Digital Rear View Mirror - where to put the wires

[Counterdoc]

Hey guys,

I bought a digital rear view mirrow a few days ago and want to install it this weekend. It has two camera's, one looking to the front, directly integrated in the mirror and one wired to a camera that can be put anywhere else in the rear of the car. It also has a GPS tracking function with an additional sensor and can record videos from both camera's, saved to a SD card.

If anyone else is interested, it was this model (it looks great live, I will take some pictures and update the thread):
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B082PN5JZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

What would be the best place to guide the wires to those points (and how to remove the pillars/headlining?):
a.) from the mirror to the 12V cigarette lighter port
b.) from the mirror to the dashboard (for the GPS sensor)
c.) from the mirror to the rear end of the car. There would be three possible positions I think. One would be inside the car (already better view than the OEM mirror, tested it yesterday), mounting the camera directly to the small inner rear window. The other position would be inside the engine room just right behind the window. Third position would be the original reverse camera location in the bumper (best view, but most pain to wire everything).

For the two positions in the back I have already seen that the OEM loom has some grommets, (2x LHS, 1x RHS) from the engine room to the interior. I would prefer the one on the RHS.

 

I have special plastic tools to remove the interior trim, but it's the first time on the Evora so some guidance would be very appreciated 🙂

Thanks,
Marius

[Bravo73]

This might help:

(Although, TBF, it was probably a couple of years ago that I watched the episode). 

[Counterdoc]

Just to give you an idea how it compares to the stock mirror. I am just sitting in the car at the moment and have the camera inside in front of the small rear window.

 

 

 

The mirror itself is also much bigger. There is also a split screen for front and rear camera. Or front only. GPS only with speedo is also possible. Or completely off.

 

[Bruss]

I like that.

 

So much I've just ordered one.

Let us know how you fit it and the route you use. I may need it!  🤣

[Counterdoc]

I just fitted everything. With the camera inside for now 😄 holy cow... The 3.5m cable of the ciagrette lighter adapter fits like it was designed for an Evora 😅 

I made a lot of pictures, it was far more easy than expected. Will post a manual later! 

[exeterjeep]

I also recently acquired something similar but it has 2 video inputs, i was planning to fit the camera to the rear wing, run the cable thru the louvres into the engine bay and then try to run it into the rear cabin. I had downloaded this video before (along with all the others in his rebuild. but it is not clear what / how exactly he removes the various parts of the interior. I have removed the rear panel (mines a 2+0) undone a few more screws and then wondered how hard to start pulling.. It will be interesting to see how you get on...I was not going to interfere with the existing reverse camera etc in case i had to remove it all.

What version of the evora do you own. Mine only has 1 12v supply. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Looks like a 400 judging by the chargecooler and rear wing.

[exeterjeep]

So as it's a 400 then i suppose it only has one 12v socket as well. So it will be interesting to see where the wires run either down the centre of the car up to the mirror, or down one side and up the A pillar then to the centre?

[Counterdoc]

Second, behind the seat to the side, then to the A pillar. Will post pictures tomorrow. 

[paranoidandroid]

Looks great, someone on the Evora Facebook group did similar recently and it looked like a massive improvement. Think they had a 400 with the slatted rear and put the camera under one of the slats giving a great view back. Tempted to have a go as well as I can see literally nothing out the back of mine with my sons seat in there! 
 

Here’s the quote from their post if it helps “I got tired of barely being able to see anything out the back so decided to try a camera display rear view mirror. I bought this kit off of amazon for about $70.

Install was fairly simple, just run the camera wire through the back access panel and up the headliner to the mirror, and power comes from a piggybacked fuse in the passenger foot well fuse box.

This also acts as a nice dash cam as it records both front and rear camera video simultaneously.”

[Counterdoc]

That is where I got the idea from but I missed the part with the access panel 😄 but easy to reach!

[exeterjeep]

Just now, Counterdoc said:

That is where I got the idea from but I missed the part with the access panel 😄 but easy to reach!

I think that this is what needs to be explained as how to get at this... 

[Counterdoc]

I put this How-To in my newly created Evora blog.

So there is the tutorial:

https://evorablog.com/?page_id=59

The article is pretty long but mainly because there are a lot of pictures and I wanted to make it very detailed.

Hope it will help some of you guys!

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Counterdoc

[exeterjeep]

Great, i have downloaded it and will spend some time looking at the details. I also have the option of not using a wire to go thru the rear but try it with a wireless option

[Bruss]

@counterdoc

Many thanks. excellent photogs and description.

[paranoidandroid]

Looks great, thank you for typing up and sharing. Out of interest how big is the new mirror compared to the original?

[Counterdoc]

It is definitely bigger. I guess about 2 inch in width and also a bit in height.

[KJD]

That’s why this wouldn’t be for me. 

The standard mirror is already far too big for what you can see out of the rear window.

I’ve got a MicroMirror and it’s perfect.

Years of driving vans with bulkheads has taught me to use the wing mirrors more.

But, whatever floats your boat, etc.

[Johnhoward]

I have recently had installed an AUTO-VOX V5PRO OEM Mirror Dash cam https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08FD2JKW3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is a little different to other similar solutions out there as it replaces your existing mirror rather than strap to your existing mirror and there is only one cable out rather than the two or three cables on the strap over models.

It not only replaces your rear view mirror view with something that you can actually see, it also acts as a reversing camera and front and rear 1080p dashcams.

The before and after pictures really say it all.

Before (the cable you can see is the connection hanging loose ready for for the new mirror) ...................

After ..................

 

The original factory mirror simply slides upwards to remove it from the anchor attached to the windscreen. It is not held in place with any grub screws or similar. 

The dashcam records footage to a micro SD card (purchased separately) and the footage can be uploaded to a PC if necessary.

I decided to have the wiring professionally installed, but I am sure that anyone who has the correct technical skills and is supple enough to work in the confines of the car could undertake the installation.  As I don’t have either of these attributes, I had my installation done at Car & Home Stereo Ltd 42 Sunderland St, Cheshire, Macclesfield SK11 6JL Tel Tim on 01625 432707 https://carhomestereo.co.uk/

Tim did a great job with everything perfectly hidden, he also offers sound system upgrades for the Evora which is something I may consider in the future.

My car didn’t have the reversing camera optioned, so the camera supplied with the mirror fitted in the cut out where the factory camera would normally go. Apparently, there is a way through for the cable to the reverse camera and reverse light connection through an existing grommet in the engine bay, but you have to take the driver’s seat out to get to it.

The mirror is supplied with different fittings to attach the mirror to the screen. I think that the adapters included fit around 90% of cars, unfortunately, the Lotus was in the other 10%! But, this was not a problem. If your adapter doesn’t fit, go to the ask the seller a question section on the Amazon listing and send them a picture of your mirror’s fitting along with your car details. They reply to you very quickly and arrange to send the correct adapter for your car in the post. The part comes from China and mine arrived in less than 3 weeks.

I am very pleased with my purchase and I feel that it offers improved safety for reversing and as I have to reverse off my drive onto the road, this makes that process easier. The dashcam (front and rear) is a nice additional benefit. Overall, with installation, the total cost was around £450, which although not cheap, for me for peace of mind, I feel it was money well spent.

[paranoidandroid]

Looks really good, well done. Difficult to tell from the pictures, how much bigger is it than the existing mirror? Does it block forward vision much?

[exeterjeep]

I have tried 3 different mirrors/monitors, the best image was on one  that was far too big - it fitted over the existing mirror. Another clip on one(cheap) was difficult to see between the digital image and the reflections etc. So at the moment I have just fitted a cheap small standard reverse monitor on one side of the mirror, it is currently held on with cable ties, so does not look brilliant...When I start driving  the camera gets a bit cloudy, but after a mile or so, it becomes clearer. I may end up not using this set up as I get more used to the car. I think the mirrors seem a bit better than the ones on the S.

I have also  cable tied on an interior, slightly curved, mirror to the passenger sun visor to aid visibility when I join the main road when coming down the driveway, as the drive joins the road at a difficult angle.

[Johnhoward]

11 hours ago, paranoidandroid said:

Looks really good, well done. Difficult to tell from the pictures, how much bigger is it than the existing mirror? Does it block forward vision much?

Hopefully the picture is helpful.

The dimensions of the new mirror are as follows:

Digital mirror  - Wider at the bottom hence two width dimensions

Top width 230mm, bottom width 265mm, depth 72mm

Factory mirror 220mm, max depth (centre of mirror) 65mm

Although the digital mirror is bigger, I don’t feel that it blocks vision for me. What does seem very different is having a screen rather than the image you would expect of the rear window and then the traffic beyond that. I am sure that it is something that you get used to quickly.

There seems to be more of a move toward digital mirrors fitted in new cars particularly to replace the door mirrors. I remember my first car forty years ago which was a Mini with the mirrors mounted on the front wing, no fancy electrical adjustments with those! Usually, the wing started to rust around the mirror mount and the mirror would either fall off or wobble round like a loose tooth!

 

 

 

[mg4lotus]

With the camera being in a fixed location I suppose there is no need to adjust the "mirror" for different drivers or seat settings.

[Johnhoward]

4 hours ago, mg4lotus said:

With the camera being in a fixed location I suppose there is no need to adjust the "mirror" for different drivers or seat settings.

Yes, you are right, there is no need to adjust as the viewing angle is very good. I wouldn't be surprised that if another driver got in the car, they would adjust the seat position, the steering wheel and then automatically out of habit go to adjust the mirror even though it doesn't make any difference!

[JonneyB]

I do like the look of this.  Please could you tell me, what is it like when driving at night?  Is it a clear view behind and hoping it doesn't shine too bright in the cockpit?

PS: I have done a major awesome sound upgrade if you need any pointers.