I am planning to hardwire my V1 using the direct-wire power adapter. My VI is mounted slightly to the right of my rearview mirror. Does anyone know of a good switched power wire in that vicinity I can tap into? I have the sunroof, btw.

 

Any interest in (ever) having remote display or remote audio? The remote display is a good, good, thing...

If so, might as well go ahead and route the phone line around the edge of the headliner and down the a-pillar. It literally only took me 10 minutes to do this the first time (now it takes 2) and once under the dash you have more options. And it's easy then to add the remotes later if desired...

 

Yeah, I have the remote display unit, too. Okay, so where would be a good place to tap under the dash?

 

Heh, heh... now that I've talked you into it, I don't have a clue - I have an R52...

On mine, I actually bought a dual extra power recepticle kit from Mikey the Mini and plugged this up behind the stereo head unit. Then I tapped the V1 into one of those wires.

Definitely switched power going into the back of your radio, if you can find the right wire... if you know how to get to the plug (I don't) on the R56, 5 minutes with a voltmeter would tell the tale.

 

Thanks for the info. Do you, or someone, happen to know if the cigarette power recepticle is switched?

 

I tapped mine into the fuse box on the passenger side. I ran the wire up the pillar and into the headliner and out by the rear view mirror. Looks clean. I tried to wire it into the wires in the headliner where the moodlighting switch is and etc but did not have any luck.

 

They are in the R53.
Easy test though - leave key out, push lighter in. No heat = switched.
I would think the R56 electrical layout is similar to R53, but can't confirm.

 

I have the R56 and the lighter does not work when the ignition is off.

 

I took mine to a local stereo shop and $40/30min later my passport is hardwired into the fuse box (very clean).

 

I didn't want to hard wire mine. I mounted the main unit just to the right of the rear view mirror and ran the straight wire to the remote unit under the headliner, down the passenger side A pillar, behind the glove box and plugged into my lighter outlet. The wire is the perfect length for this. Works great and took me about 20 minutes. The detector is virtually invisible from the outside.

 

I just finished mine on my '06 R53. I don't know about yours, but I took a leap of faith on another poster's recommendations when I did a search for hard wiring a valentine one.

I ran the rj45 cable up under the headliner, down the a-pillar, and tapped into the green wire on the OBD port. Mounted the custom modded remote display I ordered from http://myworld.ebay.com/agravic.

I love the thin profile and the rear connector, made mounting it in alternate locations possible. I like the way mine came out:

 

I did the V1 install in my Mini today. Not too hard. Mounted above the mirror. The location required a small "foot" on the corner of the V1 to keep it from scratching the mirror back but fits tight and doesn't move. The 3M plastic lock on the bottom of the V1 is for my motorcycle mount. I opted to run the wire down the right side A pillar to the fuse box. I used an "add-a-circuit" fuse holder and put it on the fuse that runs the cig lighter. Just enough room behind the cover for it to fit. Add-a-circuits are only rated for 10 amps so I put a 10 amp fuse in for the cig lighter. Since I don't smoke, I won't ever use it for anything other than a cell phone charger.

Hardest part was fishing the wire down from the A pillar to fuse box. There is a round plug on the right end of the dash that gives you a nice access in there. Just big enough to work a long plastic wire tie around for fishing.

Some pictures below. Only thing left to do is get rid of the large rubber end on the cord at the detector so it doesn't stick out so far.

 

Minidrivr,

Quick question for you, where did you find a ground at the fuse box or did you tap in to one?

Thanks.

 

If you look under the dash area, any metal screw attaching to the frame of the car will be grounded.

I'm an R53 owner so sorry I can't be more specific, I'm pretty sure Minidrivr will chime in though.

 

For the ground, I used the screw that is visible on the right side of the glove box when it's open.

I've also heard of people using the bolt that holds the fuse block to the chassis as the ground as well. This one is harder to get to as you need to remove the panel surrounding the fuse block.

 

Thanks Minidrivr!