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Are there any members that have tried routing a radar detector from the rearview mirror? I have a Blendmount bracket along with a direct wire tap cable that I used in my previous car. I'm not sure if a mounting bracket can be used on the Mercedes rearview mirror. Any mounting ideas to give a more stealth like look would be appreciated.
'17 AMG S63 Convertible, '17 AMG C63S Edition 1 Coupe
I asked Blendmount about this a few years back, as they make a mirror mount for virtually every car except Mercedes. Their answer was, Mercedes stuffs so many high tech sensors and electronics into the rearview mirror "block," that they're not willing to risk it breaking and them being on the hook for a part that's costs thousands of dollars. So they avoid it. Sounds sensible.
Just hardwire through A-pillar and headliner, to the passenger side visor. Clean, not visible to the outside, and provides excellent detection range while being accessible/in your field of view.
I've never bothered with hardwiring my radar detectors, because I generally don't use them on a daily basis. I only use them when going out of town driving in more unfamiliar areas or when going canyon carving. So most of the time my radar detector lives stashed away in the center console, which also puts it out of sight from potential thieves. I know where the cops hang out around here. All my speeding tickets I've ever gotten were far away from home. So I just use a suction mount for the windshield, which I leave up there. There's a 12V outlet in the passenger footwell, which is perfect to plug it in. There's also a net right there so when I'm not using it, I stash the cable into the net.
"All my speeding tickets I've ever gotten were far away from home" And your rear detector was where? Lol
superswiss, your car is way too beautiful to have a suction cup mount. I will figure something out and convert you to stealth!
Haha...my radar detector was nowhere. They made me get one eventually. I haven't gotten a speeding ticket since I own a radar detector, except a little over a year ago with my old radar detector that I discovered wasn't working properly anymore and didn't alert me. Replaced it with a Uniden R3. CHP caught me doing 85 in a 65, but ended up failing to file the ticket properly with the court and the statue of limitation expired in October. Problem solved itself...LOL! Having it not hardwired also allows me to easily move it between cars like when we take the wife's car on a road trip.
EDIT: Now that I think of it, though, I got caught almost doing 100 mph about 5 years or so ago with radar detector, but CHP was using Lidar. So that's another consideration and Lidar jammer are illegal in California. There was actually a time I didn't believe in radar detectors anymore, because of the increased use of Lidar. Seems like the CHP has gone back to using radar more while just cruising around or sitting on the side of the road, but you do have to keep an eye out for the pesky Lidar.
Last edited by superswiss; Dec 3, 2020 at 08:04 PM.
I have an Escort that was mounted from my rearview mirror and hardwired. Yes at times it is a pain in the rear with some false alerts but the many times it saved my *** was worth a few falsies
I have an Escort that was mounted from my rearview mirror and hardwired. Yes at times it is a pain in the rear with some false alerts but the many times it saved my *** was worth a few falsies
I have to say the Uniden is actually excellent. I got it because it came up as the detector with the best long range detection and it indeed usually alerts miles in advance. I also found a recommended configuration specifically for California, which eliminates pretty much all false positives. It has GPS for known false positives and configurable speeds at which it should start alerting, so when driving around town it's completely silent. I still don't really want it up all the time, because of its long range it picks up radar from patrol cars cruising on city streets with the radar turned on while I'm driving on the highway. Not to mention the risk of break ins around here. Just don't wanna have anything visible that could attract thieves. It's a real issue around here unfortunately.
'17 AMG S63 Convertible, '17 AMG C63S Edition 1 Coupe
Originally Posted by superswiss
I've never bothered with hardwiring my radar detectors, because I generally don't use them on a daily basis. I only use them when going out of town driving in more unfamiliar areas or when going canyon carving. So most of the time my radar detector lives stashed away in the center console, which also puts it out of sight from potential thieves. I know where the cops hang out around here. All my speeding tickets I've ever gotten were far away from home. So I just use a suction mount for the windshield, which I leave up there. There's a 12V outlet in the passenger footwell, which is perfect to plug it in. There's also a net right there so when I'm not using it, I stash the cable into the net.
To each his own, of course. I just have the hardwiring installed on every vehicle I own/drive. That way I can easily swap the unit from vehicle to vehicle. And, with it hardwired, you can install the brown-out-booster, which prevents the SUPER annoying repeat restart of the V1 with the vehicle's Eco start/stop function. I also hate having to move the cord from vehicle to vehicle, and the cord (since I like to place the unit on the passenger side visor) always gets in the way of the front seat passenger, and you end up with a ton of redundant wire etc. Hardwired, all the wiring is tucked in nicely, and you'd only see it when you flip down the sunvisor to access the wire. Otherwise it's hidden away. I'd argue that's a safer way to protect your V1, cuz you can bet seeing the suction cup mount mark on a front windshield is a dead giveaway to a thief that there's some expensive electronic in the vehicle, be it a radar detector, nav unit, etc etc.
To each his own, of course. I just have the hardwiring installed on every vehicle I own/drive. That way I can easily swap the unit from vehicle to vehicle. And, with it hardwired, you can install the brown-out-booster, which prevents the SUPER annoying repeat restart of the V1 with the vehicle's Eco start/stop function. I also hate having to move the cord from vehicle to vehicle, and the cord (since I like to place the unit on the passenger side visor) always gets in the way of the front seat passenger, and you end up with a ton of redundant wire etc. Hardwired, all the wiring is tucked in nicely, and you'd only see it when you flip down the sunvisor to access the wire. Otherwise it's hidden away. I'd argue that's a safer way to protect your V1, cuz you can bet seeing the suction cup mount mark on a front windshield is a dead giveaway to a thief that there's some expensive electronic in the vehicle, be it a radar detector, nav unit, etc etc.
Definitely to each his own. Just curious, what if you have a passenger who actually wants to use the sun visor for what it's for, especially flipping it to the side to block the sun coming through the side window?
'17 AMG S63 Convertible, '17 AMG C63S Edition 1 Coupe
Originally Posted by superswiss
Definitely to each his own. Just curious, what if you have a passenger who actually wants to use the sun visor for what it's for, especially flipping it to the side to block the sun coming through the side window?
Very possible, but not super likely. I have 18% tints all around, and 40% on the front windshield. But if need be, I can always swap the detector to my sun visor.
I hardwired mine last weekend. I also was trying to use my mirror tap from my last car but the consensus here was it wasn't going to work or at least not easily. Per another thread in here I used the Escort Hardwire Kit (cheap at Best Buy) and tapped into the fuse box at the left of the dash. Start to finish it took 25 minutes tops! As for the mount, I'm good with the suction cup.
Thanks amg8
Just out of curiosity, what is the top of the bracket anchored to?
There are two screws that goes through the housing and two bolts on the underside that secures it. It is rock solid. The housing thickness is quite thick and thus there is no flex or give making it perfect to mount something as heavy as a radar detector.
Here's a routing solution that is very easy to do and nearly as hidden as from the mirror mount:
Use a long straight cord with the lighter type plug. Plug it into the rear console power socket.
Push the cord, going forward, into the lower console gap, passenger side where the night light shines out.
Cord travels forward, all the way hidden in the gap until it emerges hidden behind the right side of the info screen. I used a small plastic adhesive wire clip on the rear of the info screen to hold the cord in place.
From there plug it into your radar unit held by suction to the windshield.
The only part of the cord that shows is a couple inches between where it emerges from behind the info screen going the radar unit.
So easy to do. You need a flat cord connection that some brands provide with the radar unit, or it can be purchased on eBay. I used the flat cord that was provided with my old V1 to connect with my Uniden R7 detector.
There's a 12V outlet in the passenger footwell, which is perfect to plug it in. There's also a net right there so when I'm not using it, I stash the cable into the net.
Where exactly is the 12v in the passenger footwear? I'd like to have my console 12v back if there another close by.
Where exactly is the 12v in the passenger footwear? I'd like to have my console 12v back if there another close by.
Below is an illustration of where it is in my coupe, but I think they are in different locations depending on equipment. I don't have a 12V socket in my console. I have a USB port there for charging and CarPlay and the wireless charging pad to the left of it.
Here's a routing solution that is very easy to do and nearly as hidden as from the mirror mount:
Use a long straight cord with the lighter type plug. Plug it into the rear console power socket.
Push the cord, going forward, into the lower console gap, passenger side where the night light shines out.
Cord travels forward, all the way hidden in the gap until it emerges hidden behind the right side of the info screen. I used a small plastic adhesive wire clip on the rear of the info screen to hold the cord in place.
From there plug it into your radar unit held by suction to the windshield.
The only part of the cord that shows is a couple inches between where it emerges from behind the info screen going the radar unit.
So easy to do. You need a flat cord connection that some brands provide with the radar unit, or it can be purchased on eBay. I used the flat cord that was provided with my old V1 to connect with my Uniden R7 detector.
I think I understand what you mean, but do you have a quick pic to illustrate? Thank you!
Two Pics. 1) From front showing minimal cord exposure. 2) From side showing routing (Yellow line showing where cord runs hidden pushed under console edge and red oval showing area where cord is exposed - note plastic routing clip I used behind the screen and notice where the cord runs to plug into rear of console power outlet.) So easy. I seldom have anyone in my back seat where a foot could bump connection.
Two Pics. 1) From front showing minimal cord exposure. 2) From side showing routing (Yellow line showing where cord runs hidden pushed under console edge and red oval showing area where cord is exposed - note plastic routing clip I used behind the screen and notice where the cord runs to plug into rear of console power outlet.) So easy. I seldom have anyone in my back seat where a foot could bump connection.
Thanks! Does your car have the interior lighting where the yellow line is? My 2020 has the internal glow lights so I can't put the cord through your yellow portion (without plugging the gap where the light comes out from that side). I have other solutions though either way so thanks for the tips!
Thanks! Does your car have the interior lighting where the yellow line is? My 2020 has the internal glow lights so I can't put the cord through your yellow portion (without plugging the gap where the light comes out from that side). I have other solutions though either way so thanks for the tips!
Not sure how much if any light is blocked by the cord. I never ride as a passenger to experience it.
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