To all in the Maryland / DC / Northern VA area.... I feel compelled to post this review here to help my fellow enthusiasts.
I had my Blackvue DR750S-2CH installed into my 1 week old X100D this past Thursday at Hurley's Audio in McLean VA (Hurley's Auto Audio | Custom Audio/Video Solutions | Radar Detectors, Etc). During my wait for delivery, I researched meticulously on the internet and this forum to find a professional installer to perform a "center conduit" install of the front camera cables to achieve the "OEM" look, as well as a "hatchback conduit" install of the rear camera cable in the black hatchback conduit. I wanted everything perfect. I am very obsessive with after-market work - it would need to be absolutely perfect.
I also wanted a constant power source without using the OBD option for a 'clean' look, as well as a constant power 12 volt cigarette lighter socket dongle in the space below the other cigarette lighter between the front seats because this powers my mobile hotspot for the cloud operation of the dashcam (as you may know, the existing 12 V cig lighter is a switched power source - but there is an open space beneath that cigarette lighter socket for a hidden dongle). I also wanted the installer to install the 13 ultra-bright LED interior lights I purchased from Abstract Ocean so I could just have all that done for me at the same time.
Basically all I knew from my research was that Johnny from Calibrated Customs was "THE guy" to do this install; however, he is in California and I live in Baltimore.
Before I continue, I should say that I am not affiliated with Hurley's in any way. I learned of this shop from a few random posts in the forums (particularly this forum). I called this shop and spoke to the owner and he told me they worked on model X Tesla's before and they had installed dashcams in the exact manner I described. We talked about their decades of experience, etc. I did not ask for references for the work and decided I needed to proceed in good faith and cross my fingers. I could not find a shop in Baltimore and decided there was no way I was going to do this myself (despite they fact I am a DIY guy - this project scared the hell out of me and I decided to leave it to the pros).
The result? They did a PERFECT job. I am 100% pleased with the work and it was well worth the drive from Baltimore to get this done. So if you are looking for an installer, I can make this recommendation with confidence. They really were great.
The work took 4.5 hours - but remember - I had other work done as described above. I will not comment on the price as it was probably more expensive than a typical install. If you proceed with them, that is between you and them. But you get what you pay for in life, and to me the price was not an issue. To me, it had to be a perfect install. This was the driving factor.
I hope this helps some of you that are obsessing on this issue of where to have this work done, if you get a dashcam.
I'm not posting pics because you've probably seen pics elsewhere on the forums and my install looks identical to a "Johnny" install. But if you really wan't some I guess I can go take some pics. Also, I brought all the parts with me, i.e., I had purchased the cam through the recent group buy, and I brought the dongle from amazon, etc. But you can always buy the cam through them as well I suppose.
Cheers.
I had my Blackvue DR750S-2CH installed into my 1 week old X100D this past Thursday at Hurley's Audio in McLean VA (Hurley's Auto Audio | Custom Audio/Video Solutions | Radar Detectors, Etc). During my wait for delivery, I researched meticulously on the internet and this forum to find a professional installer to perform a "center conduit" install of the front camera cables to achieve the "OEM" look, as well as a "hatchback conduit" install of the rear camera cable in the black hatchback conduit. I wanted everything perfect. I am very obsessive with after-market work - it would need to be absolutely perfect.
I also wanted a constant power source without using the OBD option for a 'clean' look, as well as a constant power 12 volt cigarette lighter socket dongle in the space below the other cigarette lighter between the front seats because this powers my mobile hotspot for the cloud operation of the dashcam (as you may know, the existing 12 V cig lighter is a switched power source - but there is an open space beneath that cigarette lighter socket for a hidden dongle). I also wanted the installer to install the 13 ultra-bright LED interior lights I purchased from Abstract Ocean so I could just have all that done for me at the same time.
Basically all I knew from my research was that Johnny from Calibrated Customs was "THE guy" to do this install; however, he is in California and I live in Baltimore.
Before I continue, I should say that I am not affiliated with Hurley's in any way. I learned of this shop from a few random posts in the forums (particularly this forum). I called this shop and spoke to the owner and he told me they worked on model X Tesla's before and they had installed dashcams in the exact manner I described. We talked about their decades of experience, etc. I did not ask for references for the work and decided I needed to proceed in good faith and cross my fingers. I could not find a shop in Baltimore and decided there was no way I was going to do this myself (despite they fact I am a DIY guy - this project scared the hell out of me and I decided to leave it to the pros).
The result? They did a PERFECT job. I am 100% pleased with the work and it was well worth the drive from Baltimore to get this done. So if you are looking for an installer, I can make this recommendation with confidence. They really were great.
The work took 4.5 hours - but remember - I had other work done as described above. I will not comment on the price as it was probably more expensive than a typical install. If you proceed with them, that is between you and them. But you get what you pay for in life, and to me the price was not an issue. To me, it had to be a perfect install. This was the driving factor.
I hope this helps some of you that are obsessing on this issue of where to have this work done, if you get a dashcam.
I'm not posting pics because you've probably seen pics elsewhere on the forums and my install looks identical to a "Johnny" install. But if you really wan't some I guess I can go take some pics. Also, I brought all the parts with me, i.e., I had purchased the cam through the recent group buy, and I brought the dongle from amazon, etc. But you can always buy the cam through them as well I suppose.
Cheers.
