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      08-04-2010, 07:55 PM   #1
boosting1bar
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Another V1 hardwire thread with a slightly different approach

Let me put out first that I have no affiliation with Invisicord and have no gain whatsoever from promoting them. I've used them in my last 4 cars (Audi A4, e46 M3, Yukon Denali, e92 M3) and it literally takes 2-3 minutes to install and you're off and running. The only downside to my method compared to the other is the ~$15 cost of the Invisicord itself, and it's a very simple cord that you could make at home yourself if so inclined. I wasn't.

Anyway, all the cord is is a cord with the telephone connector for your V1 on one end and a couple of plugs on the other end that you just press into a plug at your mirror (or headliner if nothing accessible at your mirror). If you have a pinout diagram it takes literally less than a minute to hook up, if not you can test them with a voltmeter or just trial and error it and get it hooked up in 2-3 minutes. I couldn't find a pinout for the e92 M3 rearview mirror harnesses, but then again I didn't look too hard. So with a little trial and error I had my V1 up and running in no time. Pardon the pics and video, it's about 8000 degrees in my garage and I was trying to take these with my iPhone in the (mostly) dark.

First remove the two plastic shell pieces behind the mirror. That'll expose the harnesses behind the mirror. On the large 10 pin one going into the mirror itself, on the bottom row and second from the right you can slide the negative terminal in as seen below.



Now on the top row, you can use the red wire (I think it was the middle slot) to give a consistently hot lead and you'll just have to remember to turn it on and off when you get in and out of the car. That's a pain in the ass and I don't like doing it, so on the next plug down, the one that hooks onto whatever that box on the windshield is, there are 3 wires. If you use the leftmost wire as pictured below, you'll see that it gives you a switched power that will come on and off with your ignition which is what I personally wanted. So now when I open the door and hit the ignition it will come on. It will go off when I either lock the door or hit the start/stop button after the engine is already off effectively killing the ignition.



As I said, this isn't for everyone as some people don't want to spend $15 on the cord. But that said, you can easily make your own and you don't have to pull the headliner down and putz about in there. I attached a link to an amazingly uninteresting video below of the V1 in action after being hooked up via my method.

Click here for the video.

Last edited by boosting1bar; 08-05-2010 at 07:52 AM..
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      08-04-2010, 09:13 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boosting1bar View Post
... some people don't want to spend $15 on the cord.
I guess you have a point about someone spending that much for a couple feet of wire. But really, $400 for the V1 and then $15 is too much extra?

I didn't do it this way because I have the remote switch and display that I'm mounting elsewhere, but I have to say it looks like a pretty clean install.


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      08-04-2010, 11:17 PM   #3
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Hey, that looks like the easiest way to hook it up; definitely easier than on the console itself, like many of us did . Good job man.

You just might want to explain exactly how to remove the mirror piece so folks avoid breaking any tabs. The devil is in the details . And yes, that's my rant when buying service manuals. I don't like paying a fortune to read the procedure to remove the console (for example) as follows: remove knob, remove boot, then remove console . That's why boards like this are a valuable tool to learn the steps needed to avoid buying new parts.
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      08-04-2010, 11:30 PM   #4
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Great writeup! This looks much simpler than the other DIY methods where you have to tap into fuses, run wires past airbags, etc.

Could you explain how to take apart the shell pieces behind the mirror? Also, it looks like there are 2 different harnesses that you tap into - is that right?

Thanks!

Last edited by martinmartin; 08-04-2010 at 11:43 PM..
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      08-05-2010, 07:47 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ersin View Post
I guess you have a point about someone spending that much for a couple feet of wire. But really, $400 for the V1 and then $15 is too much extra?
haha nevermind the $72k car in addition to the $400 V1....another $15 ain't gonna kill ya!
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      08-05-2010, 07:52 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martinmartin View Post
Great writeup! This looks much simpler than the other DIY methods where you have to tap into fuses, run wires past airbags, etc.

Could you explain how to take apart the shell pieces behind the mirror? Also, it looks like there are 2 different harnesses that you tap into - is that right?

Thanks!
The shell piece behind the mirror has 3 plastic tabs on it that hold the two pieces together. One at the bottom, one in the middle, and one at the top. I don't really have any technical advice for getting it apart other than grabbing each side and pulling, that's all I did. I suppose you could lightly pry them apart or something along those lines, but just pulling on them will do the trick just fine.

As for the 2 harnesses, that's right. The first one for the big 10 pin one that goes into the mirror itself. The second one is next one down that goes into whatever that box on the windshield is. The third one (that isn't used) is a tiny one lower down the window.
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      08-05-2010, 01:57 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boosting1bar View Post
The shell piece behind the mirror has 3 plastic tabs on it that hold the two pieces together. One at the bottom, one in the middle, and one at the top. I don't really have any technical advice for getting it apart other than grabbing each side and pulling, that's all I did. I suppose you could lightly pry them apart or something along those lines, but just pulling on them will do the trick just fine.

As for the 2 harnesses, that's right. The first one for the big 10 pin one that goes into the mirror itself. The second one is next one down that goes into whatever that box on the windshield is. The third one (that isn't used) is a tiny one lower down the window.
Awesome - already bought an Invisicord. Thanks again for the writeup.
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      08-15-2010, 01:19 PM   #8
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Boosting1bar, what length invisicord did you order? I'm thinking of mounting to the left end of the right hand visor so the cord has to travel across the top of the V1. I'm thinking the 12 in length would provide a little insurance.
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      08-16-2010, 12:59 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shendrick View Post
Boosting1bar, what length invisicord did you order? I'm thinking of mounting to the left end of the right hand visor so the cord has to travel across the top of the V1. I'm thinking the 12 in length would provide a little insurance.
I bought the 12 inch cord but haven't installed it yet.

Also curious to hear what the OP used.

Hoping 12in works...but thinking maybe 16 would have been the safer bet.
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      08-16-2010, 12:22 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shendrick View Post
Boosting1bar, what length invisicord did you order? I'm thinking of mounting to the left end of the right hand visor so the cord has to travel across the top of the V1. I'm thinking the 12 in length would provide a little insurance.
I used the 8" and had room to spare, so if you're going for the right side the plugs are actually on that side so you'll be closer. Factor in that you're going over the V1 though and the 12" may be a smarter bet just for insurance, and there's plenty of dead space inside that plastic housing to tuck any extra cord.
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      08-21-2010, 09:36 PM   #11
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I was going to look into this, thanks for posting. I just ordered mine, I got my 9500ix 2 days ago and that power cord has already worn out its welcome.
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      08-22-2010, 05:28 PM   #12
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boosting1bar - do you mind posting a picture of the final product?

curious to see where the cord comes out from the mirror assembly and where the v1 is located.

cheers.

oops - just saw the youtube vid. but still not positive where the cord comes out...
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      08-28-2010, 10:18 AM   #13
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Just installed mine, it went a bitdifferently for me. The lead for the ground wire was too long to go where OP had it and still have the cover fit back over the whole set up. I ended putting the ground right next to where OP had the power lead. I had to file both of the ends down a bit to fit in because they were a bit too thick. I also wrapped the part of the leads that would be exposed since they were so close to each other to prevent a short. Other than that little snag the install was relatively painless.

I would suggest getting at least the 12", I went with 16" and it is enough for me to run the unit on either side of the mirror. It looks much cleaner than having that cord running from the lighter, plus a bit more stealth. I didn't take any pics of the process because the OP has that pretty well covered. I will say that the easiest way to get the mirror down is to twist the whoe unit counter clockwise about 90 degrees and the whole thing will come down. Then you can take the plastic cover off without scratching the hell out of it. Then to put it back on it's the same thing, start it at 90 degrees from the normal position and twist it back on to the cam nut that is embedded in the windshield.

I'm functionally retarded and the whole process from start to finish, including grinding the leads down on the sidewalk (cuz I was too lazy to go back in the shed and find my file), took about 15 minutes. I would recommend this setup if you're looking for an easy way to hide your unit.


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      09-18-2010, 05:04 PM   #14
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So here's a question for Boosting1bar and Chest Rockwell. Were either of you able to establish that you had a clear ground for the Invisicord? I'm worried that since the optimal plug to tap into is connected to the rain sensor, the gound may be behind the rain sensor electronics and therefore tapping into the rain sensor power source and ground might ultimately do damage to the rain sensor. If you were able to find a clear ground, which pin was it?
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      09-26-2010, 01:02 PM   #15
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Soem Additional Visicord Install Info

I followed Boosting1bar's install info and everything worked perfectly. However, here are some added details.

First, I needed to strip the black sheathing on the invisicord back about 4 inches in order to fit the pins into the two separate connectors and allow the thin green and red wires to exit the rain sensor cover up at the top of the sensor. The sheathing was pretty thick and I couldn't easily find a way to easily get it out from inside the rain sensor cover.

Since I was mounting my V1 on the sun visor, I needed a minimum cord length of 12" for a driver side mount and 16" for a passenger side mount. If you intend to hide the cord up around where the headliner meets the windshield you should probably add another 2" to each of these lengths - so 14" and 18" are probably good estimates of the optimal lengths. Slightly longer lengths are better than shorter lengths since you can hide the excess under the rain sensor cover.

It would also be worth using a small cable tie to secure the wires behind the rain sensor cover.

Last edited by shendrick; 10-27-2010 at 04:05 PM..
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      10-05-2010, 03:19 PM   #16
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Has anyone tried this on an e93/Convertible M3?

I have the 12in cord, and the car will be here this weekend... planned to get this "mod" done right away.

Thanks in advance,

Jim
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      10-09-2010, 02:23 PM   #17
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The approach described by Boosting1bar at the beginning of this thread does work (this is how I connected my V1) but it creates a problem. I noticed that when ever I had the V1 turned on, all of my mirrors went into auto dimming mode and stayed that way until I turned the V1 off. Seems like more experimentation and a better approach is needed.
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      10-14-2010, 10:33 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shendrick View Post
The approach described by Boosting1bar at the beginning of this thread does work (this is how I connected my V1) but it creates a problem. I noticed that when ever I had the V1 turned on, all of my mirrors went into auto dimming mode and stayed that way until I turned the V1 off. Seems like more experimentation and a better approach is needed.
Aren't the mirrors always in auto dimming mode? I'm missing something. Do you mean that they always stay dim?


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      10-22-2010, 11:24 AM   #19
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I like the invisicord...Im using it in my current vehicle and it took me about 5 minutes to plug in and be done with it...
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      10-22-2010, 04:37 PM   #20
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Ersin, the mirrors go into dim mode at night to cut headlight glare but not during the day. Using Boostingbar's method, the mirrors go into dim mode any time the V1 is turned on. I wouldn't really care about this except I was worried that maybe the mirrors were also going into heat mode as well. Anyway, it seemed as if there should be a better approach.

Last edited by shendrick; 01-09-2011 at 03:59 PM..
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      10-26-2010, 01:53 PM   #21
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Any updates here? new info?

Experiments with other connections with the invisicord?
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      11-02-2010, 07:52 AM   #22
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I tried the original Boosting1bar approach plugging both leads of the invisicord into the mirror plug (the unswitched approach) but I immediately ran into the auto dimming problem again and the V1 would start up but then lock up. So I simply pulled all the leads out and called it quits before I blew something up. My feeling is that we probably need a cleaner source of power than we have at the mirror and rain sensor plug as well as a clear ground in order to do this right.

Last edited by shendrick; 12-03-2010 at 01:56 PM..
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