Fitting radar detector W124

[John Turner]

Not being a speed-law breaker, but wanting to protect myself from being caught out in revenue generating situations(!), I would like to fit a snooper detector (I do not have the budget for Road Angel!). However, I do not want to drive with the ash tray open with the device plugged in to the cigar lighter. I understand that it is simple to wire the detector either into the fuse box, and have the cable passing into the cabin, or to break into the cigar lighter circuit. Has anybody done either of these, and can you pass on any simple instructions/recommendations?
Many thanks
John
W124 diesel estate

 

[Orlando 300E]

Hello John,
I wired my Geodessy in permanently by running cables from the ground & positive battery terminals into the cabin.

For protection, use an inline fuse on the positive cable, try and mount it as close to the battery as you can -this is in case the positive cable finds ground and starts a fire.

Only problem is: this leaves the appliance on -it does not switch on and off with ignition. My answer to this is that I remove the Geodessy from its holder when I leave the car. You could have an inline switch or even add a relay to solve this niggle.

Best place for the materials to do this is Lucas or any good motor factor, or even (last resort) go see the monkeys in Halfords! :lol:

Please John, If you are still at all unsure about wiring this in, get someone qualified to do it for you

All the best
Orlando

 

[kid-jensen]

John,

Easiest way is to mount it close to the rear-view mirror, getting power from one of the live wires in the interior light access hole. That way there is a minimum of wire showing (about 4 inches), and it makes it a neat job.

There are definately wires up there which go live with the first position of the key, but the one I picked also comes on during the time that the interior delay light is on. This is not too tragic, if I could be bothered, I'd do a more thorough investigation (one day).

In the mean time, I hope your detector gives better warning of a Gatso than mine, sometimes I get 20 feet beyond the camera before it goes off :cry: . Other times, I get 50-odd yards warning.............mysterious things electrons.........

 

[DavidBlake]

Hi
Suggest you save up for a road angel, they are very competent, the radar detectors however are a complete waste of time, not worth the effort or money.

 

[John Turner]

Orlando, Paul and David,
Thanks for the replies and suggestions. A take off from the light near the rear view mirror is a very neat solution and I will investigate this - thanks for the tip about selecting the right wire! I am not so keen going straight to the battery and would certainly take the advice suggested over fuse. I had originally hoped I could connect in to the fuse box, since this would allow a cable to enter the cabin and be tucked away up window pillar trim to visor. Not sure where it can come into cabin though, and will have to investigate this. Just thinking it out at present!
The Road Angel does appear to be a good system, but I am not convinced I can justify the cost and subscriptions. The cheaper detectors have mixed reports, but some extra warning without too many false alerts is all I am after. I am a sedate driver but it is all too easy to miss signs especially on motorways amongst lorries (or drop concentration momentarily on speed (probably because concentrating on what matters on road rather than speed dial!) in a big, comfortable car. I want to drive carefully and keep a clean licence! Some extra warning costing less than a fine, 3 yrs of insurance increases or worse an accident, seems worth considering to me!
Thanks
John

 

[mark999]

Roag Angel is excellent and well worth saving the extra for. Mine definitely saved me a ticket in some roadworks with a 40 limit.
The accident blackspot warnings are a big bonus

Try E-bay I paid £320 for a brand new unit with laser alert.

 

[DavidBlake]

Hi John,
It's me again. A radar detector quite simply will not meet your needs. Many sytems do not use radar anyway. Every serious test I have read over 15-20 years says they are useless, giving continuous false alarms and failing to detect real danger in time. Also judging from what you say about your driving you are most likely to fall prey to the "specs" systems.(detecting average speed over 5-10 miles or so, as in the northern part of the M6) Only road angel or another GPS based system will protect you from these. £400 for something that works must be cheaper than £200 for something that does not!
Sorry to go on a bit but you are obviously going to take a lot of trouble over the installation, I just want it to be worth it!

 

[GrahamC230K]

Hi John,
It's me again. A radar detector quite simply will not meet your needs. Many sytems do not use radar anyway. Every serious test I have read over 15-20 years says they are useless, giving continuous false alarms and failing to detect real danger in time. Also judging from what you say about your driving you are most likely to fall prey to the "specs" systems.(detecting average speed over 5-10 miles or so, as in the northern part of the M6) Only road angel or another GPS based system will protect you from these. £400 for something that works must be cheaper than £200 for something that does not!
Sorry to go on a bit but you are obviously going to take a lot of trouble over the installation, I just want it to be worth it!

I saw your thread before there were any replies and wasn't going to get into the Radar or GPS debate, but what David says is true.

I have experience of both and Radar is not the device for you. Save for a GPS device - the Cyclops is only £299.

 

[sgregory124]

Road Angel kicks proverbial 'arse'. I was lucky enough to be bought mine for my birthday back in August. Its already saved my license from a hidden Truvelo whilst in Nottingham, absolutely positively the only device to choose.

Radar detectors are almost as expensive and pretty much useless. A friend of mine bought one for 99 quid from Makro and it works just as well as a 300 quid one from Snooper.

Yes its expensive but its DAMN good

Simon

 

[John Turner]

Many thanks for your replies and comments. Clearly I should be considering a Road Angel or Cyclops GPS warning system rather than a more basic snooper style detector. I will look into these more. It still leaves the problem of hard wiring in to overcome the open ash tray. The visor/mirror option with wiring into light unit, while good for a radar detector, is less suitable for these more sophisticated units, so it looks like trying to break into the cigar lighter circuit for the neatest, safest and least damaging fitting. I assume an in line fuse is sensible to protect the unit, and junction box wiring rather than those clip sleeve type connectors.
Thanks for your advice and suggestions.
John

 

[gasara]

Hi I use a Road Angel and have mine hard wired to the curtosy light in the glove box. This light is Ignition controlled i.e. is only active when the ignition is on. Go be a devil, invest in a Road Angel, you will NEVER regret it.

 

[Orlando 300E]

Hello again John,
I actually run with both a Geodesy GPS and a Bel Euro 550 radar detector.
Of the two, the one I trust the most is the Bel -because it never cuts out from GPS signal and the last speeding ticket I got in May was by radar gun speed trap

The Bel usually gives plenty of warning before approaching live Gatso cameras -it?s surprising how many are dead! It also has laser detection, so it can pick up mobile camera vans.

The Geodesy does cut out from its GPS signal from time to time due to cloud cover usually -road angels suffer from this problem as well.

Last point on GPS systems; they are only as good as the information they have on their data base. Geodesy has been going for years, and rewards the first person to report a speed trap to the tune of £50.

Good luck with your choice, mind you I think the only answer to keeping our licences untarnished is to get the bus!!!
Cheers
Orlando

 

[BadTasteUK]

I highly rated my Bel Euro 550, which served me well until the Gendarmes (Police) in France offered me the chance to let them have it, along with £500, in exchange for letting me drive my car away! :cry:

I also had a Snooper 815, which ok, but nowhere near as good as the Bel.

I fancy a "Valentine One" next as that's supposed to be the market leader, but it's around £500!

 

[John Turner]

Detector fitted- W124

W124 fitting radar detector
I eventually fitted a Snooper type radar detector which is good for mobile cameras. To avoid having ash tray open, I hard wired the device and took your advice on board. Care was required because the full 1.75m of supplied cable was required. I found the best place for the detector to minimise unsightly wires showing was upside down on the right side of the drivers visor. Here, the detector aims slightly downwards through the clear glass under the green strip on the window, does not distract drivers vision, cannot easily be seen from outside (and hence does not always need to be removed for anti theft), and is protected from sunlight (in summer anyway!). It seems to get a good view from here, and is not upset by windscreen wipers, sloping dash and so forth. The detector was attached with Velcro as supplied. I ran its cable once round visor hook and into the soft edge of the inner A pillar trim right down to bottom of panel below handbrake release. The cable then ran along lower edge of this panel, being kept in place by the lugs that are there. I snipped off the lighter type socket supplied on the cable as closely as possible. The cable end was then pushed into the dashboard where the central tunnel carpet meets the lower panel of the dashboard to left under steering wheel. There is a hole under the carpet here, leading in behind the radio area (and used by other cables eg antenna).
With negative battery terminal disconnected, the cigarette light socket inner workings were revealed by removing gear surround wood trim. This was done by accessing screw under carpet of central tray, pulling trim carefully up from window switch sockets, together with gear gaiter and mirror switch attached). The ash tray can be opened, and tray removed. Two screws in back were undone allowing whole unit to come away and to be unplugged. By feeling inside behind central dash area and below radio, I located the detector cable ends on the right, and fitted an 8Amp chocolate box connector to both the positive (red) and negative wires (black) of the detector (colours as on my detector model).
I prepared a 30 cm piece of (red) 1mm diameter wire (as per cigarette lighter wires) with an 8 amp in line snap across type connector one end. I prepared a second similar piece of wire (black) with an in line fuse (2amp as supplied in original detector socket) and connected these to the chocolate block connector from the detector (ensuring in line fuse and red wire was connected to positive terminal!). I then simply tapped into the positive and earth cables to the cigarette lighter (posutive was black and yellow, earth was black and violet in my car) using the in line snap fit connectors, and insulated these with tape just to be sure. I reconnected the battery and tested everything prior to re-assembly.
It is obviously important to ensure wires up to fuse and earth are same as cigarette lighter ones (diameter, amps etc) and that everything is well insulated and positive and negative wires are properly connected and fuse is in place for protection to avoid a behind the dash fire! The above worked for my car, but if you intend to do something similar, do check everything because I cannot guarantee that this will work in yours.
However, the detector is unobtrusive, with no wires cluttering the dashboard, and works quite well, although false alarms are a nuisance, but keep me vigilant. It has picked up mobile radar and Gatsos. I am now very conscious of my speed but concentrate far more on other hazards rather than worrying whether I am close to a speed limit in a trap area, and drive more safely as a result.
John