[Consett Mag]

After watching some of the Russian dash cam videos, as well a few from this country, I looked at what cams are presently available, and went out and ordered a budget dash cam, the Mini 0806 from E-Prance for my F31.

Bought it from Amazon and a couple of weeks later, it arrived from China.

Spec -

• HD. Pixels claimed are 2304 x 1296p @30fps. It's wider than 16:9, so gets less bonnet or sky in the picture, which was my preferred aspect ratio.
• GPS is offered - I don't want that, so it's switched off for GPS.
• It records video files in H.264 and they can be played by Quicktime, or via an app on the unit.
• The lens gives a viewing angle of 135° which I think is pretty good.

For what it's worth, sound is recorded, though it can be silenced and the media the files are stored on are micro-SD cards. Room for two, but I have a class 10 32GB Kingston card in.

Enclosed in the box are the parts, less a media card, that will get it fitted and wired to the power socket in the console.

You unlock the car and it records, until it powers down when you lock the car after your journey. It writes over the oldest files constantly, unless it protects some of the files from automatically erasing by using its G-shock sensor - mine is switched off as speed bumps might fill the unit up with protected files. You can press a button on the unit to lock a file.

A 32Gb media card has recorded 4.5 hours of footage in the highest quality setting, so that's more then enough for me.

You can put on a polarising filter to reduce glare, though I've not bought one, and this unit has some enhancements to the electronics to see better in the dark.

I've uploaded a couple of clips I recorded coming back home to Durham from Somerset earlier in the week. I'm happy with the footage, though would have preferred a faster frame rate, and as long as the unit stays working, I'll be happy with it. I'll upload a clip later in the week of an unlit road.

The footage does look a little soft on Youtube, but hey ho.

[SkyJawa]

Good night shots. Fingers crossed its more reliable than the old ones, I got through 3 before giving up and getting something else!

[Beancounter_74]

Looks good and a nice little thread. Could you not place on the passenger side of the mirror and try and loose it a little more?

I have the earlier 0801 (or 0803 I forget which) to be fitted still. They seem very good vfm, though I'm slowly thinking I may go down the BlackVue route when I my car later this month (they're just a lot smaller) and fit this one in the GF's disco4 or company Audi.

[Nick the Greek]

Forgive me, but where is this hard wired to?

[Andrewthefirst]

Looks good, apart for the bit when you get dusted by an Audi

[Consett Mag]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

Looks good and a nice little thread. Could you not place on the passenger side of the mirror and try and loose it a little more?

I have the earlier 0801 (or 0803 I forget which) to be fitted still. They seem very good vfm, though I'm slowly thinking I may go down the BlackVue route when I my car later this month (they're just a lot smaller) and fit this one in the GF's disco4 or company Audi.

I placed it in line with the instructions, though I'd like it aimed slightly more to the right. It's not in the way where it is though.

Originally Posted by Nick the Greek

Forgive me, but where is this hard wired to?

It's not actually hard wired, though a kit for this is available. It's got a lead with a mini USB connection to the unit at one end and a male 12 volt adaptor into a power connection next to the glove box - so with a Tomtom also needing that power on long journeys, I need a connection splitter.

[ajfoggy]

I had the 0803 and it crash a fair bit, generally when you entered the car and it would crash on the boot screen.

Got a DOD-Tech LS460W in mine now. It's a bit bigger but much more reliable. Still tucks nicely behind the left side of the rear view mirror. Cable runs within head lining down pillar trim, behind door seal, through glove box to the 12v.

http://www.dod-tech.co.uk/ls460w.html

Footage has been speeded up through iMovie.

[SkyJawa]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

Looks good and a nice little thread. Could you not place on the passenger side of the mirror and try and loose it a little more?

I have the earlier 0801 (or 0803 I forget which) to be fitted still. They seem very good vfm, though I'm slowly thinking I may go down the BlackVue route when I my car later this month (they're just a lot smaller) and fit this one in the GF's disco4 or company Audi.

I'd get a blackvue. I had 3 0803's as mentioned Crashed all the time then bricked themselves. All went back.

Now have a Transcend Drivepro 200 and its been great, it just works which is nice after the 0803's! Also have a cheap G1W for the rear view, and that's been great too.

[ajfoggy]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

I'd get a blackvue. I had 3 0803's as mentioned Crashed all the time then bricked themselves. All went back.

Now have a Transcend Drivepro 200 and its been great, it just works which is nice after the 0803's! Also have a cheap G1W for the rear view, and that's been great too.

A friend was trying to get hold of the Drivepro 200 but was having a hard time finding one.

[Kal101]

Went with a black vue myself front and rear hard wired in with a pro magic.

Quite discreet but too many LEDs for my liking so think out with the masking tape later

Wired to run in parking mode as well

Works ok with privacy glass as well which was a bonus

[Consett Mag]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Now have a Transcend Drivepro 200 and its been great, it just works which is nice after the 0803's! Also have a cheap G1W for the rear view, and that's been great too.

I admit I've taken a chance with the 0806. Hopefully the new coolers for the board in the 0806 will give it much more life. But in six months the range of new dash cams may be all new developments.
I used media cards from Transcend for film making, and their cards are first class. So I'll keep an eye for what they next come up with.

[DTP1980]

It's not possible to see the number plates in the YouTube footage (after all, that is the point)- but can you make them out in the original footage?

[evan15281]

I've got 0805. Seems ok so far but recordings were stuttery in 21:9 mode. I've stuck to 1080p 30fps and now the video files are good quality.

You do lose resolution when uploading to youtube, but on my earlier model, can easily make out reg numbers.

[ajfoggy]

Originally Posted by DTP1980

It's not possible to see the number plates in the YouTube footage (after all, that is the point)- but can you make them out in the original footage?

Switch the quality to HD in youtube. It always defaults to a crappy quality for some reason.

[workshybum]

I use a Mobius. Small and discreet. Cheap. Decent quality. Very well supported. Versatile.

I wanted something that wasn't solely a dash cam that I could use out and about if the mood took me, but that would function as one when required. It doesn't have GPS or G Sensors, or even a viewing screen, but I wasn't too bothered about those features anyway.

So far does exactly what I wanted it to and tucks nicely behind the mirror. I had to mount it a little lower than I'd have ideally liked to due to the HBA camera and rain sensor obstructing its line of sight, but it blends fairly nicely and doesn't stick out too much like a sore thumb.

[magic77]

Went for the Road Angel Halo Front and rear even with 480p rear camera you can still make out a plate/ But at £170 it was a bargain even with gps

[tjlees]

I have the mini 0805 on the rear and the 0806 on the front. The mini 0806 was chosen for the front because it can be mounted on the passenger side, st mirror level but away from the mirror dimming sensor and out of sight of the driver (right hand drive only of course).

See DIY sticky http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=974007

The full cable with the power socket connector caused radio interference on both this car and my other car (noticed by others as well). Easily solved by hardwiring into the courtesy light cluster as above and using the 12v to 5v converter (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-3A-DC-D...item3cd868cc79) thus removing most of the cable + connector.

I used Invisicord here http://www.invisicord.com/index.html instead of scotch connectors - much easier solution and can be removed with no damage if required.

[gr4z]

I have the Street Guardian or more commonly known as the A118 or B40 on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Novatek-AR03...&keywords=A118

Its a great dashcam and ideally sized/shaped to fit your windscreen. The day footage is excellent and night while a little dark is more than adequate.

[Hprice1099]

Originally Posted by Kal27

Went with a black vue myself front and rear hard wired in with a pro magic.

Quite discreet but too many LEDs for my liking so think out with the masking tape later

Wired to run in parking mode as well

Works ok with privacy glass as well which was a bonus

You can turn the LED's off on the settings you know?

[bungle_78]

I use a Roadhawk HD. I've got mine on the other side of the rear view mirror though.

I thought anything that obstructed your view or was in the swept area of the screen wipers was effectively illegal?

[Consett Mag]

Originally Posted by bungle_78

I thought anything that obstructed your view or was in the swept area of the screen wipers was effectively illegal?

I'm looking at it again, it's slightly too near the mirror and not totally level. But it is probably best on the passenger side.

[Kal101]

Originally Posted by Hprice1099

You can turn the LED's off on the settings you know?

Didn't know that !!!

Can I ask how. Looked at the settings on I pad and couldn't see anything on there.