[corfam]

I am planning on placing a dash cam left of center (towards driver) behind rear view mirror. My hope is to place it as high as possible with the camera lens just sitting below the top center printed black dot pattern on windshield. I've recently realized that the rear view mirror has a light sensor on the backside of the mirror near where I want to place the camera. I'm wondering what effect a shadow cast from the dash cam onto this mirror sensor will have. Any ideas based off previous VW cars you may have owned?

Below is an image that shows the area highlighted in peach where I would roughly plan to place the dash cam. The camera itself isn't large and will sit flush against the glass. The 2nd image below shows an example of how the camera design would somewhat sit, but is shown on the wrong side of the mirror. 2nd image is just some random pic I found on the net, but is a good example of how the dash cam may overlap the mirror.

I prefer to place dash camera on the drivers side of the mirror to ease wire routing down to fuse box.

 

[MCheiron]

I am not very familiar with dash cams, but you seem to have experience.

I love the idea of have something like a “sentry mode” in the ID.4. When looking at your photos, how would you power the dash cam in an ID.4? Is there some hard wiring needed? Would they pick up motion similar to the sentry mode and have somewhat of a 360 degree view?

With regards to placement: is the sensor in the mirror or flush at the glass in the holder of the mirror?

 

[corfam]

I love the idea of have something like a “sentry mode” in the ID.4. When looking at your photos, how would you power the dash cam in an ID.4? Is there some hard wiring needed? Would they pick up motion similar to the sentry mode and have somewhat of a 360 degree view?

Hi MCheiron. There are a few ways to power a dash cam, but the way I find easiest is to hardwire it into the driver side fuse box. You can buy a power adapter that is designed to directly connect / jump into a fuse socket. Depending on your dash cam and desired use case you could pick a circuit that powers the dash cam even when car is "parked" or you can chose a circuit that gets no power when car is "parked". The wire can get pushed / tucked under the head liner with almost no effort, but then you need to remove the A-pillar trim to route it down the side (if you want it completely hidden). Different dash cams have different capability and come with a wide range of price points. Nothing I've seen is near as sophisticated as Tesla's sentry mode. The number of cameras, constant recording, motion activation when off, quality, etc. on Tesla's system is outstanding. I would love for the ID.4 to have such a system, but since it doesn't I go with the most basic setup that gives me what I'm looking to achieve....help with proof of fault in an accident. I found even a basic camera that is forward facing provides that functionality. Even if someone hits me from behind (with only a forward facing dash camera) it will be obvious who's at fault based off what the video shows facing forward. For example during such an event, a front camera would show I wasn't backing up, it would show the car lunging forward, and would capture the sounds of the event along with passenger reactions. It would be good to have a rear camera as well, but I don't want to mess with the wiring to get it there. In regards to camera recording when the car is parked with motion events...I haven't found an ideal camera that does that well and then you also need to worry about battery drain when you aren't in the vehicle for longer periods of time.

@ID.Furkan posted a YouTube video on his front & back dash cam install that you might want to reference as well here.

With regards to placement: is the sensor in the mirror or flush at the glass in the holder of the mirror?

Sorry, I should have been more clear. The light sensor on the rear view mirror is the small boxed area on the mirror backside. See image below. Sorry for crude edit.

 

[NBCGLX]

Hi MCheiron. There are a few ways to power a dash cam, but the way I find easiest is to hardwire it into the driver side fuse box. You can buy a power adapter that is designed to directly connect / jump into a fuse socket. Depending on your webcam and desired use case you could pick a circuit that powers the webcam even when car is "parked" or you can chose a circuit that gets no power when car is "parked". The wire can get pushed / tucked under the head liner with almost no effort, but then you need to remove the A-pillar trim to route it down the side (if you want it completely hidden). Different dash cams have different capability and come with a wide range of price points. Nothing I've seen is near as sophisticated as Tesla's sentry mode. The number of cameras, constant recording, motion activation when off, quality, etc. on Tesla's system is outstanding. I would love for the ID.4 to have such a system, but since it doesn't I go with the most basic setup that gives me what I'm looking to achieve....help with proof of fault in an accident. I found even a basic camera that is forward facing provides that functionality. Even if someone hits me from behind (with only a forward facing dash camera) it will be obvious who's at fault based off what the video shows facing forward. For example during such an event, a front camera would show I wasn't backing up, it would show the car lunging forward, and would capture the sounds of the event along with passenger reactions. It would be good to have a rear camera as well, but I don't want to mess with the wiring to get it there. In regards to camera recording when the car is parked with motion events...I haven't found an ideal camera that does that well and then you also need to worry about battery drain when you aren't in the vehicle for longer periods of time.

@ID.Furkan posted a YouTube video on his front & back dash cam install that you might want to reference as well here.


Sorry, I should have been more clear. The light sensor on the rear view mirror is the small boxed area on the mirror backside. See image below. Sorry for crude edit.

View attachment 1639

That is the light sensor for the auto-dimming rearview mirror. If you block it, it’s very likely that a shadow will be cast over the sensor, and the rearview mirror may think it’s dark outside when it’s not (i.e., you might get the mirror dimming during the daytime). Just a thought.

 

[mmcbtx]

That is the light sensor for the auto-dimming rearview mirror. If you block it, it’s very likely that a shadow will be cast over the sensor, and the rearview mirror may think it’s dark outside when it’s not (i.e., you might get the mirror dimming during the daytime). Just a thought.

Would that same sensor affect automatic lighting as well? Not familiar with placement in VWs. I'm used to the light sensor being on the dashboard somewhere, but it doesn't seem like it'd make sense for VW to have different sensors controlling different things.

 

[NBCGLX]

Would that same sensor affect automatic lighting as well? Not familiar with placement in VWs. I'm used to the light sensor being on the dashboard somewhere, but it doesn't seem like it'd make sense for VW to have different sensors controlling different things.

If the ID.4 is like every other VW with automatic headlights, it uses a combined rain-light sensor that’s on the windshield (behind the plastic cover where the rearview mirror attaches to the windshield) for the automatic lights and rain-sensing wipers.

 

[NBCGLX]

This isn’t an ID.4, but it’s another VW and illustrates what I’m talking about. The rain-light sensor that controls the automatic lights and rain-sensing wipers is circled in red. The photo sensor that controls the auto-dimming rearview mirror is circled in yellow. The latter basically tells the mirror if it’s day or night outside, so it knows that if it detects bright light on the other sensor located on the interior side of the mirror, it should dim (e.g., when lights from following cars hit the mirror at night).

 

[corfam]

f you block it, it’s very likely that a shadow will be cast over the sensor, and the rearview mirror may think it’s dark outside when it’s not (i.e., you might get the mirror dimming during the daytime).

You don't happen to have another VW with that sensor...do you? I guess it depends on the threshold value of darkness that triggers the sensor. I guess I'll have to experiment with it before placing any dash camera on that side. Thanks for the input and further explanation including photo.

 

[NBCGLX]

You don't happen to have another VW with that sensor...do you? I guess it depends on the threshold value of darkness that triggers the sensor. I guess I'll have to experiment with it before placing any dash camera on that side. Thanks for the input and further explanation including photo.

I do have another VW with auto-dimming mirror. VW’s technology isn’t proprietary, however, and the mirrors are (I think) made my Gentex, which supplies auto-dimming mirrors for many vehicle manufacturers and the aftermarket. So if you have another vehicle that has an auto-dimming mirror, chances are it’s using the same basic equipment (even if the mirror physically looks different).

 

[corfam]

I do have another VW with auto-dimming mirror. VW’s technology isn’t proprietary, however, and the mirrors are (I think) made my Gentex, which supplies auto-dimming mirrors for many vehicle manufacturers and the aftermarket. So if you have another vehicle that has an auto-dimming mirror, chances are it’s using the same basic equipment (even if the mirror physically looks different).

Good suggestion for checking my other cars. I never noticed the sensor on the back of the mirror on one of my Honda's. Same rough position. After evaluating I'm pretty confident that the dash camera won't be able to block enough light to have an effect on mirror dimming. Thanks!

 

[MCheiron]

Hi MCheiron. There are a few ways to power a dash cam, but the way I find easiest is to hardwire it into the driver side fuse box. You can buy a power adapter that is designed to directly connect / jump into a fuse socket. Depending on your webcam and desired use case you could pick a circuit that powers the webcam even when car is "parked" or you can chose a circuit that gets no power when car is "parked". The wire can get pushed / tucked under the head liner with almost no effort, but then you need to remove the A-pillar trim to route it down the side (if you want it completely hidden). Different dash cams have different capability and come with a wide range of price points. Nothing I've seen is near as sophisticated as Tesla's sentry mode. The number of cameras, constant recording, motion activation when off, quality, etc. on Tesla's system is outstanding. I would love for the ID.4 to have such a system, but since it doesn't I go with the most basic setup that gives me what I'm looking to achieve....help with proof of fault in an accident. I found even a basic camera that is forward facing provides that functionality. Even if someone hits me from behind (with only a forward facing dash camera) it will be obvious who's at fault based off what the video shows facing forward. For example during such an event, a front camera would show I wasn't backing up, it would show the car lunging forward, and would capture the sounds of the event along with passenger reactions. It would be good to have a rear camera as well, but I don't want to mess with the wiring to get it there. In regards to camera recording when the car is parked with motion events...I haven't found an ideal camera that does that well and then you also need to worry about battery drain when you aren't in the vehicle for longer periods of time.

@ID.Furkan posted a YouTube video on his front & back dash cam install that you might want to reference as well here.


Sorry, I should have been more clear. The light sensor on the rear view mirror is the small boxed area on the mirror backside. See image below. Sorry for crude edit.

View attachment 1639

Thanks a lot for all the details!!! I will have to look into that and also watch the video.

 

[corfam]

Thanks a lot for all the details!!! I will have to look into that and also watch the video.

Oops. Sorry. In my reply message to you earlier I now read that I used the term "webcam" in a few places where I obviously meant "dash cam". I will edit my original message to fix it.

 

[NoMoFossil]

Gee , since your dash cam is not permanently mounted, why not install it and drive with it for a few nights. You ought to be able to figure out if your placement affects anything.

 

[corfam]

Gee , since your dash cam is not permanently mounted, why not install it and drive with it for a few nights. You ought to be able to figure out if your placement affects anything.

Yes...agreed. That's my plan. I just wanted to know if others had experience with a similar situation. I do think it's going to be fine now.

 

[MCheiron]

I did a little of research and am wondering if anybody has experience with Dash cams from Owlcam or blackvue? Both can have late connection to warn you or upload video if something happens. So they would work during driving and be somewhat of a sentry mode replacement. Also, Amazon Ring seems to be developing something in that direction as well, but I am not a big Amazon fan.