Tagged on way home from picking up my X

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by rh71

Point is, no detector would've saved me in this case from throwing money out the window ($450 lawyer to start and god knows what else to come).

Correct. Radar detectors improve your odds significantly, particularly if you are not a heavy speeder, but are far, far from a guarantee of no tickets.

If you are alone on the highway and you have a motivated officer using instant-on radar, a radar detector will not do much for you. But if you have a lazy officer who just lets the radar run full-time (as many do, particularly local cit and county police), it will save you. And if you have traffic ahead of you, you can often get a signal/warning when they shoot the instant-on at a vehicle ahead of you.

And, of course, a radar/laser only detector like the V-1 is completely ineffective with many of the fixed camera systems.

[stimulate]

I have owned my 2009 X5 35d for about a month. I was recently pulled over and talked my way out of a ticket. Very early one morning I merged onto the interstate and floored it to accelerate into the left lane. Just as I took my foot off the gas the MA state trooper appeared in my mirror and pulled me over. I was doing 85 or so.

I explained as nicely as possible that yes I was speeding but it was only to get around the traffic. I don't drive that fast normally and was just setting my cruise control. Bashfully I suggested that I just bought this car and I am not used to the acceleration.

He looked at me with disbelief and said "Look me in the eye and tell me you were going to drive 65 mph!" I replied " No, sir. I usually drive 70 mph or so."

After 10 mins in the cruiser, no ticket no warning.

[XV8]

Originally Posted by stimulate

I have owned my 2009 X5 35d for about a month. I was recently pulled over and talked my way out of a ticket. Very early one morning I merged onto the interstate and floored it to accelerate into the left lane. Just as I took my foot off the gas the MA state trooper appeared in my mirror and pulled me over. I was doing 85 or so.

I explained as nicely as possible that yes I was speeding but it was only to get around the traffic. I don't drive that fast normally and was just setting my cruise control. Bashfully I suggested that I just bought this car and I am not used to the acceleration.

He looked at me with disbelief and said "Look me in the eye and tell me you were going to drive 65 mph!" I replied " No, sir. I usually drive 70 mph or so."

After 10 mins in the cruiser, no ticket no warning.

Good to hear you talked your way outta it!

[Viperfreak2]

Isn't it about time for a better Valentine? I mean the outer design has been the same in what, 20 years? So it tells you left/right or front or rear. Big deal. How about a nav system like screen that shows exactly where the radar/laser is? Technology needs to catch up in this area.

[AVB-AMG]

Moolis:

There have been many posts and threads on this forum that discuss radar detectors, laser detectors/jammers and red light camera locations warnings that you may want to do a search for. A recent one that I just updated with my driving experience for the past 9 months with the remote (stealth) mounted Escort 9500ci can be found at the thread titled:

anyone else ordered new Passport 9500ci radar detector for their X5?

here is the web link as well:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e70-forum/44578-anyone-else-ordered-new-passport-9500ci-radar-detector-their-x5-3.html#post682568

IMO - If you are willing to spend the money, I strongly recommend a professionally installed remote/stealth setup using whichever components you like the best after doing your homework. If you read my previous posts, you will see I had two BMW X5's with the K40 system installed and then transferred it to my '07 M-B ML63 AMG. Once the Escort 9500ci became available, adding its GPS updateable database of red light camera locations, along with the comparison tests between the K40 and 9500ci were published, I decided to replace the K40 with the Escort 9500ci. After 9 months with this system I am quite satisfied that I made the right choice for me and highly recommend it to anyone who drives in multiple states where they are not necessarily familiar with the usual locations of speed traps, let alone the ever increasing appearance of red light cameras.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do...

AVB-AMG

[moolis]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, we're leaving on a week-long trip tomorrow. Did not get my protection in time. I'm crossing my fingers and will have to set my speed-limit warning and try to use the cruise. Takes all the fun out of it! Well, not ALL

[drod]

V1 all the way... get the remote add-on module too!!

this way you won't have to look up into your visor to see where the signal is coming from....

have it hard wired and put the remote directly in front on the dash... works perfect for me!

it will reduce your chance for tickets but letting you know he's around...

even with instant-on... he has to turn it on once in awhile to check randomly as he looks for a target..

most detectors can pick up this on/off signal before you drive through it...(usually about 1-2 miles ahead)

don't rely on it but it does help a bit....

funny.... i got caught on that one day I didn't turn it on....

[GPSnV1]

I made it over 20 years of driving whatever I wanted (but not over 110 mph) first with the Escort Passport then the V1 and following the common sense rules in the V1 manual plus sometimes adding the cb, but no joy last year in NC when the computer version of VASCAR got me in NC (cb on) . I think I was going 8x in a 55 near Asheville which I hit about 4 times a year in my 3K tour through the southeast.

BTW, if you want a forum that has videos comparing the Redline, et al to the likes of the V1 as a start then consider Radar Detector Jammer Forum

[AzNMpower32]

I'm not completely sympathetic to these stories. Hardly anyone in VA has gone without a ticket......it actually seems kind of normal. No, really, one can't drive 50mi in any direction without passing one. V1 helps out a lot.

[Tleong]

Can someone explain the whole instant-on, radar, and any other terms that were used here? Not familiar with it