[ianturner]

I am wanting to put the suction mount of my nuvi 650 on the far left of the windshield to keep it out of the middle of the car. it would be a pain to run that cord all the way to the cig lighter to power it...so is it possible to hardwire it to the vehicle? If so, is there a DIY for it?

[tintivilus]

Originally Posted by ianturner

I am wanting to put the suction mount of my nuvi 650 on the far left of the windshield to keep it out of the middle of the car. it would be a pain to run that cord all the way to the cig lighter to power it...so is it possible to hardwire it to the vehicle? If so, is there a DIY for it?

Sure. just refer to the radar detector DIY for tapping power.

[ianturner]

Originally Posted by tintivilus

Sure. just refer to the radar detector DIY for tapping power.

I couldn't find a hardwire kit for it online...so how do i do that?

[tintivilus]

Originally Posted by ianturner

I couldn't find a hardwire kit for it online...so how do i do that?

a "hardwire kit" is just a power cord without the lighter socket plug. Take your plug apart (or buy another cord if you want to keep the portable option open) and solder wires into it to run to your fuse box. You'll need an inline fuse if there isn't already one in the assembly.

[cycler]

If you go to www.kudausa.com you can buy a piece that mounts onto your dashboard. It looks like its OEM. You then take the charging piece off of the suction cup portion and drill it right into the mounting unit. Remove your trim (wood or aluminum) and run your wire (charging wire) behind the trim going to your right (passenger side). Below the glove compartment there are wires that are part of your ignition. You then soder 2 wires to the charging wire and attach them to the wires below the glove compartment. Then attach your garmin to your charging unit and when you turn your car on the garmin turns on automatically. When you turn your car off it turns off. If you have any question you can call John at ultrasounds in Lynbrook NY on Merrick Road and Im sure he will guide you step by step. It will be better info than I provided. John did mine and it took him a total of 20 min's. His phone # is 516-599-2277. Tell him that he did Aarons BMW and he will know what you are talking about.

[ianturner]

these are all great tips, but im not so savvy when it comes to soldering...any ways to do it that don't require that?

[benny90]

Check this out:

Originally Posted by benny90

Yea man it is definitely possible, I have a 650 and did an install using the kuda mount and hardwired it to the cigarette lighter power and everything is out of site. This is exactly what it looks like, this is who I got my idea from, but instead of taking it somewhere to get it done I did it myself Now if you want it to be on the left side and you dont want to use the kuda mount, you could do the same hardwire, just need to run the wire to the middle of the car.

[benny90]

Oh and no need to soldier! Just need two 10 cent wire taps! I wouldn't mess with the fuse's and wires in the glove compartment, if you don't know to much you could really f up your car. Just use the cigarette lighter power and ground.

[ianturner]

benny- sent you a pm

[cycler]

That can be done as well. My install guy did the whole soldering thing while getting my widows tinted and getting my wheels put on on so he never charged me. But thats exactly how mine looks....like the one above.

[benny90]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...00#post2250300
or
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123520

[tintivilus]

Originally Posted by benny90

Oh and no need to soldier! Just need two 10 cent wire taps! I wouldn't mess with the fuse's and wires in the glove compartment, if you don't know to much you could really f up your car. Just use the cigarette lighter power and ground.

Man, it never occurred to me to use a socket on a cable like you show in the DIY... that simplifies the wiring at the expense of winding up with a rather bulky harness. I was thinking more along the lines of snapping apart the lighter plug and soldering a power cable into it, then wrapping the board in fusion tape.

The only suggestion I'd make on your DIY is to wrap the socket adapter in felt tape so it won't rattle if it comes loose inside the dash.

[benny90]

Originally Posted by tintivilus

Man, it never occurred to me to use a socket on a cable like you show in the DIY... that simplifies the wiring at the expense of winding up with a rather bulky harness. I was thinking more along the lines of snapping apart the lighter plug and soldering a power cable into it, then wrapping the board in fusion tape.

The only suggestion I'd make on your DIY is to wrap the socket adapter in felt tape so it won't rattle if it comes loose inside the dash.

Yea, I was planning to tear the lighter part open to get to the two wires but while I was picking up the quick connects from radio shack the adapter caught my eye Thought to myself, damn that would be a lot easier! So yea, just a simple way to do it for people that dont want to mess with trying to rewire everything. There is plenty of room right behind where the a/c controls are, as its only about 2 in thick so there is a lot of space back there. I havn't heard any rattling, but that is definitely a good idea to wrap the adapter in felt to make sure it doesnt

[bufasion]

I made a branch circuit to Nuvi when hardwiring V1. The power is from the overhead console using the mirror/homelink circuit. I think the fusebox solution would be easier since it doesn't need tapping into existing wires and soldering. The cable goes from the overhead console, cross the driver side above the headliner, then goes down behind the A-pillar trim.

Since V1 uses a phone plug for 12V power I terminated the Nuvi branch with the same style plug. Nuvi 3xx series is easy to power from USB jack on the mounting bracket. Any standard USB charger can power it. I was going to make a 12V -> 5V USB adaptor myself but found a Scosche (sp?) USB charger in Walmart for $5. I put its gut in a small box and soldered a phone jack and USB plug to it. You can see a little bit of the box behind the right edge of the Nuvi in the 1st picture. The entire project cost about $10 and a few hours of my time.

The hardest part is taking the overhead console off, but I figured it's one thing I need to learn in case I need to close the sunroof manually. Better learn it before it's raining . The instruction in the owner's manual is not very clear.

However, I've stopped using this arrangement after I found a neater solution by mounting Nuvi in the ashtray.

[ianturner]

what is this ashtray method you speak of?

[bufasion]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92139

[bigpapapablo]

Originally Posted by benny90

Check this out:

I love the method you have posted and the DIY you have made, except i wish there was some way to cover up the mount when not using the gps.....like with the oem bmw kit, there is a plastic cover that goes over the garmin base to make it look like an air freshener so that thieves wont break into your car...

anyone know where i can buy a plastic cover lol