Hard wire radar detector

[DtotheW]

1st I've read all the forums regarding hard wiring. So far I haven't seen any info on anyone being successful at hardwiring a radar detector. I saw that there's no "customer" 12V power available like in the M3. Just want to know if anyone's cracked the code on this. I want it wired so that it goes off when I'm not driving the car. Thank you.

 

[Watts_Up]

1st I've read all the forums regarding hard wiring.
So far I haven't seen any info on anyone being successful at hardwiring a radar detector.
I saw that there's no "customer" 12V power available like in the M3.
Just want to know if anyone's cracked the code on this.
I want it wired so that it goes off when I'm not driving the car.
Thank you.

Did you look at 12v Switched?

 

[StarHunter]

Check out my post here: New Model 3 Radar Detector Hardwire It's #42. Let me know if you need any additional help. Still working great for me after 4 months and also been happy with the setup that I can check battery voltage

 

[DtotheW]

Yeah I saw that thank you,a unfortunately that's a M3 and according to most people on the forums, is wired differently.

 

[DtotheW]

Thank you, haven't seen your post, I'll check it out.

 

[DtotheW]

I just had another idea, let me know what you guys think. Can I hardwire to the back of the cigarette lighter adapter? Then just manually turn off the radar detector when not in use. I have the hardwire kit with built-in fuse.

 

[2020]

I don't have my car yet but how about taping into the fuse box like every other car.

 

[DtotheW]

I don't have my car yet but how about taping into the fuse box like every other car.

Yeah there's no clear guidance on this yet. There's no 'customer' fuse box like any other car and it's also not like the M3 is set up. I think the best game plan is to hard wire to the rear view mirror (if that's your thing, I'm not going this direction) or mount behind the screen with the wire routing down through the center console, hardwired to the back of the cigarette lighter. I think it'll be 'always on/hot' so you'll need to manually turn off your detector.
For those of you following, I did test to see if the car would auto off the cigarette lighter as I had the radar detector plugged in and I left it for 30 minutes... Still on.

 

[acevasio]

Yeah there's no clear guidance on this yet. There's no 'customer' fuse box like any other car and it's also not like the M3 is set up. I think the best game plan is to hard wire to the rear view mirror (if that's your thing, I'm not going this direction) or mount behind the screen with the wire routing down through the center console, hardwired to the back of the cigarette lighter. I think it'll be 'always on/hot' so you'll need to manually turn off your detector.
For those of you following, I did test to see if the car would auto off the cigarette lighter as I had the radar detector plugged in and I left it for 30 minutes... Still on.

What detector do you have? I have a Valentine 1 gen 2 plugged into the 12v cigarette lighter in the center console and it auto powers off when I exit the car at pretty much the same time the screen goes dark.

 

[DtotheW]

What detector do you have? I have a Valentine 1 gen 2 plugged into the 12v cigarette lighter in the center console and it auto powers off when I exit the car at pretty much the same time the screen goes dark.

I've got the Valentine 1 Gen 1. That's interesting. I'm wondering if it's a gen 2 thing. Does your cigarette lighter plug have a red led? I'm wondering if it remains on.

 

[mswlogo]

I tapped the power going to the rear amp on the Model 3. Bet you can do the same thing. You can also tap the cigarette lighter socket. I’ve tapped the mirror easy on Model X.

 

[acevasio]

I've got the Valentine 1 Gen 1. That's interesting. I'm wondering if it's a gen 2 thing. Does your cigarette lighter plug have a red led? I'm wondering if it remains on.

It does have a red light.. I'll try to figure out a way to see if it stays on tomorrow. Curious to see if it's draining battery now.

 

[DtotheW]

I tapped the power going to the rear amp on the Model 3. Bet you can do the same thing. You can also tap the cigarette lighter socket. I’ve tapped the mirror easy on Model X.

I like the amp idea, where did you tap it? Under the dash or way in the back?

 

[DtotheW]

It does have a red light.. I'll try to figure out a way to see if it stays on tomorrow. Curious to see if it's draining battery now.

Yeah let me know.

 

[mswlogo]

I like the amp idea, where did you tap it? Under the dash or way in the back?

way in back. Pretty easy to get too. I posted a thread on it. Y might be a little different getting the wire from back to front though.

 

[JoshV]

The new highly rated Unidens have Auto power shutoff.

I have the R7 Model tapped into my Model X Rear view mirror. Prior to that I had the R3.