Hey i need help hardwiring my V1 Radar. I want to tap power from the cigerate lighter and I dont know how to get access to it. I tried to remove the center consol where the gear stick is but couldnt do it. I was scared i was going to break it. I followed C32 directions on how to remove it but it didnt work. I started from the top left and lifted up going straight down but it wouldnt come off. Any other C55 owners do a hardwire install yet of a radar detector that can give me some help?

I just installed passport 8500 yesterday by cartoys. Cost me $45.
I was afraid of breaking if I did it myself.

Do you know where they got the power from? From the cigerate lighter or the fuse box in the back?

I actually wanted to do the samething. Of course i can test some of the fuses to see which is ignition switched but i am to lazy. I dont wanna tap it into the lighter. I prefer to connect i to the fuse box. The fuse box should not be to much differernt from the C32. So since i dont feel like STFF now, anyone know which fuse on the C32 is igntion switched that is empty?

Running the wire to the back of the car is going to be such a ***** for me i would much rather not do that and just tap the cig lighter. Whats the big deal of tapping the cig lighter?

mines to the domelight in my clk

well yeah it is difficult. Nothing is wrong with the lighter, i just never did it that way. I believe there is also a fuse box to the left of the steering wheel when the door is open?

Is there really? Is this new on the C55's or its ont he old C class also can any one confirm this and tell me how to get access to it?

I hard wired my Passport 8500 v50 the second day I got my C55. I did it the lazy way. I couldn't find a fuse on the left hand fuse panel in the front that was controlled by iginition, so I just ran a wire to the fuse box in the trunk. It literally took 10-15 mins, max! All you have to do is tuck the wire underneath the door sill all the way to the trunk, and then use a fuse tap on the auxillary power fuse in the trunk.

was there an empty slot that was igntion switched? if not, which one are u using?

As I mentioned in my post, I used the auxillary fuse with a fuse tap.

Hey how did u get the wire up from the door sill to the radar detector? Is the wire visible at all? And how did u get to the trunk from the back door sill? How did u stick the wire in between the side of the car and the back seat to the trunk? Again is the wire visible anywherE? Would u mind posting some pics or emailing me them djx18@mac.com ? Thanks man it would be a great help! ANd which port is the aux fuse in the trunk and how did u tap it? (Some pics maybe?)

Hiding the wire is EASY! i did it on my C230 to the trunk fuse box. I ran it on the top, near this little rubber seal around the door openings. Its real easy once u have the wire infront of your to hide it. its all really just tucking. a credit card can help stick it in small spots 2.

I just tucked the wire underneath the pillar. It is very easy. Use a small flat head screwdriver to push the wire under the pillar. As far as running the wire to the trunk, all you have to do is drop the back seat, and run the wire down the side liner in the trunk.

But which port is the aux one in the trunk?? And where did u get the fuse tap from?

I don't know exactly what number the fuse port for the Aux. power is. It will tell you in the owner's manual. You can get the fuse tap from your local autoparts store. I got mine at AutoZone.

Ok i got access to the front fuse port. There are 4 empty ports all 30A. There is nothing on the chart about these ports accept the amp rating. I need help pulling power from these fuse ports. If i can pull power from the empty spots how would i do it and which side would the red cable go to the left or the right and im guessing the black would go to the oposite ( or to a ground somewhere else)? Here is the fuse port below!

Before u connect anything, u gotta test them to make sure they are igntion switched.

Once again, as I said, the front fuse panel doesn't have a fuse that is ignition switched, hence you have to use the fuse panel in the trunk. Once you get a fuse tap, all you do is connect the positive (red) wire to the fuse tap. Becareful, and only use a 2.5 amp fuse (or whatever the recommended one is for the radar, and not a larger one). Then you just ground the ground wire (black wire) somewhere. That shouldn't be too hard to do.

Also, look in your owner's manual for the fuse location.

You could also use an "Add a fuse" fuseholder to add an additional fuse circuit to an existing fuse circuit.


The Littlefuse one (pictured above) is nice because it also has a wire - you can attach the V1 direct wire tap to the red wire.

This is exactly what I used.

With two fuses and at what rating each one?

me 2 on my last car.

What are the 2 fuse ports for? Is one for the original and the second for the tapped wire?

so i guess you ruled the cig lighter out? i did a pretty nice install of my V1 in my c32.. went from the lighter... heres a pic of how it turned out... no wires to be seen except for the little part that connects to my detector!


i have the display in the parktronic hump on the dash!