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NYC Brooklyn | Macan GTS | Thinkware U1000 2 Channel Dashcam with external battery Hardwiring Installation Guide
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Congrats on your GTS!
Thank you for sharing all of the photos. Photos are always appreciated.
📸
I bought my 2019 Base model as a DC area commuter. It has become my Covid liberation vehicle, taking nightly drives to get out of the house after working from home all day, and using it for weekend treks after being tied to the home office all week.
Thank you for sharing all of the photos. Photos are always appreciated.
📸I bought my 2019 Base model as a DC area commuter. It has become my Covid liberation vehicle, taking nightly drives to get out of the house after working from home all day, and using it for weekend treks after being tied to the home office all week.
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Just one little jump on the pay scale and your personal driver could make a round trip with the car back to where it started. Around here where I live the equivalent are dog walkers. The bigger dogs belong to the quarterback.
Hi @mdubya,Congrats on your GTS!
Thank you for sharing all of the photos. Photos are always appreciated.
I bought my 2019 Base model as a DC area commuter. It has become my Covid liberation vehicle, taking nightly drives to get out of the house after working from home all day, and using it for weekend treks after being tied to the home office all week.
thank you for appreciating the photos!
My car has the same role as yours. Once or twice weekdays I go out for a drive after work in the evening or at night. Considering that many lunatics are active at night and often looking for battles, I try to keep it low profile whilst enjoying the short bursts of excitement.
@Mike1117, thank you! Join us when some of us in NYC do a meetup, hopefully sometime in the near future!
@Gachnar, thanks! Haha yes, I do not plan on opening chapter of endless performance upgrades and tuning. Living in NYC has the great benefit of having bad and packed roads, so for now, the power it provides should suffice..
@Bresdo, I wish I could! But our NYC apartment is already packed to full capacity, so there is definitely no space for storing the wheel set during the summer season.
Today after work, I felt like going to the garage, pick up the car and start taking photos of how I installed my dash cam.
I will soon meet up with @k41, to help him out with installing his dash cam but I thought I'd share this in case someone else in the future is interested in hardwiring a dash cam and powering it with an external battery pack which will be charge while driving.
INSTALLATION PART 1
Warning - long post with many photos.
I saw posts by some who installed their dash cam using the front fuse box.
Wanting to use an external battery pack to power the dash cam, connecting it to the front fuse box would have meant to place the external battery pack somewhere in the front area. I tried placing it underneath the driver's seat but it interfered with the seat's lowest seating position.
So, I ended up hardwiring it to the rear fuse box - allowing me to place the battery pack somewhere in the trunk space.
Although there was enough space inside the rear fuse box to safely place the battery pack, I decided to put it further away from all the electronics.
The model I installed is the Thinkware U1000 2 channel setup with the additional radar module and the external battery pack.
The radar module has the sole purpose of allowing the dash cam to lower its battery consumption, thus maximizing the time period it operates. Detailed info can be found on Thinkware's website.
![236477]()
1. Front dash cam and radar module installed.
![236478]()
2. Radar Module positioned in the center.
![236479]()
3. CPL filter attached to the front dash cam lens to reduce reflections.
![236480]()
4. Positioned on the right side of the rear view mirror. This side of the car also makes it easier to route the cables to the right rear cargo area. Best to begin with placing the dash cam first.
![236481]()
5. Radar module - front dash cam connection via one cable.
![236482]()
6. Having placed the front dash cam, you can start routing the two main cables to the back by hiding them in between the roof and the headliner. One power cable going to the battery pack and one data cable for the rear dash cam.
![236483]()
7. The orange lines are supposed to show the path of the cables. Tucked under the headliner and the interior panel trims.
![236484]()
8. Now from the A pillar, transition over to the passenger side front door.
![236485]()
9. Go along the orange line and then inwards at the B pillar.
![236486]()
10. Cables are hidden under the rubber seals.
I will soon meet up with @k41, to help him out with installing his dash cam but I thought I'd share this in case someone else in the future is interested in hardwiring a dash cam and powering it with an external battery pack which will be charge while driving.
INSTALLATION PART 1
Warning - long post with many photos.
I saw posts by some who installed their dash cam using the front fuse box.
Wanting to use an external battery pack to power the dash cam, connecting it to the front fuse box would have meant to place the external battery pack somewhere in the front area. I tried placing it underneath the driver's seat but it interfered with the seat's lowest seating position.
So, I ended up hardwiring it to the rear fuse box - allowing me to place the battery pack somewhere in the trunk space.
Although there was enough space inside the rear fuse box to safely place the battery pack, I decided to put it further away from all the electronics.
The model I installed is the Thinkware U1000 2 channel setup with the additional radar module and the external battery pack.
The radar module has the sole purpose of allowing the dash cam to lower its battery consumption, thus maximizing the time period it operates. Detailed info can be found on Thinkware's website.
1. Front dash cam and radar module installed.
2. Radar Module positioned in the center.
3. CPL filter attached to the front dash cam lens to reduce reflections.
4. Positioned on the right side of the rear view mirror. This side of the car also makes it easier to route the cables to the right rear cargo area. Best to begin with placing the dash cam first.
5. Radar module - front dash cam connection via one cable.
6. Having placed the front dash cam, you can start routing the two main cables to the back by hiding them in between the roof and the headliner. One power cable going to the battery pack and one data cable for the rear dash cam.
7. The orange lines are supposed to show the path of the cables. Tucked under the headliner and the interior panel trims.
8. Now from the A pillar, transition over to the passenger side front door.
9. Go along the orange line and then inwards at the B pillar.
10. Cables are hidden under the rubber seals.
INSTALLATION PART 2
![236487]()
11. The two cable being relatively thick, I found it difficult to hide them completely in 90 degree corners. I read in the product reviews of dash cams that Blackvue cables are thinner and easier to hide.
![236488]()
12. As seem from the right rear passenger seat. B pillar area.
![236489]()
13. Flow along the interior B pillar trim and transition over once again to the rear door rubber seal.
![236490]()
14. B pillar -> right rear passenger door rubber seal -> two 90 degree turns to the interior panels. I didn't want to put too much stress on the interior panel, so I didn't completely squeeze in those two cables into the gap.
![236491]()
15. Coming from the right rear passenger door. Hide cable along the fabric covered panel, then transition over to the gap underneath the plastic panel.
![236492]()
16. Different view angle of what is shown in 15.
![236493]()
17. Cable has reached the trunk door.
![236494]()
18. Important to direct the right cable in the right direction. The data cable is supposed to go upwards and eventually plug into the rear dash cam. The power cable has to go downwards.
![236495]()
19. Only power cable hidden under trunk door rubber seal.
![236496]()
20. Somewhere here can you directly route the power cable into the rear fuse box area.
11. The two cable being relatively thick, I found it difficult to hide them completely in 90 degree corners. I read in the product reviews of dash cams that Blackvue cables are thinner and easier to hide.
12. As seem from the right rear passenger seat. B pillar area.
13. Flow along the interior B pillar trim and transition over once again to the rear door rubber seal.
14. B pillar -> right rear passenger door rubber seal -> two 90 degree turns to the interior panels. I didn't want to put too much stress on the interior panel, so I didn't completely squeeze in those two cables into the gap.
15. Coming from the right rear passenger door. Hide cable along the fabric covered panel, then transition over to the gap underneath the plastic panel.
16. Different view angle of what is shown in 15.
17. Cable has reached the trunk door.
18. Important to direct the right cable in the right direction. The data cable is supposed to go upwards and eventually plug into the rear dash cam. The power cable has to go downwards.
19. Only power cable hidden under trunk door rubber seal.
20. Somewhere here can you directly route the power cable into the rear fuse box area.
INSTALLATION PART 3
![236497]()
21. Bring the power cable through the fuse box into the spare tire compartment. Excess cable has been organized and ziptied inside the rear fuse box.
![236498]()
22. Connect the power cable (labeled with OUT) to the external battery pack. The other connection goes to the fuse box for hardwiring.
![236499]()
23. Close up view of the battery pack.
![236501]()
24. The power cable which charges the external battery pack has been hardwired and grounded.
![236502]()
25.
![236504]()
26. Place the rear dash cam in the center and connect it with the data cable. Tuck away excess cable in between the roof and the headliner.
![236505]()
27. Rear dash cam visible in the rear view mirror.
21. Bring the power cable through the fuse box into the spare tire compartment. Excess cable has been organized and ziptied inside the rear fuse box.
22. Connect the power cable (labeled with OUT) to the external battery pack. The other connection goes to the fuse box for hardwiring.
23. Close up view of the battery pack.
24. The power cable which charges the external battery pack has been hardwired and grounded.
25.
26. Place the rear dash cam in the center and connect it with the data cable. Tuck away excess cable in between the roof and the headliner.
27. Rear dash cam visible in the rear view mirror.
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I have the BlackVue 750 dual cams in my cars and they are extremely compact and work great. I can read license plates day or night on mine. Just installed the dual cam BlackVue 900 in a friends' WRX STI and he loves it. Much less wiring and very stealthy. I do not work for BlackVue or any other camera outfit.
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Great write up!
I have the Blackvue DR900-2ch and both are great options. You can run the rear cam wire through the conduit into the rear hatch so you won’t have all of that excess wire and it won’t get constantly pulled when you open and close the hatch.
just get some zip ties and fish it through to pull the wire through
I have the Blackvue DR900-2ch and both are great options. You can run the rear cam wire through the conduit into the rear hatch so you won’t have all of that excess wire and it won’t get constantly pulled when you open and close the hatch.
just get some zip ties and fish it through to pull the wire through
Hi @Daya, thanks for the tip. I wasn’t sure if the rather thick cable will fit through but yours seems similar in thickness. I’ll give it a try!
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you bet. There is plenty of space in conduit so shouldn’t be an issue. Just be patient when pulling zip tie or fish line through
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@frankfurtnyc Thanks for posting all of the pictures. I'm getting ready to install a Thinkware U1000 2CH with the radar module and 2 Blackboxmycar battery packs. Were you able to completely hide the wiring going from your battery pack to the rear fuse box? It's hard to tell from the picture for #22.
Also, I'm trying to figure out where to mount my 2 battery packs in the rear. Does anyone know whether strapping the battery packs to the subwoofer will impact the performance of the subwoofer? I don't want to strap them to the spare tire. And I don't see anything else in the cargo area where I can strap them.
Also, I'm trying to figure out where to mount my 2 battery packs in the rear. Does anyone know whether strapping the battery packs to the subwoofer will impact the performance of the subwoofer? I don't want to strap them to the spare tire. And I don't see anything else in the cargo area where I can strap them.
@warbird Thanks. No, I wasn’t able to completely hide them. You can see two cables being routed to the rear fuse box in the crevice right next to the under compartment cover. I will take a photo of how it looks this weekend and share. So far, in the past eight months, this didn’t really bother me at all since I have the plastic Porsche cargo liner mat.
Placing your external batteries, another option would be to attach them onto both sides in between the spare tire and the subwoofer or the side walls. This would depend on how wide your external batteries are. I am not sure whether attaching them onto the subwoofer surface would affect its performance but I see that it may cause vibration noises at some point.
One other option I can think of is to attach them under the spare tire since there is some space underneath.
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