Dash Cam 2018 GT
 

Has anyone added a dash cam to their cx5? I'd like to install one that records while in parking lots when the vehicle is turned off (using motion detection). I know people have wired them into the power source on the back of the rearview mirror but I can't find any info. Anyone on here have experience doing this?

Many are Available
 

Check with Best Buy and other automotive electronics stores. There are many available.

I have a camera that does either full time or only when the ignition is turned on. I am only using the latter.

Many cameras have a dual capability of front and rear monitoring in one unit. Mine does only one.

I also have a dash cam in my MX-5 that is the same as the one above. Because I wanted a rear view also, I am using two of them.

Again, check with Best Buy or the many stores that sell and install these for a living. I did my own installation because I enjoy this sort of DIY.

Edited 12-07-2018

I have since changed cameras for both my vehicles. I am now using Thinkware, F800 in the front and rear wired for constant and parking modes. I also have a cut off switch in the hot wires so that I can shut down both cars when they are garaged at my home..

Today, in Tucson, I witnessed a hit and run rear ender. The car in front of me hit the car in front of it, then took off very quickly. I got the license number and footage of the entire incident. I just got finished emailing everything to the person who got hit. The damage was very little but at least that person can go after the runner for the deductible.

This was the second incident I have recorded since installing dash cams. The first one was a roll over accident where someone was killed.

What is this power source on the mirror? I don't have a CX-5 yet, but my cam uses 12V from a cigarette lighter receptacle.

On the higher trims, the mirrors have electronic dimming and Homelink, so there is 12 volts going to them. This is a pretty easy thing on an MX5, but I haven't looked into the accessibility of the CX5 cabling.

So there is no power receptacle at the mirror, and you would cut and splice together the cables for the cam and the mirror. I have a high trim old Forester with with dimming and Homelink, but I would be unwilling to cut the cables like that. I was able to run the cam's cable across the windshield, down the A pillar, and across the dash to the cigarette lighter, tucked behind trim and into crevices for all but the last foot or so. The CX-5 has a pretty busy dash so similar routing might work on it.

That's an option and might be preferable depending on how much power the dash cam requires. I think the Gentex mirrors are on 5 amp fuses. But I would have run the cable to the fuse box and used an Add-a-Circuit to tap into the system there. That eliminates unsightly wires hanging around inside the car and puts the dashcam on its own fused circuit.

I went with a inexpensive COBRA IP200 witch is small and has a wide view and playback is easy on your computer, I also run the COBRA bluetooth radar DSP9200BT together.

Did you fit your dashcam? Remember, that when fitting it, you'll have three wires - black for ground, yellow for battery constant and red for accessory (to turn it on when you switch the ignition on).

Hardwired dashcams are better fitted to the fuse panel in the footwell. Splicing into the car's wires is dicey. I wouldn't recommend that. I've hardwired many dashcams to my cars over the past few years and I'll soon be fitting one to my new CX-5 - just waiting for it to arrive.

This is the one I bought: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-...27424c4dIrISvm

I'll be doing a video on my YouTube channel on how to wire it to the CX-5 using the fuse panel in the footwell. The wires are long enough to run down there and its relatively easy to fit.