Bought everything during Black Friday but never got around to installing. Spent about five hours today getting everything set up.
The dashcam is the 900XPlus by BlackVue with two channels. The CM100 LTE module is optional, but I liked the idea that I could "just upgrade the dashcam" in the future without having to buy a LTE enabled version. Everything is powered by BlackVue's PowerCell 8 battery which appears to be a rebranded Celllink. 12v power is supplied through the OEM brake controller. In theory, the 7500mAh battery should be able to power the two channel, 4k video for 20 hours. We'll see about that...
I sourced the brake controller harness from Tesla and soldered the hardwire pigtail. The brake controller sits on a 15A fuse and the battery pulls about 8-9 amps while charging. In theory, it can charge itself in about 50 minutes. So, a quick trip around town in addition to the "sleep delay" the car has. When I was verifying everything with my multimeter I never did see the voltage drop to 0, so I'm doing a little more research to ensure this is actually the case.
The battery is hidden at the bottom of my center console. I tried feeding the wires from the back of the center console but it was a giant pain in the ass. Ultimately just used a step drill and put a hole in the side of the console for the power cables. Here's a photo of me test fitting the battery before I placed it in the bottom of the console.
The original plan was to remove the AP harness trim and tuck all the wires in, but after laying everything out I don't think there's enough room in there. It was getting dark so I decided to use the included 3M mounts and run the wire bundle in parallel. Not ideal, but I don't really look up there so I can live with it.
Most people stick the LTE module to the windshield, but I think it looks terrible. LTE has no issue with plastic, so I placed mine under the dashboard. It's got better service than the damn car does!
All wires were run up along the A pillar and above the headliner. To run the rear camera cable I made two small cuts with a razor in the body to trunk door rubber. Shouldn't be any issues with water, but I may go back and add a few dabs of sealant.
Glad I was able to get everything installed. I may get around to editing an installation video at some point.
The dashcam is the 900XPlus by BlackVue with two channels. The CM100 LTE module is optional, but I liked the idea that I could "just upgrade the dashcam" in the future without having to buy a LTE enabled version. Everything is powered by BlackVue's PowerCell 8 battery which appears to be a rebranded Celllink. 12v power is supplied through the OEM brake controller. In theory, the 7500mAh battery should be able to power the two channel, 4k video for 20 hours. We'll see about that...
I sourced the brake controller harness from Tesla and soldered the hardwire pigtail. The brake controller sits on a 15A fuse and the battery pulls about 8-9 amps while charging. In theory, it can charge itself in about 50 minutes. So, a quick trip around town in addition to the "sleep delay" the car has. When I was verifying everything with my multimeter I never did see the voltage drop to 0, so I'm doing a little more research to ensure this is actually the case.
The battery is hidden at the bottom of my center console. I tried feeding the wires from the back of the center console but it was a giant pain in the ass. Ultimately just used a step drill and put a hole in the side of the console for the power cables. Here's a photo of me test fitting the battery before I placed it in the bottom of the console.
The original plan was to remove the AP harness trim and tuck all the wires in, but after laying everything out I don't think there's enough room in there. It was getting dark so I decided to use the included 3M mounts and run the wire bundle in parallel. Not ideal, but I don't really look up there so I can live with it.
Most people stick the LTE module to the windshield, but I think it looks terrible. LTE has no issue with plastic, so I placed mine under the dashboard. It's got better service than the damn car does!
All wires were run up along the A pillar and above the headliner. To run the rear camera cable I made two small cuts with a razor in the body to trunk door rubber. Shouldn't be any issues with water, but I may go back and add a few dabs of sealant.
Glad I was able to get everything installed. I may get around to editing an installation video at some point.