Radar Detector setups

[word is bond]

I've see a lot of custom installs in other cars, but not many for E30s. Anyone out there have their detector installed in a really clever way? I have a Beltronics STI with a remote, but haven't yet decided how I want to install it in a more permanent way than the cigarette lighter.

[august125]

I'd love to see some cool setups as well.

For my E30 I just plan on putting my old Passport 5000 up towards the top of the windshield with one of these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Permanent-Windshield-Mount-For-Beltronics-Escort-Passport-Radar-Detectors-/181171438994

and running the power through the rear view mirror grommet to an ignition switched power source.

[Link]

I am also interested in this. I have my V1 installed, ill take pics today if I can remember.

[mcskibadee1]

I use this one. I have an e30 and e28 and they work great and I just tapped right in to the wires above the mirror. Took about ten minutes total for install.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MirrorMount-Valentine-One-Radar-Detector-Mirror-Mount-Bracket-V1-/191083085594?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c7d707f1a

[e30rapidic]

having a cabrio, I use the windshield mount on a Passport Solo and remove it every time I leave the top down. I keep a SmartCord in the car and plug it in for longer trips. However I have the Escort smart cord in all our other vehicles so the power wire is hidden and have the mute button/indicator hidden but within eye sight.

I've come to despise erroneous cables.

[BMER]

I put a phone jack with leads (originally sourced fromDigikey a gazillion years ago) in the plastic panel covering the access to the sunroof motor and wired that up to the V1 remote power adapter, which was tapped into a power line up there (one that's only on when ignition switch is on), and ran a long V1 line across the upper roof panel, down the A-pillar, and exiting the top of the instrument cluster.

Remote display is centered & velcroed to the bottom side of the upper lip of the dashboard, (at the edge of the lip so it least-obscures the view of the cluster), is directly in view, needing only the least-amount of visual distraction to see it while driving, and is at-best visible only to another driver who would be along-side and looking into the car. It blocks the view of the turn signal & high-beam indicators (no biggie to me) and an insignificant portion of the speedo & tach. Just minimum enough lead fed out of the topside of the instrument cluster to keep it plugged in without pulling.

I use one of the now-unobtainium original remote displays (narrower than the current versions with the mute button), so it doesn't block the view to the speedo/tach as much as the current one would, although it doesn't have the separate dot-indicator functionality for signal source of the newer remote displays. Mute function with the display in that position is impractical anyway, it would take reaching through the steering wheel, the point is optimal visual placement.

V1 hangs off the forward edge of the passenger-side visor in the near-ideal as-high-up-&-as-forward-as-possible position, or occasionally windshield suction cups, and plugs into the plug in the panel with a separate wire (vs. a lead wire coming out of the headliner panel) - that way, when the phone jack clips eventually break, the jack can be replaced multiple times until the wire's too short and wiring up a new wire is necessary.

Black power wire (stealthy, blends in w/ black headliner & visors, sourced from Valentine One) tucks up over the visor and plugs in with virtually no external visibility of the plug wires, obviously easily unplugged for stowage. In low-risk areas, usually I just unplug the V1 and stow it leaving the visor clip in place, tucking the end of the jack wire between the front edge of the visor and the headliner panel, which is just the right width to snug in there, extractable with a pull down on the end of the jack with the right-hand pinky finger.

Being black, and on the visor, and as low as the car sits, the visor clip is not very obvious, someone would have to bend down and look up to even be able to see the V1 visor mount clipped to the visor, so normally I don't worry much about the visor clip being a giveaway as to the possibility of a detector in the car. Also handy for E30's is the older-style narrower-width-bend visor mount metal clip, just the right size to clip over E30 visors and be positioned flat. The newer ones fit beefier visors better, but the front edge bend will be gapped around the visor edge and not sit flush.

If I'm going to be away from the car for awhile or have any security concerns, I pull the V1 off with the visor clip, unplug from the cover panel and stow it all together, with the only discernible evidence of the radar detector being the plug in the access panel, which virtually no thief would see or know what it is. Sometimes I'll remove the remote display too if necessary (thus, the velcro), leaving the lead in view, but a short lead of a miscellaneous-looking black wire hanging is pretty inconspicuous, and someone would pretty much have to know what it's for to to incentivize a break-in, which, so far, has never happened, although admittedly the car rarely spends any time in places where it might be subject to thuggery.