My camera install
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 699
Likes: 44
From: PA
09 CLK550
My camera install
I had a few people ask me about this so I'm doing a writeup.
Camera was a $50 unit from ebay, shipped from Japan. I can find the direct link later, I've had it for about 9 months now.
It is USB powered off the cig lighter and turns on/off with the car. It has a small battery and keep recording for about 30 seconds after the car is off. It also allegedly will turn on and record if the car is bumped but I haven't tested it.
Low / high def and night vision IR. In low def it makes 5 minute / 180Mb files to the SD card and auto-overwrites the oldest files as it fills up. I can get about a week of normal daily driving on a 16Gb card. It was picky about the SD card, I had audio sync issues with a SanDisk.
Camera is attached behind the rearview, it has a small screen that is mostly hidden from me while driving. From the outside of the car you don't even notice it.
I ran a 10' USB A to MicroUSB cable along the headliner, down the A-pillar (pops off but its a ***** to put back), down along the glove box:
across the upper plastic piece in the passenger footwell (near the cabin air filter) and into the back of the center console.
I pulled the shifter trim up, the ashtray out and loosen the HVAC controls to get my hand + cable through.
I picked up a dual USB adapter from Microcenter and a Belkin right-angle USB adapter that I "made work" by cutting it a bit:
This allows to me close the ashtray door if i want:
and still have an extra USB port to charge my phone if needed.
Sample videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ambertuber
Camera was a $50 unit from ebay, shipped from Japan. I can find the direct link later, I've had it for about 9 months now.
It is USB powered off the cig lighter and turns on/off with the car. It has a small battery and keep recording for about 30 seconds after the car is off. It also allegedly will turn on and record if the car is bumped but I haven't tested it.
Low / high def and night vision IR. In low def it makes 5 minute / 180Mb files to the SD card and auto-overwrites the oldest files as it fills up. I can get about a week of normal daily driving on a 16Gb card. It was picky about the SD card, I had audio sync issues with a SanDisk.
Camera is attached behind the rearview, it has a small screen that is mostly hidden from me while driving. From the outside of the car you don't even notice it.
I ran a 10' USB A to MicroUSB cable along the headliner, down the A-pillar (pops off but its a ***** to put back), down along the glove box:
across the upper plastic piece in the passenger footwell (near the cabin air filter) and into the back of the center console.
I pulled the shifter trim up, the ashtray out and loosen the HVAC controls to get my hand + cable through.
I picked up a dual USB adapter from Microcenter and a Belkin right-angle USB adapter that I "made work" by cutting it a bit:
This allows to me close the ashtray door if i want:
and still have an extra USB port to charge my phone if needed.
Sample videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ambertuber
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
2008 c350 sport
first thing first, good job on the install
hows the quality on the video? cant really see well on my phone but I do like that it has the time and date on it.
and please post link. might be interested in it
hows the quality on the video? cant really see well on my phone but I do like that it has the time and date on it.
and please post link. might be interested in it
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
Nice job! I've actually considered a camera for my car, just to take to court if one of the idiot cops that pulls me over for no reason decides to write a ticker. Anyhow, I have a USB-powered Jabra Bluetooth speaker mounted on my a-pillar. I bought a hardwire USB cable on eBay and a fuse tape, and wired it into the cabin fuse panel - no adapters in the cigar lighter socket.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 699
Likes: 44
From: PA
09 CLK550
Its this model:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wide-150-HD-...item1e697287d9
Don't know if that's the seller I purchased from, it was awhile ago.
I need to put some 'Hi def' video up, keep forgetting.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wide-150-HD-...item1e697287d9
Don't know if that's the seller I purchased from, it was awhile ago.
I need to put some 'Hi def' video up, keep forgetting.
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Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 699
Likes: 44
From: PA
09 CLK550
Why?
Well 90% of the time its just to record bad drivers. 9% of the time its a CYA for me because of these bad drivers. And about 1% of the time I actually catch something interesting like a car accident or other 'abnormal' incidents.
You can see here this person cuts across 3 lanes and almost hits me. Without the video it would be just be my word against theirs:
Here you can see the Acura TL pulls right out into traffic ignoring a stop sign and almost hits the red 300C. Then pulls in front of me and changes lanes twice without a blinker.
In PA I caught an accident that was clearly (through the video) one party's fault. I stopped and talked to the cop that arrived and ended up dropping a CD off at the station later that day with the video. Not sure what ever happened of it.. no certified chain of custody and what-not but I hope it helped.
steven1888: I just went out and pushed the car by hand but was unable to get the camera to turn on. : shrug:
Well 90% of the time its just to record bad drivers. 9% of the time its a CYA for me because of these bad drivers. And about 1% of the time I actually catch something interesting like a car accident or other 'abnormal' incidents.
You can see here this person cuts across 3 lanes and almost hits me. Without the video it would be just be my word against theirs:
Here you can see the Acura TL pulls right out into traffic ignoring a stop sign and almost hits the red 300C. Then pulls in front of me and changes lanes twice without a blinker.
In PA I caught an accident that was clearly (through the video) one party's fault. I stopped and talked to the cop that arrived and ended up dropping a CD off at the station later that day with the video. Not sure what ever happened of it.. no certified chain of custody and what-not but I hope it helped.
steven1888: I just went out and pushed the car by hand but was unable to get the camera to turn on. : shrug:
Last edited by ambit; Mar 11, 2013 at 11:32 PM.
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MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
I have been thinking about installing several of these. I want to see ahead, behind, and my speedo. Apparently, in my neck of the woods, DWM (Driving While in a Mercedes-Benz) is illegal - I get pulled over ever few months just because the cops thinks I looked like I might be doing something wrong. I usually start recording the stop with my cell phone camera, but I'd rather have the whole thing in case it ever goes to court (so far, I've not been ticketed - just harassed).
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
2008 c350 sport
Found this by the same seller.
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=17131716246
Almost the same camera with the same funtion. But with dual lens. One that recording the front, and ghe the other recording what happening inside the car. The only thing Im not too sure of is the view of it recording inside the car since it only can rotate 180 up or down. This doesnt help, at least I think so because it might not be able to capture the driver if it was placed behind the rear view mirror. I made this point because I got stop for not having a seat belt on when I did had it on.
Anyways, I still think this is better than nothing. It has dual camera and dual memory card slot.
Ambit, thanks! but maybe you need to push harder lol. Just kidding.
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=17131716246
Almost the same camera with the same funtion. But with dual lens. One that recording the front, and ghe the other recording what happening inside the car. The only thing Im not too sure of is the view of it recording inside the car since it only can rotate 180 up or down. This doesnt help, at least I think so because it might not be able to capture the driver if it was placed behind the rear view mirror. I made this point because I got stop for not having a seat belt on when I did had it on.
Anyways, I still think this is better than nothing. It has dual camera and dual memory card slot.
Ambit, thanks! but maybe you need to push harder lol. Just kidding.
