kit, also does speed camera warnings (fixed and mobile), lane departure, front proximity alert, and alert when car in front departs. It has front & rear cameras, and will allow for time-lapse recording (i.e. lower fps than standard) or standard video, motion detection or impact detection (or off) on parking mode, and will record impacts on the continuous recording. It's not a cheap piece of kit (at around £350), but I've found it well worth the outlay.

link

 

[ProfCJJ]

Following the advice here I intensified my search and starting with the 0906 a couple of dashcams forums (yes, there is such a thing!) suggested the chipset in the A119S (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HN0HBFG) is the most up to date there is (at least from the "China" market) - I decided in the end not to have a rear facing camera (I could always change my mind on that at a later date).

So I took the plunge and bought the one listed in the link above - this has the GPS mount, which means you get speed and location (as well as self-adjusting time) stamped on the video too - it also has quite hi-res (1440p HD) setting - although I am operating at a slightly smaller resolution in order to save on file size.

I also bought this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N0GR4ON/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) mini hardwire and Fuse kit to allow me to stealthily install the camera behind the rear view mirror - I really don't like the big bulky cameras and the wedge shape of this unit helps make the fit quite "sleek". I wired it up - to a permanently live spare fuse slot (for now) - and using the movement detection/ parking modest will "wake up" and record when there is movement in front of the camera when parked up - when driving normally it just records on a loop as normal.

Now I know that the wisdom is that there is a risk of discharging the battery by staying permanently "on" - certainly I would unplug it if I left the car for a week or so in an airport car park (or at home under its cover) - I just wanted to see what it was capable of at the moment. (I currently have my battery jump starter in the boot with me in case it does decide to flatten the battery! ) I will probably end up putting a hidden switch somewhere allowing me to switch the camera off when I wish - thus having the best of both worlds.

I've only driven with it a bit, the quality of the video is very good (and that is not at its highest res) - I took photos when installing and will happily post up how I did it if any one was interested .... it only took me 3 weeks from buying the car to pulling bits of trim off the car fitting a "mod" - didn't take me long

In the meantime - here are two pictures of the camera fitted - the lens of the camera is adjustable side to side as well as up and down - this allows me to compensate for the fact that the camera is mounted on the right hand side of the rear view mirror.





Cheers

Christopher

 

[ihadablackdog]

Should mount it on black vinyl to hide the sticky pad.

 

[ProfCJJ]

Should mount it on black vinyl to hide the sticky pad.

You mean stick vinyl to the screen and then stick the mount to that?

Good idea

I'll need another sticky pad though

Cheers

Christopher

 

[Zoomer]

Or a black sticky pad will also work

 

[ihadablackdog]

Yeah.

I made a template with paper to get it to look like an extension of the black bit that is already there, then sprayed the glass with water and washing up liquid so the vinyl would slide into position, then squeezy the water out and leave a few days to dry completely.

Its a bit fiddly to get rid of air bubbles, and took a few attempts....which is where the template comes in.

Then stick the camera mount to it (need to make sure you line it up properly so the lens just pokes out the bottom but doesn’t get blocked by the vinyl).

I put mine on the left of the rear view mirror as the memory card is on the left.

I got the idea from dashcamtalk after asking how to get a black section with no bubbles...someone suggested this - similar to window tint but solid black.

A black sticky pad would be much better than a white one as its not so obvious as a white one....and much less hassle than mine but doesnt blend in as well imho. Would be quicker also, took me ages!