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      03-26-2013, 01:27 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by s4play View Post
After looking at what's out on the market I've decided to create what I believe is the ultimate setup at the most economical cost and still keeping it "stealth". Nothing I did is permanent with no holes drilled so all of it can be reversed.....

So here's my solution, there's 3 parts to it:

a) Mounting of the main unit in a stealth location but maintain full sensor use for Front/Rear bands + laser........
Okay, maybe I need some enlightenment, but I'm still trying to figure out what part of this install is "stealth" as 1) you can see both the remote display and the unit just by casually looking into the car and 2) if driving behind you at night, people can see the remote display on.

Although your install looks nice, and is not permanent (which is pretty spiffy I might add), I'm failing to see the "stealth" aspect of it....?

Last edited by whats77inaname; 03-26-2013 at 10:16 AM..
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      03-26-2013, 01:06 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whats77inaname View Post
Okay, maybe I need some enlightenment, but I'm still trying to figure out what part of this install is "stealth" as 1) you can see both the remote display and the unit just by casually looking into the car and 2) if driving behind you at night, people can see the remote display on.

Although your install looks nice, and is not permanent (which is pretty spiffy I might add), I'm failing to see the "stealth" aspect of it....?

Ok maybe I need to explain myself a bit here but I guess everyone's definition of "Stealth" is different. My setup is "nearly" invisible except for the remote display which casual observers will not see. My windows are tinted and unless you stick your head into my car and look for it, it's not going to be visible while parked or while driving at night since the display is blacked out on the main unit. Most of my passengers don't even notice it unless I point it out to them.

I wanted a setup that is both stealthy and also mobile. Putting the main unit in the best position possible but also give it a clear view of the front and back of the car. I agree if I go with a remote mirror display then it would be even more stealth but this is good enough for me. Originally I was going to hide the display in the A-pillar angled towards driver but since the mirror is flat, I thought I would give this spot a try first. I tried looking through my back window and you can't see the display.

Just remember even if you do spend the money to get a mirror with the display built in, you still need to mount the main unit somewhere. Have it suction cup mounted ANYWHERE on the windshield makes it more visible than my current setup.

My only drawback to my setup is if you are looking at your iPhone or other touchscreen device from the driver's seat, the V1 will pick that up as a false alarm. It's a good reminder to not text and drive though

I do have a V1 main unit concealment cover made that caps over the unit making it totally stealth but so far I don't feel the need for it. Here's what the custom made cover look like. (there are cutouts for the front and rear sensors so they are not obstructed)



My e46 m3 setup (you can see both the display angled at driver and the main unit hidden beneath the cover: (may move my display on my e90 m3 to this spot too for less visibility)
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      03-26-2013, 04:39 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s4play View Post
Ok maybe I need to explain myself a bit here but I guess everyone's definition of "Stealth" is different. My setup is "nearly" invisible except for the remote display which casual observers will not see. My windows are tinted and unless you stick your head into my car and look for it, it's not going to be visible while parked or while driving at night since the display is blacked out on the main unit. Most of my passengers don't even notice it unless I point it out to them.
Ah, I see. That explains a lot, and it is just a matter of personal definition. I define it to mean that if you take a look inside the car, without opening something or moving something out of the way, it looks completely stock. My P3 gauge install? Not stealth. Radar detector (head rest mounted), remote display and remote volume unit, however? Stealth. (The pic needs to be updated to reflect the addition of the remote volume control). I chose to bypass any chance for prying eyes to see anything not stock, save the P3, picked up a sunglasses tray with a lid, and mounted everything I needed inside of it.



And I understand that you wanted to keep the laser detection, but to me it is a moot point.

The way you mounted your E46 in the E90 dome cover is what I was thinking of doing, and then I was going to mount it on the back deck. However, I found the head rest install instructions and went that route instead.

Thanks for the clarification....and the conversation

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      03-31-2013, 02:03 AM   #26
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interesting V1 setup Rick...i haven't rocked a detector since the teg days haha...

i think people were talking about stealth like this: http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=280758 where it is mounted in the middle rear headrest

Your method is good that it is reversible and that nothing is cut etc
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      03-31-2013, 09:34 AM   #27
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^Alex, I saw that thread and we've done about 10 installs with the mirror installation already so I know all about it. The mirror setup is good if you don't mind spending the money and personally I don't care for it.

The end question is where are you going to mount the main unit since even with mirror display you need to put the main unit somewhere. I don't want it in the headrest as previously mentioned because it blocks Laser. Plus I do not want to destroy my headrest. There are plenty of ways to conceal both units. For myself this setup works really well and super clean. Nothing mounted on the windshield!

As for the remote display in the ashtray, novel idea if you want to hide it and it's easy to do but next time you are going 100+mph, try look down at your feet or ashtray for more than a second ~ VERY SCARY right? I think that is a horrible place for something you need to glance at often and it must be in your "line of sight".
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      03-31-2013, 11:43 PM   #28
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I'm sure you have seen/done it before. My point was people in the thread were mislead by your thread title.

Regardless we are shit out of luck here in Hawaii, they don't use radar, only laser.
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      04-01-2013, 01:19 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s4play View Post
^Alex, I saw that thread and we've done about 10 installs with the mirror installation already so I know all about it. The mirror setup is good if you don't mind spending the money and personally I don't care for it.

The end question is where are you going to mount the main unit since even with mirror display you need to put the main unit somewhere. I don't want it in the headrest as previously mentioned because it blocks Laser. Plus I do not want to destroy my headrest. There are plenty of ways to conceal both units. For myself this setup works really well and super clean. Nothing mounted on the windshield!

As for the remote display in the ashtray, novel idea if you want to hide it and it's easy to do but next time you are going 100+mph, try look down at your feet or ashtray for more than a second ~ VERY SCARY right? I think that is a horrible place for something you need to glance at often and it must be in your "line of sight".
IMO laser detectors are useless, unless you're faster than the speed of light by the time the alert goes off you're toast. If you see a lot of laser where you drive a laser jammer is the only reliable defense. That said, if you want to rely on the V1 for laser alerts installing it on the side rail of a rear headrest is the last place you want it. Mike Valentine recommends placing it high on the front windshield for optimal laser alerts. I personally prefer the Escort 9500ci for a true stealth installation but if you're a die hard V1 fan Radar-Mirror.com has the best solutions.
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      04-01-2013, 01:44 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s4play View Post
As for the remote display in the ashtray, novel idea if you want to hide it and it's easy to do but next time you are going 100+mph, try look down at your feet or ashtray for more than a second ~ VERY SCARY right? I think that is a horrible place for something you need to glance at often and it must be in your "line of sight".
Dollars to donuts, when anyone that has a radar detector has it go off, the *audible* alert is what gets their attention first, they start slowing, and THEN they check the visual.

My V1 display will be showing on my iDrive screen shortly, so the sunglasses tray setup will just be a redundancy in the not too distant future
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      04-01-2013, 10:42 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whats77inaname View Post
My V1 display will be showing on my iDrive screen shortly, so the sunglasses tray setup will just be a redundancy in the not too distant future
I'm in for seeing how you accomplish this. Near as I can figure... Run a V1C with android\iPhone display running to the car's display (via modmymav, et al)? Problem is you'd still have to have the phone visible to manage the custom sweeps. I've been exploring a similar setup to display Waze on the vehicles display.
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      04-02-2013, 09:44 AM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDeliverator View Post
I'm in for seeing how you accomplish this. Near as I can figure... Run a V1C with android\iPhone display running to the car's display (via modmymav, et al)? Problem is you'd still have to have the phone visible to manage the custom sweeps. I've been exploring a similar setup to display Waze on the vehicles display.
Partially correct. I'm not running the display through modmynav, I'm running a full Android computer through it. http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=806078 Simple enough to run the V1 app (and Waze, thanks, didn't know about that!) directly from the Android PC. When I set the sweeps, etc that I want, I can turn the screen back to any other app I'm currently using (primarily Poweramp) and it'll run in the background.

Valentine 1 has some work to do on the app, but it's coming along. My primary gripe right now is that it doesn't offer landscape, only portrait, but they're actively working on it, so I can see landscape happening in the very near future.

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      04-02-2013, 12:58 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whats77inaname View Post
Partially correct. I'm not running the display through modmynav, I'm running a full Android computer through it. http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=806078 Simple enough to run the V1 app (and Waze, thanks, didn't know about that!) directly from the Android PC. When I set the sweeps, etc that I want, I can turn the screen back to any other app I'm currently using (primarily Poweramp) and it'll run in the background.

Valentine 1 has some work to do on the app, but it's coming along. My primary gripe right now is that it doesn't offer landscape, only portrait, but they're actively working on it, so I can see landscape happening in the very near future.
Appreciate the response! Investigating now...
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      04-03-2013, 01:43 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceMX-M3 View Post
IMO laser detectors are useless, unless you're faster than the speed of light by the time the alert goes off you're toast. If you see a lot of laser where you drive a laser jammer is the only reliable defense. That said, if you want to rely on the V1 for laser alerts installing it on the side rail of a rear headrest is the last place you want it. Mike Valentine recommends placing it high on the front windshield for optimal laser alerts. I personally prefer the Escort 9500ci for a true stealth installation but if you're a die hard V1 fan Radar-Mirror.com has the best solutions.
I respect your opinion but I've done a lot of these tests with a friend and his laser gun and it works just fine in the rear of the car. I have a similar location/setup in my s2000 and NSX, and both have performed flawlessly.

The remote display in mirror is strictly for looks, it does not contribute to the performance of the V1 for better or worse.


Quote:
Originally Posted by whats77inaname View Post
Dollars to donuts, when anyone that has a radar detector has it go off, the *audible* alert is what gets their attention first, they start slowing, and THEN they check the visual.

My V1 display will be showing on my iDrive screen shortly, so the sunglasses tray setup will just be a redundancy in the not too distant future
I guess this is just personal taste, I always look at my display simultaneously when I hear the beep to see where it's coming from. I scan my mirrors also often to watch for bogey's sneaking up behind me trying to pace me. All of this is basic defensive driving that cannot be substituted by any radar detector.

On a side-note I checked out your link and didn't realize you were so into this car PC thing. I built one in my e46 m3 but after many late nights tinkering I finally gave it up. PC's in cars sound good and I compare it to 3D TV at home. First few trips is cool but eventually gets to the point of too much hassle. If you love Android so much why not just implement a Nexus or iPad into the car? Not saying your work isn't cool but it's just more work than it's work for the average guy who bought a performance car. Few will want to rip their cars apart for such integration.

V1 has their new Bluetooth module to display on the phone if you are one of those guys who likes to drive with their phone mounted to their windshield ~ I am not one of them but appreciate the thought.

Of course the M3 does not have this much dash space but I think eventually it's possible to put an iPad mini in there if I really wanted to.

*All of this is really a bit off topic since it has nothing to do with V1's and more to do with in car entertainment at this point.

here's my iPad setup in a Hummer:


and I do have the app on my Samsung but hardly use it:
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      04-03-2013, 10:25 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s4play View Post
On a side-note I checked out your link and didn't realize you were so into this car PC thing. I built one in my e46 m3 but after many late nights tinkering I finally gave it up. PC's in cars sound good and I compare it to 3D TV at home. First few trips is cool but eventually gets to the point of too much hassle. If you love Android so much why not just implement a Nexus or iPad into the car? Not saying your work isn't cool but it's just more work than it's work for the average guy who bought a performance car. Few will want to rip their cars apart for such integration.

*All of this is really a bit off topic since it has nothing to do with V1's and more to do with in car entertainment at this point.
At one point I had an Acura Legend in which I placed a 7" touchscreen mated to a Dell 140G computer.


For a few months, I also had a Galaxy Tab in my VehiCROSS that functioned as the head unit, but eventually I removed that b/c I wanted something a bit simpler. I ended up w/a wireless bluetooth headset, and use my phone to stream music straight into the amp.

I like Android, but not to the point of completely destroying the car to get it to work *lol*, which is what a tablet install would do. The way it is set up now, it is pretty integrated into the OEM setup, I didn't really have to tear apart anything to get the current setup to work. The install keeps the OEM look, which is what I like. It doesn't look any different than any other 3 series interior, except for the camera being in there. The most time consuming part was the modmynav install. It took me all of about 2 hours to get everything else completely done, 90 mins of that time disassembling the HD camera so that I could mount it.

I don't like the display down low in the dash; the OEM display has perfect line of sight. The only way it could get better is if a heads up display was possible, and given the BMWs that have that available, I've been researching a retrofit of sorts using a Pico projector. Still undecided on that one, though.

I originally wanted to replace everything with one of these http://www.dynavin.com/products/product_dnv_e60.php, but they don't have a 8.8" screens, nor integration for the various M functions, as of yet. And it is running on Windows CE *cringe*. They have some Android-based setups, like the unit for the E46 http://www.dynavin.com/android.php. When/if they combine that w/the 8.8" setup, I might have to rethink things, as that screen is a true HD touchscreen.
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      04-05-2013, 01:02 AM   #36
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So here's the same setup now the main unit is hidden under the custom shroud:

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      04-05-2013, 01:11 PM   #37
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*MUCH* better
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      04-10-2013, 06:15 PM   #38
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Thanks!

So after a bit of usage, I find this setup works perfectly and sniffs out all the LE locations as advertised on Valentine site.

My only gripe is that with the unit mounted in rear, anytime I pick up iPhone to check something, the unit goes off as it can pick up the touchscreen field of my phone. So either don't use the phone or I have to shield it towards me or passenger seat...haha
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      04-11-2013, 08:39 AM   #39
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Is it a line-of-site thing for the touch screen? As long as the phone isn't held up so the detector can see it.. are you ok?
thanks,
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      04-11-2013, 12:02 PM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oreokid24 View Post
Is it a line-of-site thing for the touch screen? As long as the phone isn't held up so the detector can see it.. are you ok?
thanks,
Steve

Steve, I think my reference is not what you are thinking so let me answer both parts.

- I am not using my phone with the "V1 connection" app, currently the app only works for Android. I am using a V1 remote display mounted under the rear view mirror hardwired for my usage.

- My reference to having to hide my phone so the V1 does not pickup the touchscreen is when I'm using it to text or make calls, etc.

- If you do opt to use your phone as the remote display with the V1 connection module, then you cannot mount your V1 behind you because it will constantly go off triggered by your mobile phone.
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      04-11-2013, 12:38 PM   #41
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I do use my phone some while driving (not necessarily the V1 app). But for general use would I need to keep the phone hidden from the V1 if I have it (V1) on the rear deck? Where the V1 couldn't see the phone's screen?
Thanks.
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      07-15-2013, 03:49 PM   #42
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This install looks great, s4play, I'd like to know if you have any of those custom enclosures left for the E46 rear deck. If you do, I'm definitely interested in getting one!
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      07-15-2013, 05:01 PM   #43
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I have some extra parts to build another enclosure if you want.

Some people have asked how I can see the display if it's mounted in back and I simply used a remote display unit mounted under the rearview mirror. I have also added a dedicated track/surveillance camera that has 2 channel auto recording capability whenever the car is running. I would load a video if I knew how....hehe


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