[Sniz]

Originally Posted by hov333

briefly going off topic, (sorry) but what did you guys tap into for power??

good question, I havent tapped power yet for mine so i'm hoping someone has an easy to get to wire somewhere under the steering column.

[down4it]

Originally Posted by Sniz

good question, I havent tapped power yet for mine so i'm hoping someone has an easy to get to wire somewhere under the steering column.

Heres what i did, i used t-taps, they clip onto a power or ground wire and then you snap the male into them and you dont have to cut and splice. I used the brown and red wires under the cig lighter. You just lift up the trim there and you will see the brown and red wires for the cig lighter. good power and ground source.

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by down4it

Heres what i did, i used t-taps, they clip onto a power or ground wire and then you snap the male into them and you dont have to cut and splice. I used the brown and red wires under the cig lighter. You just lift up the trim there and you will see the brown and red wires for the cig lighter. good power and ground source.

Did you have to remove the trim on the side of the shifter console to route the wire? Also did the trim around the cig lighter require a good deal of force or was it easy?

Thanks for the info.....for some reason I dread messing w/ the trim in the car. Anything else i'm ready to go, trim turns me into a little b*tch

[e90AW335i]

Originally Posted by Sniz

Did you have to remove the trim on the side of the shifter console to route the wire? Also did the trim around the cig lighter require a good deal of force or was it easy?

Thanks for the info.....for some reason I dread messing w/ the trim in the car. Anything else i'm ready to go, trim turns me into a little b*tch

It is really easy to pull it up. The clips come undone very easily. As far as splicing goes I just unplugged the cigerette lighter comepletey and made and adapter that plug into the power source.

This plug allows me to have power, ground, and dimmer.....

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by Tuned335i

I don't like wiretaps. Solder & crimp for me. In any case, I pulled switched and constant power plus the ground from the fuse box following several DIY's posted in that section. The red striped wire is the switched 12v. Solid red wire is constant 12v. The photo below shows which fuses were tapped on an E92. Second photo shows the ground to the instrument panel brace. Last photo is the power harness for my STRI gauge. Works perfectly, no issues.

Most people wouldn't care, but in addition to being rock solid, connection-wise, this is also removable without any trace.

thanks for the pics!! So the STRI mounted in the ashtray was close enough to use only the stock gauge harness? Having it where I do (on the left side of the dash) there is no chance that harness will reach anywhere...not sure why they made it so damned short.

[hov333]

i just finished my install and i placed the gauge basically in the left corner of the windshield/dash. I have a v1 so actually, I used the "accessory" port there to power the gauge! cut an old tel wire and soldered it to the wires on the gauge. super easy since all i had to do was run the wires up the column

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by hov333

i just finished my install and i placed the gauge basically in the left corner of the windshield/dash. I have a v1 so actually, I used the "accessory" port there to power the gauge! cut an old tel wire and soldered it to the wires on the gauge. super easy since all i had to do was run the wires up the column

smart move!! Does it hook to the actual radar detector or to somewhere else?? Does it give you dimming capabilities?

[hov333]

Originally Posted by Sniz

smart move!! Does it hook to the actual radar detector or to somewhere else?? Does it give you dimming capabilities?

no dimming unfortunately, i just didnt want to rip up the trim and then try to run wires. i have the radar next to the rear view mirror along with the little hardwire jack that v1 provides. theres an extra "port" called accessory which is otherwise empty. this way i can actually unplug the gauge if i want to and running the wires were super simple since i just go down the side of the windshield.