nextmilenium

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

I'll be getting Thinkware U1000 dashcam professionally installed (hardwired) soon. But after reading various dashcam related threads here, I have a few questions and hope the people with experience can help me out. I want to be well prepared and don't want any unpleasant surprises.

1) Those of you who installed this particular dashcam on your GLE, was the included wires long enough? I keep reading the included wires are too short for some other models of dashcams.

2) The U1000 has radar accessory for motion detection during parking mode. It also reduces power consumption. I park my car in garage and won't be parking outside for extended periods (unless I'm travelling). Should I get this or is it not necessary in my use case?

3) I understand the wires are usually hidden under the weather stripping or behind panels. Are there any panels that are more difficult to remove? How about clips breaking? I'm just concerned about rattles due to loosely put back panels after the install so I want to keep an eye out.

4) I won't be getting a backup battery as I don't anticipate using the parking mode very often. Have you experienced any car's battery draining issue with having the dashcam hardwired?

I know that's a bunch of questions so thank you in advance!!!

SEPicks

I have the U1000 on my GLS and I was able to install it without additional wires. If I remember correctly, the rear cable to the front camera is longer than the power cable. If you were to install into the tailgate fuse box, everything should work out. I ran it through the A pillar behind the airbag. The A pillar trim needs to be removed so you can run the cable behind the airbag so the cable doesn't interfere if in case your airbag pops. I recommend you get a car trim removal tool kit off Amazon to help you with the panels.

As far as setup goes, I have an external battery (cellink NEO) hooked up and it only charges when the car engine is running. This way my car battery does not get affected at all. I did not get the radar accessory and garage park my car all the time with no issues. I think its a waste of money honestly.

nextmilenium

Thanks for the reply.

I'm getting mine installed professionally as I'm not talented enough to tackle something like this on my own. I just wanted to be prepared so I know what to look out for and make sure the shop does a good job.

For the backup battery, I was debating on getting one but wasn't sure if I needed it. I won't be using the parking mode for long periods at a time and I think the U1000 has a feature to turn off if the battery voltage drops below a set point. So I was thinking I won't need the backup battery.

I would be interested to hear why you decided to get the backup battery though.

SEPicks

I had a few blackvues before in my W212 and it was using the voltage drop attachment where if the car battery dips below a certain amount, it will shut down. However, I still found it to drain my battery faster and I end up having to change one every 2 years or so. I'm not entirely sure that it was the cause, but I just wanted to stay on the safer side, since our cars have the V48 system and the regular battery is more of a hassle to change on these newer cars than my W212. Having the external battery ensures nothing happens to my car batteries this time.

nextmilenium

That's a very good reason to have an external battery.

Now, I'm wondering if having a dashcam will affect our warranty? I mean, since there are lots of reported 48V system issues, will the dealer refuse to honor warranty if they see a dashcam connected?

another_geek

I have the Thinkware U1000 with the radar attachment but no external battery attached (yet). My car will often sit for more than a week with parking mode enabled and I've not had any issues with battery drainage, which I'm actually surprised about. In fact, the only time I've ever gotten a low batter warning from the car is one time when I was detailing the car and left the doors open for about 8 hours non-stop. The radar module definitely helps save battery life when in parking mode compared to without it.

I will occasionally top up the 12V battery with my Ctek battery maintainer but only for peace of mind because I haven't been driving much and not because it actually needs it. I've only topped it up twice in the year that I've owned it, so it's not a regular thing.

It's my understanding that drawing down the 12V battery will not pull any power from the 48V system, so even if you do manage to kill the 12V battery the 48V battery will be fine. The 12V battery is located under the driver's seat and not that difficult to change if you needed to. There's a plastic hatch that you just lift up, unlike the W164s which you had to cut the carpet to access the hatch.

SEPicks

Based off of the numerous times I've brought both my cars into the dealer with dashcam hardwired, not once did they comment on it. In fact, my battery died during the initial years and they actually replaced it free under the warranty for me (I suspect it was the dashcamnow looking back). Our 12V batteries should not affect the 48V system like another_geek mentioned above and I knew that going in with the external battery with the GLS, but I just wanted to test out the ext. battery and so far I like it. It also gives you prolonged parking recordings, unlike before where my battery voltage would always drop and stop recording very soon after I park.

nextmilenium

If I'm willing to sacrifice the parking mode, which fuse should I tap into so that the dash cam is only on if the car is on?
I'd like to keep my install simple so I'm leaning towards not using a backup battery and I don't want to deal with potential 12V battery issues by hardwiring to a constant hot fuse.

SEPicks

I'm not sure about the GLE fuse chart (you should be able to find it on this forum), if you don't care for the parking feature I would tap into a cigarette/12V power socket. Those are only on when the engine is on. If you get the dashcam professionally installed, they should be able to identify this for you. Just tell them that you dont want it to tap into power when the engine is off.

If this is the case, you can consider a cheaper camera because a big reason the U1000 and higher end cameras cost a lot more is because of the parking feature. Adding an external battery is just one extra hookup and wouldn't make the install anymore complicated as its just an attachment between the fuse box and the camera. Of course, granted that you are willing to shell out another $200 or so for the battery.

another_geek

The fuse chart is located in the rear trunk area. Remove the panel on the right side to expose the fuse block. If you look closely on the left side of the fuse block, you'll find a folded piece of paper with a listing of all fuses in the vehicle.

There are no switched fuses in any of the fuse blocks in the front of the car, so if you want switched power, you will have to run a line all the way to the rear fuse block.

There's an older thread with lots of good info if you want more details on how to install a dashcam Dashcam options - MBWorld.org Forums

nextmilenium

Still debating whether to go with a backup battery or not but...

With your Celink Neo battery, did you need to purchase any additional wire harness to hook it up to U1000? And I know you have a GLS but where did you end up storing the battery? Thanks in advance.

nextmilenium

I decided on U1000 because of the many reviews I've seen on how great the video quality is...making it easier to read the license plates.

nextmilenium

After going back and forth and looking at the pros and cons, I decided to go with an external battery (Cellink Neo). Ultimately, I wanted to utilize the parking mode and didn't want to deal with any potential issue with the 12V battery.

Thanks a lot for your help.

SEPicks

No problem. I hid the battery in the lower compartment in the trunk where we have the spare tire. There was enough space for me to put it there, and ran all the wires to the fuse box under the trunk liner so everything is hidden. I did not need to get any additional wires, I am pretty sure it comes with everything you need in the kits. The Neo charges pretty well and it lasts long enough for my usage (groceries, movies, etc). If you set the parking mode for the right mode you won't have any issues. I hope you enjoy your set up!