Best location to mount escort 9500ci radar receiver

[Honda]

I was told not to mount it behind metal or uneven surface (plastic) so behind the front grills are not recommended neither behind lower grill.

I removed the front bumper but I can't find a good location to mount the radar receiver.

Any feedback is appreciated.

[kawasaki00]

Most put them between the slits in the grill but it has to be the bmw specefic one or the standard ones wont work right turned vertical

[Froze]

Originally Posted by kawasaki00

Most put them between the slits in the grill but it has to be the bmw specefic one or the standard ones wont work right turned vertical

I think he's referring to the radar receiver, not the laser heads (which do need to be oriented correctly).

I had the plastic mesh cut at the top, middle to fit the radar receiver and it gets great reception. It's cheap to replace if I ever decided to scrap the system. It was originally behind the kidney grill, but reception was poor when I tested against my 9500ix.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Froze

I think he's referring to the radar receiver, not the laser heads (which do need to be oriented correctly).

I had the plastic mesh cut at the top, middle to fit the radar receiver and it gets great reception. It's cheap to replace if I ever decided to scrap the system. It was originally behind the kidney grill, but reception was poor when I tested against my 9500ix.

How poor was it? I am currently placing it behind the kiddney grill because I cannot find another location to mount it on. I don't like the option of cutting the mesh grill below. Even though it is cheap (cost about $50) but it ruins the look of the car from front. I also live in a state where they ban radar detector, so I don't want to make it that visible.

So would you be able to tell how poor was the performance behind the grill? I didn't think it will be that bad but I did see alot of stories on radar detector forums

[Froze]

I had mine behind the kidney grill and it was noticeably worse - I ran my windshield-mounted 9500ix at the same time and it was a really big difference. If it was only a little worse I would have ignored it but it was too much to deal with.

That was just my experience of course. If you can get access to another good windshield mounted detector to test it you might find its not as bad in your case.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Froze

I had mine behind the kidney grill and it was noticeably worse - I ran my windshield-mounted 9500ix at the same time and it was a really big difference. If it was only a little worse I would have ignored it but it was too much to deal with.

That was just my experience of course. If you can get access to another good windshield mounted detector to test it you might find its not as bad in your case.

I agree with you. I have to compare it with another windshield unit to see the difference. I will test it for couple of weeks in this location if it sucked I will move it.

Also, one more question, since you are mounting it in lower grill, isn't it better to have higher location than lower. The reason why windshield 9500xi will outperform the 9500ci is because of it is location no matter where you place the 9500ci

[M3Bimmer77]

Good for nothing. Mount it underneath yr home refrigerator. Buy something better

[Honda]

Originally Posted by M3Bimmer77

Good for nothing. Mount it underneath yr home refrigerator. Buy something better

something better like?

[Froze]

Full disclosure: I've got the Bel STiR plus unit which is the same radar unit you are talking about (only diff is laser heads). I chose it because I wanted Laser Interceptor heads instead of the escort version (which a couple years ago were said to be not good).

Reception with the windshield mounted 9500ix and my installed Bel STiR radar head is identical so no loss of range for my particular situation.

As far as the comment above about getting something better I don't think there is anything materially better as far as the radar portion of your setup. Also, if you have a newer version of the laser heads that come with it I would imagine they've upgraded them by now because of the bad rep they had a copious years ago - but that's just conjecture on my part as I've not done research after I made my decision to buy the Bel version 2 years or so ago.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Froze

Full disclosure: I've got the Bel STiR plus unit which is the same radar unit you are talking about (only diff is laser heads). I chose it because I wanted Laser Interceptor heads instead of the escort version (which a couple years ago were said to be not good).

Reception with the windshield mounted 9500ix and my installed Bel STiR radar head is identical so no loss of range for my particular situation.

As far as the comment above about getting something better I don't think there is anything materially better as far as the radar portion of your setup. Also, if you have a newer version of the laser heads that come with it I would imagine they've upgraded them by now because of the bad rep they had a copious years ago - but that's just conjecture on my part as I've not done research after I made my decision to buy the Bel version 2 years or so ago.

Thanks for your feedback. I will try it behind the grill for couple of weeks if it really worse, I will do the lower grill.

[M3Bimmer77]

Originally Posted by S65-M3

something better like?

Like the Bell STiR plus

[Honda]

Originally Posted by M3Bimmer77

Like the Bell STiR plus

Actually thats what I have. According to beltronics and escort 9500ci they are the same radar receiver unit They added segmentation to 9500ci recently in their latest firmware (which it didn't have before) but other than that it is same hardware.

Where did you mount your radar receiver?

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Theodore

Where did you end up mounting your receiver and are you happy with the location?

Behind the kidney grills. To me they are doing just great. I didn't notice much if a difference when mounting it without the grills for sometime so I decided to keep it behind the kidney grills

[dparm]

I'd say mount them in the kidney grills, but use a Dremel to cut the necessary slits so they're oriented correctly. I don't think it'll be too noticeable since they're already dark.

[TheUnscented]

Photos of install front & rear? Thanks

[TheUnscented]

Photos of install front & rear? Thanks