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      03-17-2021, 02:38 PM   #1
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Power from rear view mirror for radar detector

Has anyone powered their radar detector from the rear view mirror and if so how difficult to make the connection?
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      04-03-2021, 11:09 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Kolenda52 View Post
Has anyone powered their radar detector from the rear view mirror and if so how difficult to make the connection?
I bought a rearview mirror mount and power tap from Blend Mount. It's a great mount and you can get a power tap from them as well. The housing around the mirror is difficult to take off and I had trouble inserting the power tap but after I was finished it looks great. The other issue is the power tap is always on, so if I leave the radar detector mounted and plugged in it will stay on even though car is turned off. Bad idea to leave it visible when out and about but I wouldn't mind leaving it mounted in the garage.

I send pictures tomorrow.

https://blendmount.com/
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      04-04-2021, 06:41 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by Z4Racer1 View Post
I bought a rearview mirror mount and power tap from Blend Mount. It's a great mount and you can get a power tap from them as well. The housing around the mirror is difficult to take off and I had trouble inserting the power tap but after I was finished it looks great. The other issue is the power tap is always on, so if I leave the radar detector mounted and plugged in it will stay on even though car is turned off. Bad idea to leave it visible when out and about but I wouldn't mind leaving it mounted in the garage.

I send pictures tomorrow.

https://blendmount.com/
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I was able to get the clam shell apart but couldn't get the power tap inserted. Couldn't really get at the plug behind the mirror. Is there a trick to unplugging it so to get at the wires? Which color wires are positive and negative? I have a Uniden R7 which has a setting to allow it to shut off after a period of time if not moving, so the power on all the time is not an issue. I look forward to seeing the pictures.

Thanks again.


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      04-05-2021, 02:17 PM   #4
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Some people are taking off the mirror for easier access. I was able to get the connector removed but it was still difficult to press the power tap .

I used this as a starting point.

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ght=mirror+tap
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      04-07-2021, 01:32 PM   #5
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      05-14-2023, 10:13 AM   #6
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Old thread, but....

I just did the mirror tap in my 22 g29.

The couple of threads on this are pretty helpful, but the one misleading point i found is the discussion about either removing the plug or the mirror to insert the taps.

After a little struggle i figured out that you don't need to do either. Just use the smallest tap ends and insert them in the far right (red) and far left (blk/brown) wire slots on the larger plug using needle nose pliers. Takes a little bit of pressure but far less than removing the mirror or extracting the plug.

If i were to do it again, it's 5 min tops from start to finish.
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      05-14-2023, 06:56 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
Old thread, but....

I just did the mirror tap in my 22 g29.

The couple of threads on this are pretty helpful, but the one misleading point i found is the discussion about either removing the plug or the mirror to insert the taps.

After a little struggle i figured out that you don't need to do either. Just use the smallest tap ends and insert them in the far right (red) and far left (blk/brown) wire slots on the larger plug using needle nose pliers. Takes a little bit of pressure but far less than removing the mirror or extracting the plug.

If i were to do it again, it's 5 min tops from start to finish.
Can you provide more detail? What exactly did you have to do to get to the point where you could tap off the two wires?
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      05-14-2023, 07:31 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kwajtrader View Post
Can you provide more detail? What exactly did you have to do to get to the point where you could tap off the two wires?
Next to nothing really....

Just remove the plastic around the mirror base, tilt the mirror down and push the red tap into the back of the larger of the two plugs in the red wire hole and do the same for the black wire tap into the brown/black wire hole in the same plug.

Hold each tap with needle nose pliers and insert them into the plug by following the car's existing red and brown/black wires into the back of the plug.

Wrap the excess power cord around the mirror base to expose only what you need and reinstall the plastic around the mirror.

Do a wire tap search for the thread and instead of removing the mirror or the disconnecting the plug, all I'm adding is to insert the taps with needle nose pliers with the plug in place. Just make sure the car is off when you do this.
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      07-07-2023, 09:12 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
Next to nothing really....

Just remove the plastic around the mirror base, tilt the mirror down and push the red tap into the back of the larger of the two plugs in the red wire hole and do the same for the black wire tap into the brown/black wire hole in the same plug.

Hold each tap with needle nose pliers and insert them into the plug by following the car's existing red and brown/black wires into the back of the plug.

Wrap the excess power cord around the mirror base to expose only what you need and reinstall the plastic around the mirror.

Do a wire tap search for the thread and instead of removing the mirror or the disconnecting the plug, all I'm adding is to insert the taps with needle nose pliers with the plug in place. Just make sure the car is off when you do this.
Sorry about bumping this thread, I have a really old Valentine One which saved my butt many times and paid for itself over the years by alerting me way in advance to a cop waiting on the side of the road and I avoided receiving countless speeding tickets as a result. I was thinking about buying the latest V1 model, what brand detector did you purchase and the reason why you selected it?

Also, does the Blend Mount bracket allow you to remove the detector when parked on the street so some idiot isn't tempted to slash the ragtop and steal it?
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      07-07-2023, 12:16 PM   #10
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WG,

I actually bought the Uniden R4. From all the reading I did, it has one of the best ranges available. I really only need a RD for mountain driving and I've read that long range is key in that setting.

I bought mirror taps from amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082V1245P...oduct_details) and this stick-on mount (https://www.ebay.com/itm/115353726032) and I keep the RD in my arm rest when not in use. The RD is very easily removed from the glass mount and when the mount is not in use, it's small and out of your line of site unless you are looking up through the windshield. The pics in this thread are not of my implementation. I went more stealth with mine (see below).

I went with the R4 also because it's fairly small and the arrows of the R8 or V1 don't matter to me and result in a larger device.

It really was very easy, just follow my comments above about the needle nose pliers and which wires to tap and you'll be surprised how easy it is. Hardest part is just trying not to break any tabs on the mirror surround, but if you find a parts schematic of the mirror surround, you can pretty easily avoid that.
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      07-07-2023, 01:23 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
WG,

I actually bought the Uniden R4. From all the reading I did, it has one of the best ranges available. I really only need a RD for mountain driving and I've read that long range is key in that setting.

I bought mirror taps from amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082V1245P...roduct_details) and this stick-on mount (https://www.ebay.com/itm/115353726032) and I keep the RD in my arm rest when not in use. The RD is very easily removed from the glass mount and when the mount is not in use, it's small and out of your line of site unless you are looking up through the windshield. The pics in this thread are not of my implementation. I went more stealth with mine.

I went with the R4 also because it's fairly small and the arrows of the R8 or V1 don't matter to me and result in a larger device.

It really was very easy, just follow my comments above about the needle nose pliers and which wires to tap and you'll be surprised how easy it is. Hardest part is just trying not to break any tabs on the mirror surround, but if you find a parts schematic of the mirror surround, you can pretty easily avoid that.
Many thanks for the detailed reply.

When I lived in NYC and drove out of the city either north on the NYS Thruway or east to the Hamptons I used my V1 all of the time as the highways were loaded with police using radar and laser. The V1 saved my butt countless times as I was always over the speed limit.

However since I moved to Florida I have discovered that the drivers here are crazy and unless it is rush hour the average speeds can be 80+ and I rarely see a police car on the highways. I haven't seen the need to use my old V1 yet even though it is still effective but we are planning some out of state road trips and where I may need a new RD with today's advanced technology.

I am sure it is great for the various types of radar but how good is the R4 for laser detection as the V1 Gen2 is supposed to have the greatest sensitivity to police lasers? Also is it good at filtering out false alerts?
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      07-07-2023, 01:52 PM   #12
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There are NO good detectors for laser guns. All a RD does for laser is notify you that you just got a ticket. Once he shoots you, it's over and apparently a laser detector doesn't detect when he shoots other cars.

Atlanta (where I live) is the mecca of Laser guns. One of the major brands is made here so we see them all the time. The only thing that will help with laser is a jammer - ALP seems to be the best brand. I got estimates for jammers on my Beemer (S1000Xr) and it was going to be close to $2k. But then I realized that I only really worry about tickets on rural/back roads where I ride and regular radar is FAR more typical there than laser. So I passed on the install.

Check out Vortex Radar on YT. He has some really great videos on both RD and Laser Jammers. Very knowledgeable guy. Also resources on what's used and where. Also a very detailed website (https://www.vortexradar.com/best-radar-detectors/)

With respect to filtering, things have changed a ton since you bought the V1. It has been 20 years since I regularly used a RD as well. With the Unidens (and some others I suspect), you can tweak and adjust just about everything about them. With the Vortex radar site, he provides FREE uploadable setting files so you can setup your radar exactly as he recommends if you don't have time or interest in learning all the various settings - this is what I did and another major reason why I chose Uniden (their upload process was easy to follow).

Be sure to get a RD with built in GPS. With this feature, the RD will memorize where you continually get alerts and after a certain number of times/days of the same alert in the same location, it will automatically add it to the filter and not alert the next time. We live near a school zone with the speed reader signs that drive RD users crazy. After a couple of days, no more alerts....According to the Vortex site, the V1G2 does NOT have GPS except via an app on your phone and BT.
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      07-29-2023, 04:41 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
WG,

I actually bought the Uniden R4. From all the reading I did, it has one of the best ranges available. I really only need a RD for mountain driving and I've read that long range is key in that setting.

I bought mirror taps from amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082V1245P...oduct_details) and this stick-on mount (https://www.ebay.com/itm/115353726032) and I keep the RD in my arm rest when not in use. The RD is very easily removed from the glass mount and when the mount is not in use, it's small and out of your line of site unless you are looking up through the windshield. The pics in this thread are not of my implementation. I went more stealth with mine (see below).

I went with the R4 also because it's fairly small and the arrows of the R8 or V1 don't matter to me and result in a larger device.

It really was very easy, just follow my comments above about the needle nose pliers and which wires to tap and you'll be surprised how easy it is. Hardest part is just trying not to break any tabs on the mirror surround, but if you find a parts schematic of the mirror surround, you can pretty easily avoid that.
I am about ready to do my install, but I was curious does your radar detector turn off when the car goes to sleep? I am worried about phantom power drains, and I don't want to keep powering it up each time either.
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      07-30-2023, 07:52 AM   #14
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Not sure of the definition of the car going to sleep, but I'll test this and see. I rarely use my RD so I'm not entirely sure. I believe it does turn off eventually but not sure how long.

UPDATE: Somewhere between min 4 and min 10 the RD turns off with the doors locked.
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      09-19-2023, 07:22 AM   #15
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This deal on the R4 just popped up on Amazon. This is the unit I have but I paid $50 more 5 months ago.

Great little unit with excellent range.

https://www.amazon.com/R4-Long-Range...link=true&th=1
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      09-19-2023, 07:57 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
Not sure of the definition of the car going to sleep, but I'll test this and see. I rarely use my RD so I'm not entirely sure. I believe it does turn off eventually but not sure how long.

UPDATE: Somewhere between min 4 and min 10 the RD turns off with the doors locked.
Did you happen to confirm that the power actually turns off or does the radar detector go to sleep and shut off after no movement for a period of time? Thanks
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      09-20-2023, 05:07 AM   #17
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Pretty sure the power is cut as I'm not aware of a sleep feature on the RD.
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      09-20-2023, 08:22 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
Pretty sure the power is cut as I'm not aware of a sleep feature on the RD.
Thank You
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      09-21-2023, 03:49 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyATL View Post
Pretty sure the power is cut as I'm not aware of a sleep feature on the RD.
Power stays on on my 2023 40i, I had to activate the auto turn off function, otherwise the RD was still on in the morning.
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      09-21-2023, 08:48 PM   #20
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Power stays on on my 2023 40i, I had to activate the auto turn off function, otherwise the RD was still on in the morning.
Thanks for the update. I may try to wire it from a switched circuit instead of using the mirror tap. I guess Ill do a little more research.
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      09-27-2023, 12:34 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alvitdk View Post
Power stays on on my 2023 40i, I had to activate the auto turn off function, otherwise the RD was still on in the morning.
That surprises me. I had a mirrortap in the M240i I just traded for my Z4. It definitely cut power shortly after turning the car off. There are other changes in "shutdown" behavior, so maybe this also changed. Or I wonder if there are separate switched and non-switched pins in the mirror harness?

(M240i required 2 start button presses: 1 to stop the engine and 1 to turn off the rest. Z4 doesn't use the start button for the "turn off the rest" part.)
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      09-27-2023, 02:30 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bacampbe View Post
That surprises me. I had a mirrortap in the M240i I just traded for my Z4. It definitely cut power shortly after turning the car off. There are other changes in "shutdown" behavior, so maybe this also changed. Or I wonder if there are separate switched and non-switched pins in the mirror harness?

(M240i required 2 start button presses: 1 to stop the engine and 1 to turn off the rest. Z4 doesn't use the start button for the "turn off the rest" part.)
That’s because you tapped into the correct wire

There are two power wires going to the mirror one switched and one constantly on
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