I went the easier route and tapped into the Green/White wire that goes to the rear view mirror. I just had to pop out the map light unit to access the wire, which was pretty easy.
I have the same dash cam in my BMW 535ix and plan on installing in my Zed, however, you need to leave more room between the DashCam and the mirror, the micro SD card needs to slide in by the mirror and its really hard to get in and out without more room. Plus, I've found that over time the cards need replacing. After a few cycles of writing and overwriting, they eventually read card full. There is also a direct wire USB cable which does not require a cigarette lighter.
Robert Stimpson I remove the whole unit whenever i need to get to the SD card, which works just fine. I rarely do some anyway. Yes, I mentioned the power supply that does not require a cigarette lighter. In fact I'd probably recommend it over the cigarette lighter adapter.
My car the cigarette lighter socket turns on and off with the ignition switch, guess that keeps the battery from getting drained but I want my dash cam (on order) to stay on when parked so I bought a 12V to 5V mini USB hard wire adapter that will shut off if the car battery starts to get low so I can wire it to a always live fuse plug. Seems like people like to hit parked cars and leave with out notifying the owner so a always on dash cam could help with that.
Thanks for sharing your installation adventure. A couple of questions : Why did you choose the Street Guardian SG9665GC ? ( I have no experience with portable digital videos so be kind) ) You wanted an ignition key controlled power source. Your first choice of fuse (mirrors) was permanently hot and so you rejected it. Any thoughts to put a switch in the power feed you located in the glove box ? Cheers and thanks again.
+jafxdwg Thanks, and you have the honor of being the first viewer of the video hot off the press! :) About the Street Guardian, I did a lot of research and dashcamtalk.com was a great resource. The Street Guardian uses high quality components including a glass lens and Sony sensor, and has great recording quality especially at night. I like the form factor too. As for the power I much prefer a set-and-forget ignition controlled feed. There is little benefit to adding a manual step, and the possibility of draining the car battery does not help. There are adapters that switch off when the battery voltage drops to a certain level but ignition control is my preference.
Hey nman2563. You have been living with your Street Guardian for 6 months now. Can we have a long term update ? I understand your plans were to set it and forget it, but I'm hoping you are still happy with your choice. Or is there a better product or features that you wished you had included in your decision. Thanks again
It has been working pretty well, no regrets. It is sensitive to the usb adapter you use so make sure you get a recommended one that provides sufficient power. I believe there has been discussion about power supplies for it in the forums and amazon reviews.
Decent video, but so much of the video is not even close to where you are showing or wishing you could control the camera yourself. Otherwise good DIY video on how to run cable and add the dashcam.
+Mervin Istace Thanks for your feedback. This video is intended purely as an installation video rather than a dashcam setup video. There are many great videos that get into the Street Guardian SG9665GC features and settings much better than I could. I noticed that there are few actual install videos. It is also to show the Z4 community what it would take to install a dashcam in their cars. The installation is intended as set-and-forget, so I don't plan to touch the dashcam further unless there is video I want to extract from it. Thanks for watching!
Thank you.. just got my fuse line to cam wire. Now I'm ready to install
Thanks for your helpful video, with it got my dashcam cleanly installed! 👍👍
I went the easier route and tapped into the Green/White wire that goes to the rear view mirror. I just had to pop out the map light unit to access the wire, which was pretty easy.
Extremely helpful. Thank you.
Great video. Thank you.
I have the same dash cam in my BMW 535ix and plan on installing in my Zed, however, you need to leave more room between the DashCam and the mirror, the micro SD card needs to slide in by the mirror and its really hard to get in and out without more room. Plus, I've found that over time the cards need replacing. After a few cycles of writing and overwriting, they eventually read card full. There is also a direct wire USB cable which does not require a cigarette lighter.
Robert Stimpson I remove the whole unit whenever i need to get to the SD card, which works just fine. I rarely do some anyway. Yes, I mentioned the power supply that does not require a cigarette lighter. In fact I'd probably recommend it over the cigarette lighter adapter.
My dash cam comes with cigarette lighter. It can pass near the windscreen and dashboard hole ?
My car the cigarette lighter socket turns on and off with the ignition switch, guess that keeps the battery from getting drained but I want my dash cam (on order) to stay on when parked so I bought a 12V to 5V mini USB hard wire adapter that will shut off if the car battery starts to get low so I can wire it to a always live fuse plug. Seems like people like to hit parked cars and leave with out notifying the owner so a always on dash cam could help with that.
+EagleTalons1 Yes, I think I mention that option in the video. I might try it one of these days.
Thanks for sharing your installation adventure.
A couple of questions :
Why did you choose the Street Guardian SG9665GC ? ( I have no experience with portable digital videos so be kind) )
You wanted an ignition key controlled power source. Your first choice of fuse (mirrors) was permanently hot and so you rejected it. Any thoughts to put a switch in the power feed you located in the glove box ?
Cheers and thanks again.
+jafxdwg Thanks, and you have the honor of being the first viewer of the video hot off the press! :)
About the Street Guardian, I did a lot of research and dashcamtalk.com was a great resource. The Street Guardian uses high quality components including a glass lens and Sony sensor, and has great recording quality especially at night. I like the form factor too.
As for the power I much prefer a set-and-forget ignition controlled feed. There is little benefit to adding a manual step, and the possibility of draining the car battery does not help. There are adapters that switch off when the battery voltage drops to a certain level but ignition control is my preference.
The wiring tuck tool keeps you from having to remove any plastic pieces.
Hey nman2563. You have been living with your Street Guardian for 6 months now. Can we have a long term update ? I understand your plans were to set it and forget it, but I'm hoping you are still happy with your choice. Or is there a better product or features that you wished you had included in your decision. Thanks again
It has been working pretty well, no regrets. It is sensitive to the usb adapter you use so make sure you get a recommended one that provides sufficient power. I believe there has been discussion about power supplies for it in the forums and amazon reviews.
I know that little interior light gets hot quick lol
Can you please provide a link to where you got the cigarette cable from?
Aliexpress I bought for $2.62 free shipping after a month
Temu another site
Decent video, but so much of the video is not even close to where you are showing or wishing you could control the camera yourself. Otherwise good DIY video on how to run cable and add the dashcam.
+Mervin Istace Thanks for your feedback. This video is intended purely as an installation video rather than a dashcam setup video. There are many great videos that get into the Street Guardian SG9665GC features and settings much better than I could. I noticed that there are few actual install videos. It is also to show the Z4 community what it would take to install a dashcam in their cars.
The installation is intended as set-and-forget, so I don't plan to touch the dashcam further unless there is video I want to extract from it. Thanks for watching!