Aktash

Hey all, so I bought myself Thinkware dual dash cam, hardwire kit and a hardwire kit for my old Escort radar.
The wiring seems straight forward dash cam to the fuse box in cargo area, radar to overhead lights.
I'll have a rear view mirror mount that can support both, I have an idea on how to make one that will be clean looking and functional.

And then i looked at getting the rear camera setup. From a brief look I will need to disassemble hatch door trim, probably most of the cargo area trim, quarter panel etc to drop roof liner enough to snake a rear cam wire thru the rubber boot by the hinge.
I should get my WIS cd's tonight so I dont have to constantly ask for diagrams. Trim tools are coming in tomorrow.

From looking at suv line of MB vehicles most folks don't bother with hiding the rear cam wire in the rubber conduit from roof to the hatch. I really don't want any wires hanging loose back there.
If anyone has anything helpful to add please post, otherwise Ill try to take pics of how it all goes on the weekend.

kajtek1

Can't speak for the wagon, but on my sedan I found plastic trims all around the car, who are flexible enough to put wires behind without any tools.
I used double side tape for camera mounts as suction cups .... suck on the long run.
For power, I made extension from my lighter socket into glove compartment with 4-sockets who allow me to plug all the chargers and inverter out of sight.

CaliBenzDriver

This seems like a pretty well done setup: Front + Rear camera with all wiring nicely put away.

I wonder how to hide the cameras and control screen so street punks don't brake into my car to just rip it off at my cost?

So for now no camera install

kajtek1

I feel for guys who have to park they loved MB on the street, away from the house.
There are several options for added security thought. Cameras are stolen not becouse of the value, but becouse they can record breaking-in to steal other stuff. The biggest theft deterrent IMHO is motion detection light. I live in area where mail theft is a problem, so having 120V near by mailbox, I install $130 Kuna light with WI-FI camera. This way not only I have records who is fooling around my property, but the records are send to cloud, therefore stealing the camera will not erase them.
Today's technology gives you several options and when 12V WI-FI cameras are not available, not that difficult to build inverter system and have one working in your car. WI-FI can be another issue, but guess what?
Other problem on the street I live at are young people parties, who leave the trash and break bottles on the curbs. When I moved here, I spend $10 on dummy camera, who I attached to corner street pole.
99% of partying issues are gone.
Doesn't take much to hang one of those on light pole, where you park your car.

Aktash

well WIS isn't working, so if anyone has diagrams for removing rear hatch trim and quarter panel roof liner diagrams I'd really appreciate those. 2013 e350 wagon

Unfortunately no point of dummy cameras in NYC there are plenty of real ones and no one gives a damn. I don't have glove box 12v outlet so i'll just run everything to the fuses.

I bought thinkware because there are no screen on it and its pretty small, most misfits shouldn't notice them. Hopefully.

Aktash

Got the cameras installed over the weekend. Overall it wasn't that bad or too difficult to do.
For rear camera you can see where the wire comes thru in the pic, decided not to snake it thru the rubber boot as it would require drop of headliner.
Snaked the wire along the headliner all the way to the front. and same route for the power lead back to the fuse box.
Hardwire kit is not long enough so I soldered in about 6 foot section of 26 gauge shielded wire.
With this particular camera if I were to install mount for radar detector I wouldn't have access to the dash cam buttons, so detector will go on the windshield.
Dash cam itself mounted to the rain sensor wire with two zipties in crisscross. I used a small squared U shape bracket from my sons erector set, I know its blurry in the pic but its quite simple.
One thing I did mess up is sticking rear camera upside down, didn't realize it till powered everything up lol. Just got a roll of double sided tape so I can reverse it. Unfortunately thinkware doesn't have a flip feature in the software.
Wiring was very easy, I used fuse taps on top rail, battery line to SOS system fuse(87) and 83 for the acc. power. ground to a bolt nex to fuse box

With my tints its really hard to see that camera is even there.

Dix220d

Hi Aktash,
great post and pics.

I'm in the same boat. I've a pair of BlackVue cams and a hardwiring kit to install - and lots of questions

Mines an S213 but I think theres lots of similarities with your 212. For the cable routing ... reckon you have to go rear to front - how far did you go (I mean effort wise - before frustration kicked in :-) ) before you decided to route outside the tailgate grommets ? from checking a few videos online there looks to be a lot of trim to uninstall before you can get to the grommets . In your install do you just have a bit of cable flex for the tailgate to open ?

And how did you get the cable through the headliner end to end ? Figure you've got to get it to A pillar. any tips ?

I've the always on hardwiring kit for parking mode as well. Fuse designations look to be completely different now from 212 to 213, The current Merc fuse map is ****. But from reading other post on here I've got to tap fuses in the boot. Other fuse locations in the front passenger footwell and drivers side dashboard box look to be all always hot and we need one always on and one switched.

So in your post you mentioned a few fuses ( in trunk fuse box ? ) What did u tap in each case ?
Any recommendations on the spec of the taps ? (apart from - check the fuses and then get the taps to fit ....) I've seen videos where lads are shoving fuses back into incorrect taps ..

Any other ideas very welcome.

Cheers,

Aktash

Hey,
First cable routing.
My setup basically requires two cables running from the back to the front one is power for the front camera and rear camera feed.

I just used a blunt trim tool to tuck the wires into the seam of headliner, I dunno how different it is on S213. after a certain distance you feel the cable going past the seam into the open space kinda.

At front I did drop the A pillar trim since its and easy job and gives you space to hide all the extra wires.

For rear hinges on mine I left a bit of the wire not to pinch it and just enough to freely open close the lift gate, for S212 to route thru the hinge would require to drop the headliner at least in the back, the return hole for hinge is pretty deep inside the car.

Choosing the fuses.
This was simple for me, I just opened up the fuse panel in the trunk and looked for fuses that were convenient then I looked online for diagrams of what those fuses control, so that if anything goes wrong none of critical circuits would be compromised. Just make sure whatever you are tapping into has higher rating, like if you need 5amps tap into 10amp fuse. I used generic autozone taps.

If you want specific pics I can take some for you.

Dix220d

Hi Aktash,
thanks for the info.

I've made a start and got the front camera working. Just did a basic wiring job to the console accessory 12v because I know now I have to route my power cable to the rear fuse compartment in the boot. I'll tell my story so far in case anyone else happens by with the same challenge.

So I'm using a Blackvue Power Magic Pro to hardwire the two cameras. I was hoping to use one of the interior fuse boxes for convenience - there's two, one in the passenger footwell and one on the drivers side of the dash. I've tested all the fuses in both and they're all hot with the ignition off which is no good. The Power Magic Pro needs one always on and one ignition switched. So its the fuse box in the trunk that I need to use. (i'm not going to try get to the engine bay !) I've tested fuses in the trunk and #456 and 457 - 12v accessory are ignition switched. Nearby is #454 Airmatic which is live, or might select something else like #417 Ambient light (7.5A) because its less critical. Accessories are 15A regular ATO style fuses, so I'll get similar in 5amp for the fuse taps - which are going to be regular blade as well.
I reckon all this applies to W213 as well.

For now I've routed my power cable under the sensor shroud in front of the rear view mirror - the shroud clips off easily which makes it useful to hide cable, then along the headliner to the RHS A-pillar.
You're right - the A-pillar trim clips off easily, so I've gone in there for now, behind the airbag, then dropped the cable under the mat to reach the 12v in the console. Its rough but thats the temporary bit so far, and the front camera is working grand.

Next its find a route for the power cable to the rear fuse box, and the signal cable from front camera to rear camera. Your path along the seam between trim and headliner looks like a good option (still toying with the idea of taking off the tailgate trim and fishing through) but I'd be interested in what route you took especially from the C Pillar into the load compartment to the fusebox for power. If you have time for more pics that would be great . I'll have more time (and daylight !) on Saturday to explore the best paths for the two cables.

Cheers for now.