[nm2003]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Talk to your dealer regarding availability, especially if you’re getting the ACE 3.0 fitted by the dealer. Having said that, you may have to ask more than one person at the dealership as, in my experience, they don’t seem to all have the same information, or pass it around to each other. Sometimes the spare parts team know about the availability of these kind of things before the sales people do.

As a guide, the ACE 2.0 that I had fitted last year by the dealer was $ 1295.00. It was cheaper at one dealer compared to the second dealer we have in Adelaide. So, shop around…

Thanks for the reply Steve. I will contact the dealer closer to the delivery date (early April 2023). I hope its similar pricing.

BTW: How are you finding the ACE 2.0?

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by nm2003

Thanks for the reply Steve. I will contact the dealer closer to the delivery date (early April 2023). I hope its similar pricing.

BTW: How are you finding the ACE 2.0?

The ACE 2.0 is OK, not brilliant, but OK. I understand ACE 3.0 is much better.
Video quality is reasonable both front and back (not quite as good as other dashcam manufacturers). However, I have a heavy tint on the back window which reduces the amount of light reaching the rear camera.

The cameras work in parking mode for some time after the car is parked, although I have never timed the actual period that they stay functioning. One thing I like is that the cameras activate in parking mode when movement (people or vehicle) is detected in front of the camera, rather than recording continuously in park mode. This saves a lot of battery life and SD card capacity. The camera is sold with only a 32 GB micro-SD card. I bought a 128 GB card to replace it.

What I don’t like about the cameras is that they are so large compared to the Blackvue cameras I had before. I understand the rear camera on the ACE 3.0 is now much smaller than the ACE 2.0 rear camera.

When you get your cameras installed, make sure the front camera, in particular, is installed in such a way that the front A-pillars are not in shot. I had to get my dealer to reposition the front camera due to this reason. BTW, to achieve this, I had my front camera installed to the left of the mirror immediately below and to the left of the black dimpling on the windscreen - hope that makes sense to you. In this position you cannot see the the A-pillars and cannot see the camera from the drivers seat and, thus, does not obstruct your view.

The BMW Viewer (to view video from the SD card on your computer) is available on line. I found it a bit painful to download and install, but I think I just had a bad run (you might find it easier).
This viewer is OK but definitely not as good as the Blackvue Viewer.

One redeeming thing for me is that I have not experienced battery issues since having the ACE 2.0 installed.
I leave my car parked for days and weeks at a time which, in the past, caused problems for me with a Neo battery installed for my Blackvue dashcams.
Note: Had I been driving the car every day, the issues would not have occurred.

Hope this helps.

[nm2003]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

The ACE 2.0 is OK, not brilliant, but OK. I understand ACE 3.0 is much better.
Video quality is reasonable both front and back (not quite as good as other dashcam manufacturers). However, I have a heavy tint on the back window which reduces the amount of light reaching the rear camera.

The cameras work in parking mode for some time after the car is parked, although I have never timed the actual period that they stay functioning. One thing I like is that the cameras activate in parking mode when movement (people or vehicle) is detected in front of the camera, rather than recording continuously in park mode. This saves a lot of battery life and SD card capacity. The camera is sold with only a 32 GB micro-SD card. I bought a 128 GB card to replace it.

What I don’t like about the cameras is that they are so large compared to the Blackvue cameras I had before. I understand the rear camera on the ACE 3.0 is now much smaller than the ACE 2.0 rear camera.

When you get your cameras installed, make sure the front camera, in particular, is installed in such a way that the front A-pillars are not in shot. I had to get my dealer to reposition the front camera due to this reason. BTW, to achieve this, I had my front camera installed to the left of the mirror immediately below and to the left of the black dimpling on the windscreen - hope that makes sense to you. In this position you cannot see the the A-pillars and cannot see the camera from the drivers seat and, thus, does not obstruct your view.

The BMW Viewer (to view video from the SD card on your computer) is available on line. I found it a bit painful to download and install, but I think I just had a bad run (you might find it easier).
This viewer is OK but definitely not as good as the Blackvue Viewer.

One redeeming thing for me is that I have not experienced battery issues since having the ACE 2.0 installed.
I leave my car parked for days and weeks at a time which, in the past, caused problems for me with a Neo battery installed for my Blackvue dashcams.
Note: Had I been driving the car every day, the issues would not have occurred.

Hope this helps.

thanks for the feedback. I understand what you mean regarding the correct positioning of the front camera. I saw a thread about where to position it so will confirm closer to the date.

Once I get my VIN number, hopefully in the next week or so, I will ask the dealer if the ACE 3.0 has been released locally and what it costs.

[cool7]

I wish I saw this post earlier.
I have my Viofo hardwired with Cellink Neo battery. But even I turn Viofo off when parked in garage, it still drain Neo completely after a few days. I monitor the circult for a while, found BMW wakes up by itself after a while, that triggered camera to power up and then switch to
parking mode.

Is there a way to fix this behaviour? I really like my Viofo setup and don't want to spend another grand and half for BMW advanced eyes.

Originally Posted by SteveAus

I don’t think you need the Viofo wiring accessory. It regulates the voltage coming from your battery when the dashcam is hard wired, but without a Cellink Neo battery. You can set the level of car battery voltage that you want to shut down the dashcam before it discharges your car battery too much.
Blackvue has a similar product…Power Magic Pro. I used this before in an F30 335i before switching to a Cellink Neo.

The Neo battery bypasses the need to use this product as it is independent of the car’s battery.

One thing you should be aware of, and this is dependent on how you use your car…….
In my case, my car is parked in the garage for long periods of time.
The car periodically does electrical system checks. During this time the circuit is triggered to start charging the Neo battery, it then closes the circuit after a short period of time.
In my case, I had some problems with my sunroof where it would freeze in the open or closed positions because the car battery had been drained and the sunroof had “lost” its settings. I could not rectify the problem myself and each time had to take the car to the dealer to fix the issue.
The dealer kept the car for a 12 hr battery and electrical systems check.
The bottom line to this long story is that I was advised to remove the Blackvue and Neo battery and replace it with a BMW ACE. I wasn’t keen to do this, but eventually I did. I haven’t had a problem since.

Now….if, unlike me, you use your car normally and drive it regularly, you should not have a problem with your dashcams, Neo…..or sunroof!!
Just thought I should pass this on to people.

BTW, I put the BlackVue and Cellink Neo in the VW Golf (that we use to transport our Cocker Spaniels to and from the beach - wet and sandy!!) and it works perfectly. The Golf is less sophisticated than the Beemer and handles the Neo without a problem, even though it also is left stationary in the garage for long periods of time. Incredibly, the Auto Stop Start function works first time, every time, after a long period of time in the garage and I do not have to charge the car battery like I seem to have to with the Beemer.
Sometimes Less is More

[springerdrive]

Originally Posted by cool7

I wish I saw this post earlier.
I have my Viofo hardwired with Cellink Neo battery. But even I turn Viofo off when parked in garage, it still drain Neo completely after a few days. I monitor the circult for a while, found BMW wakes up by itself after a while, that triggered camera to power up and then switch to
parking mode.

Is there a way to fix this behaviour? I really like my Viofo setup and don't want to spend another grand and half for BMW advanced eyes.

I have not had this problem with my Viofo A229 Duo connected to a Cellink Neo in my 2022 M340xi. I often turn the camera off when I don't need/want parking mode. I've never had it turn itself back on until I open a door. How are you connecting to the battery? Is your Cellink connected to the correct fuse? I use a Power Output Cable w/ Spliced Viofo USB-C (T130/A229) Hardwire Kit from BlackboxMyCar (be sure to select the correct item from the dropdown menu).

Here is a thread describing my installation. I hope this might help.

P.S. There are a number of statements in the post you quoted from SteveAus that I have found to be incorrect. He states that there's no need for a wiring accessory because "the battery bypasses the need to use this product as it is independent of the car’s battery." This is not true. The Cellink battery relies on the car's battery to charge, and the Power Output Cable w/ Spliced Viofo USB-C (T130/A229) Hardwire Kit enables the camera to enter parking mode when the car's battery stops sending power to the Cellink Neo.

[cool7]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using fuse F273 for cellink neo input. And Viofo hardwire kit HK3-C because I'm using A139 Pro.
I do notice Viofo and Cellink using different color coding for ACC and battery, resulting when I connect hardwire kit to Neo output, red connects yellow and yellow connects to red.
Yes, I agree with you. Steve is not correct regarding hardwire kit. Without hardwire kit, there is no way to pass ACC signal to camera. I think he mean Neo doesn't need hardwire kit, as it only need ACC, no need for constant battery power.

Everything looks fine, and camera goes to parking mode after about 7 minutes after car locked. But there is random event my BMW wake up by itself. I can see in Neo app, power is restored for Neo and it's charging. Of course, camear will think ignition is on and turn itself on and recording.

I tend to believe this is not problem of camera installation, but the BMW behaviour described by steve:
"The car periodically does electrical system checks. During this time the circuit is triggered to start charging the Neo battery, it then closes the circuit after a short period of time."

Since you don't have this problem, now I'm thinking is this due to BMW setting or coding? I only did some basic tweak using bimmercode.

Originally Posted by springerdrive

I have not had this problem with my Viofo A229 Duo connected to a Cellink Neo in my 2022 M340xi. I often turn the camera off when I don't need/want parking mode. I've never had it turn itself back on until I open a door. How are you connecting to the battery? Is your Cellink connected to the correct fuse? I use a Power Output Cable w/ Spliced Viofo USB-C (T130/A229) Hardwire Kit from BlackboxMyCar (be sure to select the correct item from the dropdown menu).

Here is a thread describing my installation. I hope this might help.

P.S. There are a number of statements in the post you quoted from SteveAus that I have found to be incorrect. He states that there's no need for a wiring accessory because "the battery bypasses the need to use this product as it is independent of the car’s battery." This is not true. The Cellink battery relies on the car's battery to charge, and the Power Output Cable w/ Spliced Viofo USB-C (T130/A229) Hardwire Kit enables the camera to enter parking mode when the car's battery stops sending power to the Cellink Neo.

[springerdrive]

cool7 I hope you can get it solved. I can assure you that I don’t have this issue. I suggest you post this issue over at dashctalk.com

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/

[nm2003]

I have decided to stay away from ACE 3.0 dashcam as it didn't have ability to remote access and/or cloud storage.

Plus Blackvue have their new DR970x coming out next month, around mid May.

I will look at also getting the locking mechanism to prevent unplugging power cable by dealership when booked in for a service.

BTW: has anyone who has installed the locking mechanism got any comments from dealerships regarding needing to unplug power cable when in workshop?

I will also be getting a Track My Ride GPS and Autowatch Ghost 2 immobiliser installed.

You can never have enough layers of security.😁

I better get a discount from insurance once allnof thia stuff is installed, otherwise i am not sharing details with insurance if i get involved in an accident🤫

[turnsignalslol]

Hey, I used this guide to hardwire my BBMC Powercell 8 to my G87 M2 and it worked perfectly. Thanks!