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5 Series Beamer

Diary of a Second Hand 15 year old Beamer (Maintenance - Battery Drain included...,
BMW E39 520i year 2000 Engine 1995cc)
M Series.

 

Workshop/Diary - Installing A WebCam 

 

19th November 2014
I have had a VideoCam in my previous e36 and transferred it to the e39, however it has been running on its own battery, and it only records for a few minutes at a time (also known as the car’s black box), so today’s job is to link it up to the car electrics via the cigarette lighter with a lighter point extension.
I still want tol use the cigarette lighter for other accessories, and the extension will be hidden in the glove compartment and the wiring will also be hidden behind the trim. Normally I would place a switch inline, this is not normally necessary; as a switch is built into the camera. Well, did it anyway, more for peace of mind and extra safeguard,after noticeing the webcam does sometimes  shut down after 16 minutes when car ignition key is removed, however there have been times when it has not, hence the extra switch.
WebCam Product: 1080P HD 2.5" LCD NIGHT VISION CCTV IN CAR DVR ACCIDENT CAMERA VIDEO RECORDER   Price: £9.98 from eBay Veratrimming.

Features :
•Motion detection & Video Recording.
•High resolution. 2.5" TFT LCD Screen for viewing
or playback.
•IR day and night vision , with 6 LEDs.
•270 degrees screen whirl , 90 degrees view angle.
•Recording automatically after the car's power up.
•Support high speed recording.
•Cycled recording and repeat storage by section.
•Support real time & date display on video.
•With a SD card slot , support a SD Card up to 32GB
  (SD Card is not included).
•Quick Snap , Quick Video Recording, Quick Review.
•Easy installation and operation.
•Lightweight , compact and stylish design.

fig. WebCam 6 Night Vision LEDs

fig. WebCam with Menu and Screen

fig. WebCam with USB standard size port

fig. WebCam with  standard SD Card

fig.Camera  USB connector               

fig. Cigarette fused adapter

The camera USB wire was routed behind the roof trim and down the left front A’ pillar (passenger side) and into the glove compartment to where the cigarette lighter/accessory switched extension was situated.The extention plug was cut off and the remaining wire routed through to the centre console where the cigarette ligher tray assembly was situated. An inline fuse was connected to the positive feed using a scotchlok and the feed end with attached spade connector was attached to the lighter unit using a double spade connector. The negative was  connected to an earth point (any bolt fixture on the chasis, negative earth).

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fig. In-car View

When  going out, onto the road the switch is flicked on and the camera goes into filming mode and records events within the journey. Today there are many insurance scams, ie. front and rear accidents and this can be useful when sorting out blame, talking to Police and insurance companies, better still, showing them.

fig. Accessory Extension with DIY custom on/off switch with red light

Extension wired to lighter assembly
in centre console

click

Glove Compartment

Workshop