Radar Detector Direct Wire

[zrk]

Actually it turned out that it turns off after a while on its own, not sure how long, but I know when I come back to my car, it’s off and as soon as I unlock or open the door, it comes back to life.

7 minutes. It's 7 minutes. Most of the circuits power up/down with the BCM, which has a 7 minute post-turn-off timer.

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[jram]

For those with V1 ver 2, I ordered Blendmount BV1-2025 but they changed my order to bv1-2017 based on the picture i sent them. Also from the smudges you can tell it's probably a good move to wear gloves while installing.

 

[kevolution]

Finally got around to doing the hardwire install today for the R7. The plastic cover was a pain to pry open but at least the clips somehow stayed in tact when it finally popped open. Tried sliding in the taps with all the cables and components in place but it was just not enough space to work around the mirror. Slid off the mirror and it was much easier to stick the taps into the right holes in the connector. Popping the plastic shroud back was much easier than taking it apart, and everything works without a hitch!

 

[Spart]

7 minutes. It's 7 minutes. Most of the circuits power up/down with the BCM, which has a 7 minute post-turn-off timer.

Anyone know if this timer can be adjusted with Bimmercode?

 

[zrk]

Anyone know if this timer can be adjusted with Bimmercode?

It cannot.

 

[kehvin]

Sorry to revive an old thread but decided to hardwire my radar since my cigarette lighter blew a fuse and I can’t seem to get this part not drooping down. Any remedies or something I’m missing? I have the top two connectors at the top inside the hole

 

[Spart]

Sorry to revive an old thread but decided to hardwire my radar since my cigarette lighter blew a fuse and I can’t seem to get this part not drooping down. Any remedies or something I’m missing? I have the top two connectors at the top inside the hole

If you press on the middle of that thing (right on the seam) it splits in two. It's kind of a clamshell.

I figured it out by watching a video that may have been about replacing either the mirror or windscreen.

 

[zachattack917]

Thank you for everyone's help, I was able to separate the two halves easy enough and then hook in the wire tap to the rain sensor power feeds. I also found this Supra specific YouTube video too, although the wiring was the same as Christians video above.

Hey guys. Sorry to revive an old thread. But, I just followed through all of this piecing together info installing my radar detector for the first time and figured I’d summarize everything I learned since I hadn’t really seen anyone do that start to finish yet.

The video that OP linked here was the best video I could find pertaining to this entire process.

Context: I installed a Uniden R8W mounted on a Blendmount BR7-2017 mount. Someone earlier said they tried ordering a BR7-2025 mount, and Blendmount changed their order to the -2017 style. This also happened to me, and I am here to say the BR7-2017 fits like a surgeon’s glove. And obviously, I ordered the mirror tap kit from there as well. I used the SECOND-SMALLEST pair of connector wires to pin into the car. The first-smallest will present like it fits (especially if you leave the mirror installed during this), but they come out with a slight tug. I utilized the supplied heat shrink once connections were verified good.

Like the video, I also opted to remove the rearview mirror after struggling with big-finger-syndrome for too long. This made things FAR easier. To remove it, wiggle the mirror back and forth towards the bottom of the windshield. It will eventually detach. From there, you will need remove the connector for the auto-dimmer and HomeLink buttons (I used a small pic to push on the tab then pull the plug out). This should not take a ton of force, so if you find yourself yanking on the cable and it’s not budging, your lock tab is still engaged.

The video identifies the correct wires to pin into (the Brown/Black for ground, and the Blue/Red for +12V - Pins 4 and 1 respectively on the larger of the two plugs behind the plastic covers -> aka the plug that connects into the mirror). Although I am certain now with my functioning setup, never just take an online doof’s word for it. Always confirm voltages yourself and check continuity. And yes, I tried connecting to the rain sensor at first (pins 3 and 1), but found my detector was staying powered for well over 30 minutes. Idk about you, but that’s too long for me.

After you’ve done that, you *should* find that your detector turns on with the ignition (or simply unlocking the doors #weirdbmwthings), and that the detector will power off after exactly 6 minutes of the car going to sleep.

When reassembling, I used only 1 ziptie and it was right at the heat-shrunk connection portion of the new cord you just added in tying it to the mirror cable. Be sure you aren’t zip-tying this portion down with tension on those small wires you just pinned into the connector (I broke the smaller pair earlier on the rain sensor plug because I got too carried away with them). These are smaller wires after all! I got my Blendmount semi-installed at this point to get a rough idea for how much cable I wanted sticking out. I installed the driver side plastic trim and aimed the cable to exit through the same circle the mirror stem does (most excess clearance here) specifically around the eastern side of the mirror stem. Installed the other plastic cover, leveled my detector and tightened to final torques ending off with shoving the slight excess I had back up underneath the covers (surprisingly had easy ability adjusting cable length with all pieces back in their places at this point). The attached photos are the results!

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[steelpearl]

Hey guys. Sorry to revive an old thread. But, I just followed through all of this piecing together info installing my radar detector for the first time and figured I’d summarize everything I learned since I hadn’t really seen anyone do that start to finish yet.

The video that OP linked here was the best video I could find pertaining to this entire process.

Context: I installed a Uniden R8W mounted on a Blendmount BR7-2017 mount. Someone earlier said they tried ordering a BR7-2025 mount, and Blendmount changed their order to the -2017 style. This also happened to me, and I am here to say the BR7-2017 fits like a surgeon’s glove. And obviously, I ordered the mirror tap kit from there as well. I used the SECOND-SMALLEST pair of connector wires to pin into the car. The first-smallest will present like it fits (especially if you leave the mirror installed during this), but they come out with a slight tug. I utilized the supplied heat shrink once connections were verified good.

Like the video, I also opted to remove the rearview mirror after struggling with big-finger-syndrome for too long. This made things FAR easier. To remove it, wiggle the mirror back and forth towards the bottom of the windshield. It will eventually detach. From there, you will need remove the connector for the auto-dimmer and HomeLink buttons (I used a small pic to push on the tab then pull the plug out). This should not take a ton of force, so if you find yourself yanking on the cable and it’s not budging, your lock tab is still engaged.

The video identifies the correct wires to pin into (the Brown/Black for ground, and the Blue/Red for +12V - Pins 4 and 1 respectively on the larger of the two plugs behind the plastic covers -> aka the plug that connects into the mirror). Although I am certain now with my functioning setup, never just take an online doof’s word for it. Always confirm voltages yourself and check continuity. And yes, I tried connecting to the rain sensor at first (pins 3 and 1), but found my detector was staying powered for well over 30 minutes. Idk about you, but that’s too long for me.

After you’ve done that, you *should* find that your detector turns on with the ignition (or simply unlocking the doors #weirdbmwthings), and that the detector will power off after exactly 6 minutes of the car going to sleep.

When reassembling, I used only 1 ziptie and it was right at the heat-shrunk connection portion of the new cord you just added in tying it to the mirror cable. Be sure you aren’t zip-tying this portion down with tension on those small wires you just pinned into the connector (I broke the smaller pair earlier on the rain sensor plug because I got too carried away with them). These are smaller wires after all! I got my Blendmount semi-installed at this point to get a rough idea for how much cable I wanted sticking out. I installed the driver side plastic trim and aimed the cable to exit through the same circle the mirror stem does (most excess clearance here) specifically around the eastern side of the mirror stem. Installed the other plastic cover, leveled my detector and tightened to final torques ending off with shoving the slight excess I had back up underneath the covers (surprisingly had easy ability adjusting cable length with all pieces back in their places at this point). The attached photos are the results!

Hope this helps. Cheers.

Just installed my mirror tap and these instructions were super helpful! Wouldn’t have thought to run the wire through the mirror stem area - looks practically OEM now. Powers off after 6/7 minutes.

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