exigence

Have seen multiple threads here and over at Audizine about dashcam and radar detector hardwiring. I have hardwired, or had custom installed, my previous cars and plan on hardwiring a new S7.

Haven't had a chance to play (waiting for add-a-circuit hardware to arrive), but in searching, I came across some posts talking about C8 platform vehicles not having any ignition-switched circuits accessible in the driver's side dash panel -- all are hot -- so I would have to run a cord from near the RVM as site of the device, across the headliner, down the A-pillar, through the dashboard side panel, and into the footwell fusebox.

I was planning on avoiding a mirror tap as apparently there was some debate about that at some point(?); I also have never gone that route.

For anyone who has hardwired a recent year A6/A7 platform vehicle, is this correct about the side panel / could you share your experience?

doctorharrison

Mirror-tapped a Blackvue 4k dashcam ( dual front and rear facing cameras) upon purchase and zero problems since. My local sound shop did the install so I cannot offer up details...

exigence

Updating my own thread to offer my experience for others. Hope it helps.

I considered going the mirror tap route, but I decided against it because I figured I would stay with the method with which I am most familiar -- and to stay away from the hardware, cameras, and sensors in that area. It may have been fine, who knows, but that's what my amateur self did.

A few observations:
1. If you don't have nylon trim tools, get some, because they will simplify your life and reduce your risk of damaging the interior;
2. Running an RJ45 cable along the headliner, down (or around) the A-pillar, and either down the side of the dash (an option) or under the weatherstripping (what I did) is business as usual;
3. Unless I missed one, every existing circuit in the driver's side dash fuse compartment (left-hand drive vehicle) was "hot," not switched, leaving no options for a switched power source;
4. In the dead pedal fuse compartment in the footwell, of five rows of fuses, a majority of rows 2-4 were hot, but not all, and much, if not all, of rows 1 and 5 were switched, not hot. I forget exact details, but this was my impression;
5. There is a recess directly above the fuse rows in the bottom of which is a bolt with what I think was a 10mm nut and washer, serving as a handy ground, and the recess itself can be used as a space into which you can tuck excess wire.

There are plastic edges separating most of the fuse rows from one another, making it cumbersome to properly fit an add-a-circuit into many slots without modifying the tap. I worked around this by using a switched circuit I found on the bottom row, near the cutout for the bottom plastic hook portion of the underside of the dead pedal, so the wire and its boot of the add-a-circuit piece ran directly into that small space. I did end up using a circuit with a factory fuse in place as opposed to an empty space.

I used the hardwire kit from a Valentine One and:
1. Cut off the too-small stock U-shaped ground wire terminal, crimped on my own appropriately-sized ring terminal for the above bolt, and replaced the nut;
2. Since I was using an add-a-circuit and not a vampire tap with a spade connector, I just used my own crimp connector and crimped together the power wire from the add-a-circuit and the power wire from the V1 hardwire kit;
3. The RJ45 was snaked into the side of this compartment, plugged into the jack on the V1 hardwire kit, tucked in the recess mentioned above, and everything was buttoned up.

Unfortunately, the frits on the windshield on the driver's side of the rearview mirror do not extend far enough out to conceal the detector from the outside, and I'm not sure I want a tint strip up there, so it's not as hidden as a custom-installed remote detector. It is, however, as clean of an install as you're going to get with a windshield-mounted unit.

Deanerh

If you wind up having any issues with the install down the road, I’d seriously consider going the mirrortap option. If you search around the forum (check A6 and the Q models), you’ll find a few step-by-step instructions with photos. Here’s the one I had found and used (https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a7-...ector-2994092/ ). It’s super easy and I don’t recall seeing anyone having any real problems. I’ve done it on a 2019 A7 and a 2022 SQ8. Here’s what I used to tap into the mirror (it’s $10) - Radar Detector 12" Mirror Plug Wire Tap RJ11 Hardwire Power Cord Kit for Escort Valentine One Uniden Beltronics | Tap Existing Mirror Plug | Inline Fuse with Braided (Dual Size Pins) https://a.co/d/dCKfDvL. And then most folks use a Blendmount rather than sticking with the window mount. It’s a little expensive but very discreet. I just tuck the excess mirrortap wire (there’s not much) into the cover of that you pop off the base of the mirror. If you can handle everything you did on the install you described, this should be cake.

exigence

Much appreciated, thank you. I saw some other mirror tap threads but hadn't come across that one. Will probably give that a go if I have to reinstall and/or the next time around.

Deanerh

Hope your install works well for you. Having had 2 A7’s before I got an SQ8, i found I really had to roam the non A7 forums for info. There just aren’t that many posts for that model vs the A6 for example, but so many of the different current models share the same equipment.