Direct Wire Radar- Best Location?
 

For those of you with your radar detector direct wired in your X where is the best location to put it?? Going to get mine direct wired this weekend...

Thx in advance.

Mid windshield as high as possible.

I clipped it to the pass. side vizor, and hard wired it to the cigarette outlet in the center consol. Search this forum for instructions on wiring.

Pop open the overhead console with the lights, there is a green wire with a white strip towards the front of the opening on the passenger side (it is a switched power so it turns on/off with the key) that you can tap into and run a short power cord between the headliner and windshield. Then you can mount the detector up high above the rear view mirror. Works great. It took me a total of about 5 minutes for each of my X5's. If you have a V1, the wire tap that comes with the kit works perfectly.:thumbup:

Thanks for the info. What did you use as a ground?

I believe it was a mounting torx screw for the sunroof motor. It is easily accessible when you remove the overhead console.

OK, thanks! BTW, I have an '02 e46 M3 myself.

High mounting is good for radar detection. Lowest possible mounting is better for lidar.

Laser beam is usually aimed low at a flat surface (like a license plate), and the beam is very narrow.

That said lidar detection is not that good as they usually have you when you detect them. Light jamming works much better.

My detector in the Boxster is high mounted and hardwired. X5 is dash mounted and plugged into the lighter plug.

Anyone know if the tinting at the top of the windshield of an X5 is metalic, such that it might impede detection? I mount my detector as high as possibel but below that tint line on my 330i just in case.

I have heard that some BMWs with a HUD do not have any tinting at top, but I have not checked my X5 top see if that is true.

My X5 does not have an HUD and it does not have any tinting at the top.