This thread is invaluable! I'll be sure to come back to it when I get LI for my 2004 330 coupe. love the placement of the kill switch. very clean.
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Just a warning on the kill switch. It was the only hiccup really during the whole installation. I forgot to check the clearance behind the shifter trim. Turns out the center console trim (the faux leather/plastic/rubber) was blocking the switch. I thought about cutting away at it, instead I used a hammer and screwdriver and sacrificed a bit of the metal/plastic that was blocking the switch. It's still secured by 3? other screws in the vicinity; so it's solid.
If you have folding seats, or the ski pass through, your install should be easier.
Also, between the E-Brake and the Shifter, just forward of where I have my CPU.. DO NOT SCREW INTO THERE. Underneath the bit of carpet there is some kind of airbag sensor or computer.
While I've seen cases where it is from the side of a road on a straight away, I've noticed, especially in the NE area, that the smarter LEOs enjoy curves, bends, hills and a healthy combination of them (at least the smart LEOs).
I've narrowly missed two LIDAR hits (one curve, one hill) and got nailed doing 29 (according to the citation) over the PSL on a very mild bend and a very mild hill, on I-90, but it hid the median enough to tuck a statie behind a K rail and he tagged me from approximately 2600 feet (half a mile)(I measured with my odometer on another trip).
This is why I'm concerned with any off axis shots, and why I'm planning on converting my front setup to horizontal. While the test PMoth did prove successful (from what I can tell appears to be head on).
My thread: http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...m-pattern.html shows (in a non-scientific way) that the heads are actually "polarized" in a certain direction. I didn't record a video of the rear heads which are mounted horizontally, but they did appear to have a narrower cone of light, vertically, than horizontally (when mounted horizontally). Which also probably explains why they offer a high power head, which has a horizontally and vertically polarized diode.
Off axis shots are harder to get a reading.
When I shot laser I am usually 8-12feet off the road, and that is how most MA troopers and CT troopers shot and I have no problem jamming them to the gun if I was that much of an A-hole. and I am usually in the passing lane.
Cops are creatures od habit and laziness cause they aren't out there with the mindset that 99% of the cars have jammers In fact 99.9% of cars on the road don't have laser jammers so that is a huge advantage! Most cops will be 1000ft-2000ft from a crest of a hill on a straight away cause it makes getting speed readings easy for them
You set-up will suffer in extreme angle 35' off road less that 500ft. Which is EXTREMELY rare in the North East
Wow, awesome install! I need to get pics of mine up soon!
hey ATF, i've got the car taken apart and was wondering which wires you tapped into on the wiring loom for the radio...i cant find my multimeter to test em, and the bentley manual is confusing me haha
I didn't tap into the radio. I used the car phone cable. It's tucked along the hump for the drive shaft. Probably squeezed down in between the passenger seat and center console area, under the carpeting. It's wrapped in some black foam/tape.
Violet/White is switched 12v and Brown is your ground. In most e46's, do it at your own risk if you're not going to double check with a multimeter.
They don't stand in the middle of the road they park in the break down lane and shot from there. 75-150 feet off the road:rolleyes: I can't wait until summer and I start getting hit with laser again now that I have a camera I can show you how the north does it