[nst18x1]

Has anyone in this group ever hardwired a dash cam whether it being an aftermarket or BMW branded one into their X1. If so, which pins did you tap into the BDC or fuse #'s you tapped into? Trying to hardwire one and wanting to determine the best location. Any help is appreciated! 

[srh007]

Originally Posted by nst18x1

Has anyone in this group ever hardwired a dash cam whether it being an aftermarket or BMW branded one into their X1. If so, which pins did you tap into the BDC or fuse #'s you tapped into? Trying to hardwire one and wanting to determine the best location. Any help is appreciated! 

I found this thread to be really useful when installing my own camera.

I hope it may help 👍🏻

https://f48.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1902851

[Abh29]

Do you have a 12v power socket below the glove box. Mine is not seen unless you go down and have a look. I have had this socket in 3 cars , not one ever came with a cover.

[Tally100]

I used a Garmin constant power cabler plugged into the OBDS socket

[SpeedBuggy]

Here is another link:

I use the hidden power outlet under the glove box.

Outlet powers down when the vehicle goes into sleep mode, dash cam shuts down until vehicle is powered up

https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=23374627

[richr1din]

Using a Rexing Hardwire kit, used small fuses 51 and 57. With my setup, the cam powers down when car is turned off, and on when ACC starts. Works for my needs.

[Scimitargte]

Ive just wired mine in to my 2018 F48 Xdrive Xline. Bought puma piggyback fuse connector and used the most left hand fuse at the top of the internal ie glovebox fuse board which is permanently 12v live which suited my requirement. Disconnected the negative terminal of the battery, as that’s the easiest 1 to get at, left it 10 minutes to allow the airbag power to discharge and removed the footwell kick panel, Tucked the wiring behind the trim using an existing mounting stud for the earth.job done

[Eff48]

I did this at weekend using the Nextbase hardwire kit, no need to remove glovebox etc. Took me less than an hour.

Below is based on fitting a Nextbase camera with plug-in rear camera module in a RHD vehicle.

In a RHD car, this configuration dashcam has to go to the left of the mirror, other wise the rear camera will be obstructed when the passenger sun visor is used.

Steps:

1. Attached the ferrite core about 20cm from the mini USB plug (you might not need it, but easier to fit now, and it helps to hold the cable in place).
2. Pull the headlining down above the windscreen to the left of the mirror with your fingers, and slot the ferrite core in there. Requires a bit of force, but it will go in.
3. Working your way out to the left A pillar, tucking the cable into the headlining using your fingers as you go.
4. On the end of the dash on the left side there is a small panel with the passenger airbag switch in, pull this to the left from the edge nearest the back of the car with your fingers, it should come free easily to an angle of about 45 degrees or so and expose a void behind, next to the glove box and below the air vent. No need to completely remove this panel.
5. Prise off the Airbag badge at the top of the A pillar trim with a plastic trim tool, to expose a Torx bolt.
6. WARNING - IN THE NEXT STEP YOU WILL EXPOSE AN AIRBAG, TAKE APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS
7. Remove the Torx bolt, and pull the trim away from the top of the A pillar towards the centre of the car. Continue to pull the trim up and away from the A pillar and it should come free.
8. On the back of the A pillar trim, you'll see 2 U-shaped slots, if the plastic trim fixings that fix in here are still in the A pillar, prise them out with a slim blade and insert them in these U shaped slots. Note the locations of these, you might need to give them a good whack later
9. At the forward edge of the A pillar you'll see a wiring loom going up into the roof. Take a cable tie and slide behind the loom near the top of the exposed section. DO NOT pull the loom away to fit the cable tie.
10. Secure the USB cable with the cable tie. Before you tighten it, push some slack back into the ceiling void, just in case you need to reposition the cable or use it for some other purpose in the future.
11. Take the rest of the cable, including the 5V regulator and the red and black input wires and feed it down into the void exposed earlier, where the loom disappears under the dash.
12. Fit 2 more cable ties to secure the USB cable to the loom as described earlier.
13. Take the A pillar trim and holding it at about 30 degrees to the vertical, insert the 2 tabs at the bottom into the slots at the end of the dash. Push the trim back into place against the A pillar, ensuring the left edge goes under the door seal. Give it a good whack with your hand where the U shaped slots you observed earlier are. Compare with the other side, and if it doesn't look right, pull it off and repeat the earlier steps and try again. Took me 3 attempts
14. Re-install the Torx screw and press the airbag badge back in place.
15. In the void next to the glove box, you'll see 2 nuts with large washers underneath. I used one of these to provide a chassis/ground connection. I found the top one easiest to access, but I had to disconnect and remove the airbag switch, and if you have the battery connected, be aware this will throw an error code when you turn the ignition on (more on this later). It's easy to remove, pull the connector off and then compress the 2 metal clips to remove it from the panel. With the switch removed, I was just able to reach the top nut using a cranked ratchet wrench (13mm IIRC), while holding the side panel away to the side. Slacken the nut off enough to slide the connector on the end of the negative (black) input cable underneath, and then tighten it down firmly.
16. Make a neat bundle of the excess USB cable, the 5V regulator and the excess negative (black) input cable with some cable ties. Try to leave the tiny LED on the regulator easily visible. Leave the positive (red) input cable free for now.
17. Open the glove box and pop out the interior light - there's a slot on the end facing you for finger nail or plastic trim tool. No need to disconnect or remove, just leave it hanging.
18. Take the red wire and put a bit of insulating tape over the bullet connector (we're going to poke it in the fuse box in a minute so best to cover the bare metal end) and push the wire above the glove box towards the light, you should be able to hook the end with your finger from the hole where the light was. Pull the red cable all the way through into the glove box (don't worry, we're not leaving it there).
19. Remove the fuse box cover from the back of the glovebox.
20. Pull the end of the end of the red wire straight, end then push the end back into the glovebox light slot, this time towards the front of the car. Put your other hand in the fuse box behind the top left corner, you should fairly easily be able to grasp the end of the cable, then pull it all the way through, and then pop the glovebox light back in place.
21. Take the larger of the 2 fuse piggy back connectors and insert into fuse 65 (on my car this the 12V accessory socket, goes off after short delay when ignition is turned off - you should check on your specific vehicle though), having first removed the 20A fuse and inserted that in the piggy back as per the supplied instructions, together with the supplied 2A fuse.
22. Take the end of the red cable, remove the tape and insert firmly into the end of the piggy back connector cable. Re-connect battery if necessary, and turn on ignition. The tiny blue LED on the 5V regulator should now be flashing blue, unless you already connected the dashcam, in which case it should be solid blue and the dashcam should have powered up.
23. Make a bundle of the excess red cable with a cable tie and tuck it out of sight behind the glovebox to the left of the fuse box and replace the fuse box cover.
24. If you removed the airbag switch earlier, turn off the ignition, re-connect it and push it back into the panel until it clicks in place.
25. Push the bundle of cable inside the void behind the side panel, and clip the panel back in place, using the panel on other side as a reference to ensure it is correctly aligned.
26. If you removed the airbag switch, you may now see a red 'Front Passenger Restraint System' error when you switch the ignition on. I used BimmerLink to delete the code.

[Eff48]

Originally Posted by Eff48

"In a RHD car, this configuration dashcam has to go to the left of the mirror, other wise the rear camera will be obstructed when the passenger sun visor is used."

That sentence should of course have read:

In a RHD car, this configuration dashcam has to go to the left of the mirror, other wise the rear camera will be obstructed when the drivers sun visor is used.