Low profile USB + USB C fast charger

[inkey$]

Continuing my investigation into phone placement and charging. Bought this £12.99 Amazon cigarette fast charger (USB and USB C). Low profile enough to shut the ashtray lid and comes with a metre long double ended USB C cable.

Should I be concerned over power draw if left in the live cigarette charger port? There’s an LED lit within the charger, as seen in the pictures.

 

[dgmx5]

What was your conclusion on this? Is it a problem long term?

 

[BumpyZ4]

It depends how often you drive the car. If your car is your daily it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[ivanchen1211]

I drilled a hole in the empty plastic trim above the ash tray and installed this

 

[TriggerFish]

This is another option if you're worried about battery drain - just connect it to an ignition live, and not a battery live

T

Thread 'OEM dual USB-C port retrofit'

Apr 26, 2025

Hi all,

Thought this would be of interest to people... My E86 came with the panel above the ashtray with the aux port cut out. I have Bluetooth audio, so don't need an aux port. I do need somewhere to charge phones etc though, and thought that panel would be ideal...

After some googling, I took a chance on a second hand BMW dual USB-C charge only (no data) panel/socket. It turned up, and fits perfectly into the aux cutout!

I haven't wired it up yet, but it'll be easy - one wire for earth, one for power, and the other for illumination. I can't be bothered to tap into the cars wiring for...

• TriggerFish

• 

 

[yetanotherx]

I had the same concern, as this is a weekend car and I worry about the battery draining if I forget to hook up the battery tender. I decided to rewire the cigarette lighter to a switched fuse tap so I can use one of the low-profile adapters. However I prefer to do reversible mods where possible, so I bought a replacement cigarette lighter assembly (PN 61346977682: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-12-volt-accessory-power-outlet-genuine-bmw-61346977682), and then snipped the +12V wire from the connected and crimped it to a switched tap from the fusebox. I also covered the bare wire from the connector in some hot glue for safety, but probably unnecessary. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the process but it should be fairly straightforward to figure out.