Great advice for a Dash Cam fitment

[Ch1pbutty]

My two sons are both becoming Tesla drivers, one has his already. These cars are equipped with at least four cameras that can be recalled on the car's own screen (dashboard) or via an app. The cameras, are one facing forwards, one backwards and one down each side. There are also two more that look downwards outside from the top of the B pillar which he hasn't managed to access yet.
Within a week of owning the Tesla he had had a very near miss with an oversize tractor travelling at speed on a country lane. The footage makes chilling viewing! The tractor had no number plate so it was not possible to report its behaviour.

Think the B-pillar is for the blindspot camera. Small video comes up on the screen when you indicate, as well as an audible warning if a bike / car is in your path.

Can also be set to sentry mode when parked up; one of the 12 radars will sense if somebody is close to the car and start recording on all 4 cameras. (Displays a large warning on the dash, and pulses headlights every now & again - to get around data protection laws). All 4 cameras can be viewed live from the phone App.

Great feature, be good to see it on all cars as standard.

 

[rod_vw]

Think the B-pillar is for the blindspot camera. Small video comes up on the screen when you indicate, as well as an audible warning if a bike / car is in your path.

Can also be set to sentry mode when parked up; one of the 12 radars will sense if somebody is close to the car and start recording on all 4 cameras. (Displays a large warning on the dash, and pulses headlights every now & again - to get around data protection laws). All 4 cameras can be viewed live from the phone App.

Great feature, be good to see it on all cars as standard.

No, those that I mentioned are not the blind spot cameras, the ones that I mentioned point at the ground.
For those interested here is a page out of the owner's manual https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-EDA77281-42DC-4618-98A9-CC62378E0EC2.html
It was item '3' that I was referring to above, I think item '5' are the blind spot cameras and there are more cameras that I was aware of.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Well, that was a massive 6 hour failure. Managed to get it as far as the back camera to the drop down locker corner opposite the wardrobes nice and neat but no further. Flexible rods on order! You can pop put the aircon and lights and see the route easy enough but just coudnt feed the cable there and hand cut to ribbons! Also found that to have the neatest solution you need the 10M cable, not the 6M it comes with. Technically it looks easier to actually go via the cupboards (which would work with 6M) but then my cable is on the wrong side of the Cali. Sometimes it’s worth paying the 100 quid for professionals to do it!

Ah sorry, yes we needed to buy a 10m cable, as the installer said the standard length would be too short - so it looks we weren’t ripped off there !! It took the “pro’s” 5.5 hours for the install, with 1 hour on the front, so pretty tricky. I just couldn’t face popping off sections of trim . When we picked it up, the chap said that they’ve done quite a few Cali’s and previously they’d used the kitchen side, but the last couple they’ve used the door side as it’s a bit “easier”.

 

[dspuk]

Ah sorry, yes we needed to buy a 10m cable, as the installer said the standard length would be too short - so it looks we weren’t ripped off there !! It took the “pro’s” 5.5 hours for the install, with 1 hour on the front, so pretty tricky. I just couldn’t face popping off sections of trim . When we picked it up, the chap said that they’ve done quite a few Cali’s and previously they’d used the kitchen side, but the last couple they’ve used the door side as it’s a bit “easier”.

It’s only too short because to make the job neat at the back window you have to loop down to a spare hole and loop back up. The rear window trim was a pain to get off and on and it needs to come off again as it’s not perfect. I can see how the kitchen side could be easier, especially at the cupboard side but as my cam connects on the right side of the screen I need to take down the sliding door side. I had another quick go today to no dice again so have some rods coming tomorrow that should crack the job. Ironically once I get past that one small section the job is easy enough. If you go down the kitchen side 6m would *just* do it but due to all the loop backs and cutting across the rear airplane cupboard you end up short by anywhere from 1 - 2 ft. Front was quite easy, finding the perm live longest bit. Would have been perfect to come from the leisure battery TBH as I have a solar panel which means that they would easily replanish any use from the parking mode, which seems to take about 24h before it switches off when connected to the starter. Maybe another time. Or year.

I live to slice my hands another day.

 

[PhilR]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but it’s the most relevant for me. I’m wanting to get a dash cam for our new Ocean and having spent hours researching, I initially thought I wanted front and rear. I’ve got some quotes for BlackVue (DR750) and Thinkware (Q800 Pro) and with fitting it’s coming in at £750 & £480 respectively. Obviously a big difference there. But now I’m thinking of deffing the rear camera altogether and fitting a front only, the Garmin 67W for £170 as it looks nice and discreet. I could probably fit that myself too. But there’s the question - how easy is it to fit that to a new Cali? I would get the Parking Mode Cable which needs an always on feed, but would this be best from the leisure battery? I’m reasonably handy at DIY, electrics, plumbing etc but not familiar with car electrics. I could always pay Halfords £50 to fit it but I’m not sure I trust them with my new pride & joy! Any advice much appreciated cheers

 

[dspuk]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but it’s the most relevant for me. I’m wanting to get a dash cam for our new Ocean and having spent hours researching, I initially thought I wanted front and rear. I’ve got some quotes for BlackVue (DR750) and Thinkware (Q800 Pro) and with fitting it’s coming in at £750 & £480 respectively. Obviously a big difference there. But now I’m thinking of deffing the rear camera altogether and fitting a front only, the Garmin 67W for £170 as it looks nice and discreet. I could probably fit that myself too. But there’s the question - how easy is it to fit that to a new Cali? I would get the Parking Mode Cable which needs an always on feed, but would this be best from the leisure battery? I’m reasonably handy at DIY, electrics, plumbing etc but not familiar with car electrics. I could always pay Halfords £50 to fit it but I’m not sure I trust them with my new pride & joy! Any advice much appreciated cheers

Fitted a DR900X Plus myself and very happy with it. Bought off ebay for 470 but if you go to the BlackVue site and check out their refurb section some great bargains. I fitted front and back but the back was a massive pain. Managed eventually but be prepared. Worth it though to make sure I capture any rear crashes. Paired it with the LTE unit which supports the cam but also gives me a wifi hotspot for up to 4 devices.

900 comes with parking mode inbuilt and switches off when you get to 12v. About 24h. On EHU it stays on all the time. You could attach to the leisures but would just give you another day on parking mode. Pain to get to though from location.

Front


Back

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Hi @PhilR ,
Whether you go for front and rear or just front is your choice but obviously if you just go for a front camera and you are rear ended you will not have footage. Similarly if a thief breaks the rear window when you’re parked (which is known to happen) again you won’t have footage.
Downside of a rear camera is that the fitting can be quite tricky due to having to route the cable. I had my Blackvue cameras fitted by SatNav Solutions and it took them the best part of a day (and they are experts!). Some people fit their rear camera inside the van rather than on the rear window but bear in mind that the camera is then obscured when the rear blind is pulled down. My rear camera is on the rear window with the cable routed through the tailgate.
On the issue of Parking Mode, you need to ensure that the cameras do not drain your battery if the vehicle is parked up for a long time. Blackvue have a device called the Power Magic Pro which switches the cameras off when the battery voltage hits a certain threshold. (Some newer Blackvue cameras have this feature inbuilt).
Not sure I would let Halfords loose on your Cali?

Edit: forgot to mention that my cameras are cloud connected so even if a scumbag were to steal the cameras, the footage is still available.

 

[dspuk]

Hi @PhilR ,
Whether you go for front and rear or just front is your choice but obviously if you just go for a front camera and you are rear ended you will not have footage. Similarly if a thief breaks the rear window when you’re parked (which is known to happen) again you won’t have footage.
Downside of a rear camera is that the fitting can be quite tricky due to having to route the cable. I had my Blackvue cameras fitted by SatNav Solutions and it took them the best part of a day (and they are experts!). Some people fit their rear camera inside the van rather than on the rear window but bear in mind that the camera is then obscured when the rear blind is pulled down. My rear camera is on the rear window with the cable routed through the tailgate.
On the issue of Parking Mode, you need to ensure that the cameras do not drain your battery if the vehicle is parked up for a long time. Blackvue have a device called the Power Magic Pro which switches the cameras off when the battery voltage hits a certain threshold. (Some newer Blackvue cameras have this feature inbuilt).
Not sure I would let Halfords loose on your Cali?

Second the rear pain. Fingers still scarred. Had to buy the 10m cable and a mass of rods to get it threaded through. Finding a neat route was a mare. But. Managed in the end. So not impossible.

 

[PhilR]

Thanks both
I’m still researching. Yes I realise the rear is a pain in both installation and location, which is why I’m swaying towards a front only. The Garmin has a power lead that switches off when the battery gets to 11.7 volts. But I’m not sure if it’s best to connect tryi the leisure battery or not? Is that located in the cabin? I’ve managed without any Dashcams for 37 years so maybe I’m just getting carried away by it all. Didn’t think it would be this complicated! I’ll probably not bother at all knowing me lol. And yes, I doubt very much I’ll let Halfords do any work for me! I’m hoping to get Ghost fitted as soon as I pick it up so I might just ask the installer if they would fit the dash cam.

 

[dspuk]

Thanks both
I’m still researching. Yes I realise the rear is a pain in both installation and location, which is why I’m swaying towards a front only. The Garmin has a power lead that switches off when the battery gets to 11.7 volts. But I’m not sure if it’s best to connect tryi the leisure battery or not? Is that located in the cabin? I’ve managed without any Dashcams for 37 years so maybe I’m just getting carried away by it all. Didn’t think it would be this complicated! I’ll probably not bother at all knowing me lol. And yes, I doubt very much I’ll let Halfords do any work for me! I’m hoping to get Ghost fitted as soon as I pick it up so I might just ask the installer if they would fit the dash cam.

If your asking where the leisure is TBH I’d stop there and call an installer

 

[PhilR]

If your asking where the leisure is TBH I’d stop there and call an installer

Ha ha…..my excuse is I haven’t got the van yet and never had one before

 

[PhilR]

To be honest I was all for getting a decent front & rear professionally installed and liked the sound of a place in Nottingham as they got good feedback for work on Cali’s, but they quoted me £250 to fit and 3-4 hours to do that and fit Ghost (for £450). Seems a bit steep? That was for the BlackVue DR750 2 Ch LTE with 32gb card. I suppose that is going to be a good set up but £750?? What do you think?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

This might help:

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Ha ha…..my excuse is I haven’t got the van yet and never had one before

2 leisure batteries in an Ocean, 1 under the front passenger seat and 1 under the wardrobe in the rear.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

To be honest I was all for getting a decent front & rear professionally installed and liked the sound of a place in Nottingham as they got good feedback for work on Cali’s, but they quoted me £250 to fit and 3-4 hours to do that and fit Ghost (for £450). Seems a bit steep? That was for the BlackVue DR750 2 Ch LTE with 32gb card. I suppose that is going to be a good set up but £750?? What do you think?

TBH £250 to fit front and rear cameras is not unreasonable. The system you mention is what I have.

 

[PhilR]

TBH £250 to fit front and rear cameras is not unreasonable. The system you mention is what I have.

Cheers GG. Good to get opinions/recommendations

 

[PhilR]

This might help:

Well that video scared the s*** out of me after just 5 minutes! Not sure I fancy using “a bit of brute force” as he says to remove brand spanking new Cali panels

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Cheers GG. Good to get opinions/recommendations

BTW if you go for the Blackvue, don’t be tempted to buy one of their bigger memory cards, they are ridiculously expensive. I bought a high capacity Sandisk for a fraction of the cost of a ‘badged’ Blackvue card and it works just fine.

 

[dspuk]

This might help:

Interesting as that's how I removed the grab handle trims but tbh nothing else was the same, he doesn't show very well how to get the cam up and hidden under the top trim and the front unit. Mainly because it's a van not a Cali so it's different - fuse box is also on the other side and actually easier to feed the wires up from a Cali.

The rear a different kettle of fish - Once I worked out the side routing and the rear door routing, that was clear enough (with pull rods), but finding a neat route through the back of the van and across the back of the rear cupboard was the real nightmare.

 

[dspuk]

BTW if you go for the Blackvue, don’t be tempted to buy one of their bigger memory cards, they are ridiculously expensive. I bought a high capacity Sandisk for a fraction of the cost of a ‘badged’ Blackvue card and it works just fine.

The unofficial recommended one by BV themselves is the above. I believe it's not the capacity or speed the main issue but cards that allow themselves to be constantly rewritten. The above seems to be the most stable and likely the ones BV rebrand and use themselves. 1/3 cost vs the BV ones on Amazon.

 

[Californication69]

I bought and fitted the BV. But found the upload buggy. Removed and sent back to Amazon in end of Nov ‘20
Then middle of Dec, some tw4t dented my tailgate at LHR T5 car park.
No cameras there and no compensation.
LV claim £3k for new tailgate.
Insurance is up around £50 a year.
So ….. I dunno @PhilR maybe save the cost of BV.
But 110% on the ghost.
And spend the extra on a global Telemetrics tracker and £12.49 a month.
Just a thought..

 

[PhilR]

I bought and fitted the BV. But found the upload buggy. Removed and sent back to Amazon in end of Nov ‘20
Then middle of Dec, some tw4t dented my tailgate at LHR T5 car park.
No cameras there and no compensation.
LV claim £3k for new tailgate.
Insurance is up around £50 a year.
So ….. I dunno @PhilR maybe save the cost of BV.
But 110% on the ghost.
And spend the extra on a global Telemetrics tracker and £12.49 a month.
Just a thought..

Cheers mate. I’m gonna have to give it some more thought. I just want to get the van now and start enjoying it, but all this waiting has got me researching all sorts of stuff, some that I need and some that I probably don’t! I’m still undecided between a full system, installed or a front camera installed, or nothing at all….
Ps. You don’t know any good installers in the Birmingham/Midlands area do you?

 

[nickb77]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but it’s the most relevant for me. I’m wanting to get a dash cam for our new Ocean and having spent hours researching, I initially thought I wanted front and rear. I’ve got some quotes for BlackVue (DR750) and Thinkware (Q800 Pro) and with fitting it’s coming in at £750 & £480 respectively. Obviously a big difference there. But now I’m thinking of deffing the rear camera altogether and fitting a front only, the Garmin 67W for £170 as it looks nice and discreet. I could probably fit that myself too. But there’s the question - how easy is it to fit that to a new Cali? I would get the Parking Mode Cable which needs an always on feed, but would this be best from the leisure battery? I’m reasonably handy at DIY, electrics, plumbing etc but not familiar with car electrics. I could always pay Halfords £50 to fit it but I’m not sure I trust them with my new pride & joy! Any advice much appreciated cheers

Have you considered using an OBD port power adaptor? I use the Garmin Constant Power Cable. Total time to fit front dashcam was 15 mins. There's a switch to select whether you want it powered constanty or to switch off 10 mins after you turn off the engine. £45 from Amazon https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/735279

 

[PhilR]

Have you considered using an OBD port power adaptor? I use the Garmin Constant Power Cable. Total time to fit front dashcam was 15 mins. There's a switch to select whether you want it powered constanty or to switch off 10 mins after you turn off the engine. £45 from Amazon https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/735279

Hi Nick, yes I saw that whilst doing (many hours) research, but I read one or two negative posts regarding using this option, so I’ll have to have another read up. It would certainly simplify the installation though, that’s for sure!

 

[Van Diesel VW]

To be honest I was all for getting a decent front & rear professionally installed and liked the sound of a place in Nottingham as they got good feedback for work on Cali’s, but they quoted me £250 to fit and 3-4 hours to do that and fit Ghost (for £450). Seems a bit steep? That was for the BlackVue DR750 2 Ch LTE with 32gb card. I suppose that is going to be a good set up but £750?? What do you think?

32gb is not much storage would swap out for the biggest SD the unit supports.