I always hated the suction cup mounts for my Beltronics radar detector--- have had it fall off the windshield and it's just a tip off for thieves that you have a radar detector even if you take it with you when you leave the car.

I was looking for something that would give me a "stealthier" look and a way I could lose the coiled power cord that had to be plugged into the cigarette lighter.

Ended up picking a Blendmount rear view mirror mount and a Mirrortap power cord which let me tap into the power running to the mirror. Took 15 minutes to install. Nice and clean install and it powers the radar detector on & off as you start and turn off your engine.

I can't believe I suffered through with the suction cups and dangling power cord for so long... LOL

 

Nice looking install, can you show us a picture of the backside of the mirror?

 

Also works with my Escort radar detector Since it uses same mount and power clip as the Beltronics. Did not have a multimeter to test which wires to tap into for power so I did it using trial & error to locate the wires that would turn the detector on/off with the ignition.

 

Thanks for the follow on.

 

Nice, I actually had stopped using my radar because it always fell off after awhile, and I really didn't like having the cord in the way.

 

links to the products?

 

I have a Beltronics radar and I'm ordering mine from here: http://performancepackage.com/.

 

http://www.blendmount.com/

 

the blend mount brand looks like a cleaner looking install but the price is really high!
would anyone happen to have a picture of the mount from performancepackage.com? it is so much cheaper but just looks a lot bulkier.

 

It was hard to pull the trigger on the Blendmount because of the $80 price tag, but I didn't want some huge mount that you could see from the outside. Have not regretted spending the money because it will last the lifetime of the car and looks and works perfectly.

When you spread out that $80 spent over the years, it really isn't that expensive for probably the best mount out there...

 

yup, i went ahead and order my blend mount the other day. it looks better and its a cleaner install and thats worth more my money.

 

You won't regret it .

 

I have a Gen 8 SV as of this week. I want to mount my 9500ix on the mirror as well... but when I pull down the din plug, I can't get the meter probes in there to determine what is ground and power... I have only 3 wires on my plug (autodim mirror and homelink)... is your the same? Can you share some wisdom on the hot versus ground wires to push taps into?

Any advise much appreciated!

Thanks

 

First of all, unlike professional installers, I did not have a volt meter (don't have one...don't know how to use one) so my install was entirely by trial & error.
First of all, unplug the white plastic clip that the wires go into from the back of your rear view mirror. You might have to apply pressure to the tab and wiggle it free from the mirror but then you will have some room to work.

If I recall correctly, ground was easy to locate since there is only one solid black wire going into the white clip. Push your negative (black) wire tap in that slot with the black wire. It was a tight fit but that's good since the wire isn't going to pop out post-install.

Then, using trial and error, I tried each of the slots with a wire going into it.
Keep the ignition in the "on" position (engine not started though) and turn the detector on. When the detector turns on, then you know you have a live power source. Now turn the ignition off. If the detector still stays on, you know that you cannot use this slot since it is not "switched"-- your detector will stay on and drain your battery.

Move on to the next slot with a wire coming out of it. When you find the slot that powers the detector on when you turn on the ignition and turns the detector off when your turn off the ignition-- that's the one you want!!

Sorry I can't be more scientific and give you wire colors and all, but it is pretty tight behind the mirror so I was doing everything by touch and limited sight.

Make sure you mount your detector on the mirror BEFORE you do these steps so that you aren't trying to hold the detector and figure out your wiretap at the same time.

It's been over 4 months now and it still works & looks great!

 

Mu 9500ix mounted in the 8th gen, using PerformancePackage mount. Excellent!