Integrated dashcam update...

RIP I don't have the car yet. Ordered it hoping they would get here at the same time

 

I finally received my replacement unit for the original DOA unit yesterday.

I installed the new one this morning - all good.

I did do the install in two parts, made all the wiring connections, then took a break, came back and did the tucking in the wires so it all fits together part. Having done the wiring part a few times before, that was fine, and after taking a break, the tucking it all in and finishing the install part went pretty smoothly.

I haven't installed the rear camera yet, but I tucked the plug up in the headliner so I don't have to disturb the main camera installation when I do it

Thanks again to @drdunkyn for the heads up on this unit.

 

I just installed the FitcamX in my new '23. (front only) Super simple install to be honest. The only tricky part was trying to line up the intercept plug into the rain sensor. It is tight in there with the ACC camera just above it.

 

First post here, thanks everybody who had posted on this thread, learned a lot. Took the plunge and ordered the FitCamX (4K front only model B) from the FitCamX store on aliexpress for my 2022 Cooper SE, shipping was quick, took only 11 days. The OEM look is the main reason I chose this cam but the clarity of the video is amazing, you can make out the license plate of the vehicle in front of you at a stop! Installation was straight forward. I would like to offer a couple of tips from my own experience, hopefully they'll be useful for somebody. Unplugging the existing red connector to the rain sensor was pretty hard mainly because there isn't much room to work with and it sits pretty firmly in place, so I unplug the other bigger connector below it first. Then I used my wife's eyebrows tweezers to grab it, as you can see from the pictures, the tweezers has an angle to it, comes in handy when you are grabbing it from the side. After connecting the wires, you just need to snap the 2 halves back together, pretty easy.

 

I think they sent me the wrong connector? What do I do with these

 

Look in the box - you should have a wiring harness to go from sensor to one of those connectors for power. The other is for the rear camera if you have that option.

 

what do i do with this

 

Looks like you chose the hardwire install. You'd need to run those to your fuse box. Sorry - I don't know specifics about that since I went with the rain-sensor version.

 

Thats what I ordered so they sent me the wrong thing

 

Ah - that stinks. You'll have to reach out to them and include pictures. I'm sure they'll get a replacement out to you. (I ordered mine from Aliexpress and the wiring harness was bad, they sent a whole new replacement).

 

Went on a big drive today and was disappointed to see what was on the camera afterward. I have videos ranging from 5 seconds to 3 minutes in length. The short ones have various gaps in between them, but the long ones seem to be continuous. Has anyone else seen that on the FitcamX?

 

I found this general forum review of Viofo T130 3 channel dash cam interesting. I like the looks of the camera and the functionality seems decent, but not sure if the resolution is high enough.

 

I saw the same thing on mine. I switched it back to 1min clips and seemed to be okay. I haven't checked the clips in a while though so I should probably take a look.

 

Thanks for the thread! Just ordered the "Model B / Front: 4K（2160P）64GB- Get Power from Rain Fall Sensor". Hopefully everything installs smoothly. For anyone else order, I did find a 10% discount code: FIT287

Not sure what it is for or from (based on the format, it's probably a referral code), but it worked for me, lol.

 

Just sharing another review I saw on YT, which showed the install process and some video samples.

 

Also had issues with 3min clips - except it just stopped recording entirely. I only check video in rare cases so I went about a month with no coverage. Completely reset/reformatted everything to see if it fixes the issue.

 

After a lot of indecisiveness on my part, I pulled the trigger this morning on a newer model Viofo A229 Dual 2K Cam setup. USB-C power. They have a 4K model, as well, but after watching a number of review videos (I really like the ones on Vortex Radar channel - he just reviewed this A229 model), it seems that Viofo does a really good job of capturing details like license plates on their 2K cams - even better than some 4K models. And the Viofo 4K option only had a 1080 rear cam.

It will be nice to have another cam reviewed for our SEs, at least, in addition to the FitCamX. I'll probably do a review and install video of it in the coming weeks.

(As of today (10/31/22) the A229 currently has an Amazon lightning deal at $199 vs the regular $260 price - and, no, I'm not being compensated by Viofo!)

 

Viofo is generally a better choice due to the updated System on Chip and image sensor (usually Sony). Most dashcams are still using the 2017 Novatek NT96660 but Viofo is using NT96687 and NT96670 generations while FitcamX is using NT96670 for the MINI version.

As for the Sony Starvis IMX335LQN sensor, it's a 4:3 native 5MP sensor so it would have to be upscaled to 4K resolution (~8MP).

 

LTT says get the Viofo and don't overthink it: all current dashcams suck at getting license plates.

I've been using two Street Guardian cams for almost 5 years. They are very similar to the Viofo. A couple rear cams burned out, but the front cams have been perfect in hot weather.

 

Sounds just like USB hubs where everyone uses the same Chinese-made chipsets and repackages them in dozens of ways to flood the market with mediocre goods.