V1 install for M3 with carbon roof

[pepper]

ok guys no pics, but will make this simple

1. sit in chair and turn 180, you should be staring at the seat. now look up

2. look at where the mirror hits the trim. notice the 2 little spot lights on the console , line up your fingers with the little spot light and start to bend down the top trim. half your hand will have to be in to hit the metal clip. the metal clip is in line with the little spot light. if you think it's not there then just reach some more and while pushing on the clip get a finger nail where the console hits the trim and pull down when your pushing on the metal clip. now do that for the other side.

3. so take the V1 "alligator clip" or what ever the blue snap on connector is called. find the first bundle of wires ( this will be the smaller connector ) and now pull out the connector. take a knife or something to cut the black tape some. now find the green and white wire and snap the blue clip to the green and white wire. you might have to do this a couple times to actually cut the outer wire cover as it is thick. click connector back in

4. take the ground wire and put half the y shaped connector in one of the holes that look like there missing screws. so it should look like 1 piece on the Y is in the hole and 1 piece of the Y is out of the hole

5. turn on the car so the lights come on / push start button twice .

6. now holding the ground wire so one of the Y connectors is on the hole, turn on the V1 and confirm it turns on. if not you either

a. need to take the green and white wire and splice it a little more to expose the copper wire as the blue clip included with V1 might not cut into wire

b. where the ground wire is going to touch the screw hole. take something to scratch it to expose the metal more. I found it needs to touch the inner circle of the hole.

7. once you confirm it works. take a piece of electrical tape and tape the ground wire, then take some duct tape and cover that so it will stay right in place. make sure your tape is holding the Y connector so it does not move. the tape has to make the Y connector not move. re-tape if needed to make good snug contact.

8. turn on V1 again and make sure your ground wire is in good contact with the metal. if not repeat scratching up metal so it makes connection..

9. plug V1 power cord to box, and run V1 power cord between trim. tuck wires in. retest V1 as you don't want to snap off the console later.

10. take console and place bottom end ( side facing farthest from the mirror) into the trim, then snap back in. if it is not going in smooth do not force and re-try, making sure the "back" piece slides in first the the "front"

11. turn on V1 and go find cop



print this sheet and take with you so you won't have to keep running to computer / take laptop with you

[doba_s]

repost ... it was posted already 100 times ... but thank you for taking your time and writing this out

[Kev]

There is a trick to releasing that metal clip. What you need to do is:

1. Flip down your sun visors and move them towards the the side window

2. Notice that the plastic mount that holds the sun visor, there's a little flap door on it, pop it open

3. Use a T20 screw driver to loosen the screw

4. Repeat it on the passenger side

5. Now you will have more slack on the headliner to pull it down and access those two metal clips to drop the front dome light.

[moog55]

nice writeup. i still haven't purchased my v1, but think i will finally do so this week. this will help a lot.

[SS32]

Instead of duct tape, I used a self tapping screw to secure the ground. That tape will get super hot during the summer and the glue could get too soft to hold.

[MrHarris]

Originally Posted by cowmoo32

Instead of duct tape, I used a self tapping screw to secure the ground. That tape will get super hot during the summer and the glue could get too soft to hold.

+1 on the self tapping screw.

[Donghai]

wat is v1?

[SS32]

Valentine One....one of the best radar detectors out there

[thrasherlife]

anyone know what size self tapping screw you need?

[SS32]

I used either a #12 or #14 1/2"...I can't remember

[M3FTW]

I realize I'm bumping an older thread but I've developed a bit of a problem after using this install:

My setup is identical to this DIY and it worked for the last three months till a few days ago. The V1 started shutting off then on when I went over noticeable bumps in the road so I figured there must be a loose connection somewhere, either the ground on the roof or the wire tap. I took the console down and (using tape method) retaped the ground to the roof then added duct tape then stripped the green/white wire a little to ensure good contact and reattached wire tap. Now it doesn't even turn on!

Could I have shorted something? Any ideas?

EDIT: I'm and idiot, went back in and scratch out the ground connection to ensure a good contact. Right as rain.

[Georgeair]

Has anyone considered trying the Stealthcords product on our mirror setup? I'll admit I haven't even looked at the back of my mirror to see if the plug is there or in the headliner, but if it's in the rear of the mirror it might be worth being the stealthcord "test case" for the 3 series.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by pepper

7. once you confirm it works. take a piece of electrical tape and tape the ground wire, then take some duct tape and cover that so it will stay right in place. make sure your tape is holding the Y connector so it does not move. the tape has to make the Y connector not move. re-tape if needed to make good snug contact.

Building on the comment above about self tapping screws... Any post about automotive electrical modifications, especially ones suggesting mods to a $60k car, which also suggest the use of duct tape to make an electrical contact should be immediately laughed at, then publicly ridiculed and finally discarded without use since all credibility is completely shot. Come on are you for real.

[aus]

Originally Posted by moog55

nice writeup. i still haven't purchased my v1, but think i will finally do so this week. this will help a lot.

That bit of info really helped. Thanks.

Also, is this the bank of wires you tapped into and is that hole on the left the one you tapped for the ground?

[elp_jc]

Use an existing torx screw on the roof for the ground (search for the above mentioned thread where it's described). I crimped the appropriately sized round terminal. That thread suggests to just insert a wire on the back of the connector, which means ZERO modifications to the car, and works perfectly. Well, almost. That wire has no power when the sunroof is open, so for those with CF roof it'll work all the time. I never drive on the freway/highway with the sunroof open anyway, so it's not a big deal. But when I tested the setup I opened it and my V1 shut off. Was going to open the whole thing up, but noticed it powered up after closing the sunroof. Just a FYI.

[///Flash]

The best way to GROUND is to tap into the existing ground wire.

Brown is the BMW official grounding wire. Therefore, any brown wire you see is the ground. Just tapped into that wire. grounding to the roof is a hit or a miss due to the paint and not getting a good connection.

[aus]

Thanks guys. I found in another thread that someone used the sun visor screw as the ground.