Dash cam questions (lots of them)

[JimboDS]

I think I want a dash cam. Been tempted for a while. My wife was recently reversed into while stationary and has been fighting for a better decision from the insurance company than 50:50. This has motivated me to look more seriously at dash cams!

I found a few old threads on here recommending Blackvue. Are they still recommended? Any others I should look at?

I want it hard wired as I don't like the idea of a messy cable in my cigar lighter but am not confident doing it myself. I presume it won't cost much. Any idea how much roughly? Will call an auto electrician once I'm sure I want to do it but it'd be good to know what to expect. How reversible is the instalment? Do I need to worry about Mercedes warranty etc?

Has any one successfully used one in an insurance claim? I don't want to go to this effort to find they're not admissible or something. Next time my wife chases up her claim she's going to ask if a camera would have helped but interested in any experiences on here.

Finally, I've seen a few claims for cameras saying "won't affect GPS/DAB reception". Does that mean I need to worry about my reception being interfered with if I buy the wrong one?? Anyone with a Blackvue (I'm thinking about a DR650GW) or any other camera able to comment on their experience?

Thanks in advance

 

[MancMike]

You've got a cigarette lighter socket in the glove box haven't you? You'd just tuck the wire into the headlining around and down the A pillar into the glovebox. That's as hard wired as it needs to be.

 

[zipdip]

Well I have been thinking the same about a dash camera,i have seen quiet small ones that have all the things needed to record good quality images,on ebay,but they all require wiring into the cars system and my W221 is a bit daunting ,I would hate to try and fry the ECU or something

 

[JimboDS]

You've got a cigarette lighter socket in the glove box haven't you? You'd just tuck the wire into the headlining around and down the A pillar into the glovebox. That's as hard wired as it needs to be.

Thanks. I should look in my glove box more often That would certainly do the trick.

Edit: But I guess that doesn't have power when the engine is of so park mode (if I understand it correctly) wouldn't work. Definitely a simpler install though. Will have to check whether wife's Mazda has a power supply in there too. Doubt it

 

[JimboDS]

Another question then...
Does park mode work if it's not hard wired?

 

[MancMike]

Park is nothing to do with the engine. It's just basically neutral gear, but with the parking pawl engaged on the output shaft.

No dashcams are powered when the engine is off. It might not use much power, but it'd drain it over a few days enough to not start the engine if it did.

They have an internal battery too, only small, but it's enough to power it for a short while after the engine is off. Mine continues to record for probably 30 minutes after I turn the engine off, but not all dashcams do that.

 

[GLK]

That's not entirely accurate - if correctly hardwired, and equipped with a quality voltage monitor, dashcam will continue to operate (in motion detection mode mostly), once the engine is turned off.

I believe this is the functionality the OP is after.

Hardwiring is not complicated at all, and I would suggest a capacitor-based dashcam, as opposed to battery-based.

 

[JimboDS]

Thanks GLK. That's my understanding of park mode too. I think that's enough to make me want it hard wired.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Park is nothing to do with the engine. It's just basically neutral gear, but with the parking pawl engaged on the output shaft.

I think that we're talking about park mode within the camera rather than the gearbox.

 

[Abb]

I have just had the exact camera (blackvue DR650W) front & rear installed into my wife's ML, hard wired too! Awesome bit of kit!

 

[GLK]

My own dashcams are pretty old now, and still going strong, so no immediate plans to upgrade, however if I were to buy a single channel dashcam today, I'd go for this one: StreetGuardian

But, and it's a big but, do not be tempted to get a similar looking one for 50 quid on eBay - there are so many copies, some of average quality, mostly just rubbish.

This one was developed by a dashcam enthusiast - an Australian chap, who moved to China and built it up with active participation (features, etc) of the DashCamTalk forum community.

The seller is another dashcam enthusiast, who probably tried, and reported on every single dashcam out there. He then moved to setup online store and is only selling a few models - that is telling something.

Personally, for my next dashcam I want a full OBD input, so that, if anything happen, I can demonstrate that, I was indicating, or braking, or my throttle position was at such-and-such. There are a couple of models that do that, but not for Mercedes (mostly Korean vehicles) and these models are pretty much rubbish and 'normal' dashcam stuff.

I know the StreetGuardian I mentioned above is not cheap, but I believe it is worth it: my BlackVue wasn't cheap either, but it's been working perfectly (albeit with some considerable modifications) for over four years now, and I'm still reasonably happy with the quality and certainly reliability.

 

[GLK]

I have just had the exact camera (blackvue DR650W) front & rear installed into my wife's ML, hard wired too! Awesome bit of kit!

As far as dual channel dashcams go, the DR650W is undoubtedly the best one out there at the moment, in my opinion

 

[LowMileage]

I have two installed in my ML350 - these are mini 0806 cameras. Some notes on these

The hardwire kit does not work well with the ECO start, found that when engine turned off due to ECO start kicking in, the camera would power off. Voltage was still getting to the camera, but the hardwire kit was too sensitive to fluctuations in voltage.

The solution I used was to use a griffin USB adapter and that has worked fine. I power mine off the cigarette lighter socket in rear cabin (for front window screen) and in the boot on my car (for the rear screen camera)

GPS does not work on the rear camera, something is stopping the signal

Interference with the radio - this is probably due to the cable I have used, maybe not screened enough, but its thin and easy to channel in the trim to hide the cable.

Fitting yourself is fairly easy, although to fit the one in the rear I had to remove the trim to hide the cables.

 

[JimboDS]

I have just had the exact camera (blackvue DR650W) front & rear installed into my wife's ML, hard wired too! Awesome bit of kit!

That's exactly what I'm thinking of. Not cheap though!

 

[Abb]

That's exactly what I'm thinking of. Not cheap though!

I paid £280 for mine incl del. Another £80 to fit it, but have to agree, not cheap but neither was the car!

 

[JimboDS]

I paid £280 for mine incl del. Another £80 to fit it, but have to agree, not cheap but neither was the car!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you buy it from Abb?

I've been looking here which is £450 for what I think you have:
https://www.blackvue.co.uk/index.ph...al-64gb-micro-sd-card-and-installation-detail
(they do it without the SD card but only charge £1 for a 64GB card so no brainer).

Was thinking of doing wifey's car first as hers is pretty new whereas mine is getting to the end of the lease so will wait until it's replaced. However, she's not convinced £450 per car is a good investment and she does have a point. I guess you're buying peace of mind though.

 

[Abb]

No problem at all. I bought it from:

http://www.blackvue.eu/Blackvue_DR650GW.php

Got the price wrong though, it was £289.99 not £280! Lol

 

[Dizzy]

Hi, look at Nextbase 402G (available from Halfords and also various online retailers) and also the slightly more expensive Nextbase 512G (which I have in my c class) both cams are absolutely brilliant and considered to be one of (if not THE) best available with the 402 holding a "Which magazine Best Buy" award. You can also see example videos on youtube. I fitted mine by simply running the wire around the screen and tucking the wire behind all trim etc. into the rear of the glovebox and into the 12v socket in the glovebox. The result is extremely neat and professional looking. You can also buy a "hard wire" kit from next base and have the cam running on a constant live feed. This enables you to have the cam running in it's "motion detection" mode to record events while the vehicle is parked.
Here's another tip.. I purchased a second windscreen mount (cheap enough) in case I sell my car and want to take the cam out for the replacement vehicle.
The reason for this is that windscreen suction mounts tend to fall off in hot weather. I combat this by first applying a thin film of Bostik glue to the rubber sucker. I have found that the camera stays up forever and although the mount can easily be prised off the screen with a razor or knife blade underneath it, the sucker is generally unusable again. Both the above cameras are detachable from the mount anyway if you want to remove them temporarily leaving the mount in situ.

 

[Dizzy]

More info...

Hi, look at Nextbase 402G (available from Halfords and also various online retailers) and also the slightly more expensive Nextbase 512G (which I have in my c class) both cams are absolutely brilliant and considered to be one of (if not THE) best available with the 402 holding a "Which magazine Best Buy" award. You can also see example videos on youtube. I fitted mine by simply running the wire around the screen and tucking the wire behind all trim etc. into the rear of the glovebox and into the 12v socket in the glovebox. The result is extremely neat and professional looking. You can also buy a "hard wire" kit from next base and have the cam running on a constant live feed. This enables you to have the cam running in it's "motion detection" mode to record events while the vehicle is parked.
Here's another tip.. I purchased a second windscreen mount (cheap enough) in case I sell my car and want to take the cam out for the replacement vehicle.
The reason for this is that windscreen suction mounts tend to fall off in hot weather. I combat this by first applying a thin film of Bostik glue to the rubber sucker. I have found that the camera stays up forever and although the mount can easily be prised off the screen with a razor or knife blade underneath it, the sucker is generally unusable again. Both the above cameras are detachable from the mount anyway if you want to remove them temporarily leaving the mount in situ.

Another edit - Hi again, just for your info.. most cameras come with a lead and a cigarette lighter plug fitted. This cig lighter plug also knocks the voltage down to 5v for the camera as 12v can blow the circuits. This is the reason for a hard wire kit if you do not wish to use a 12v socket. The hardwire kit contains an inline voltage reducer and it enables you to plug the wire into a spare 12v terminal in your vehicle fusebox sending just 5v to the camera. The Nextbase h/w kit also has a "minimum voltage" limiter and will stop the camera recording should your car battery fall below a certain voltage which prevents a flat battery.

 

[MancMike]

I think that we're talking about park mode within the camera rather than the gearbox.

Right well I've never heard of that so boo ****ing hoo.