[BMWFanBoi]

Hello Everyone,

I am planning on getting a dashcam professionally installed in my, not yet received, new 2024 X7. I opted for the BMW Advanced Car Eye 3.0 Pro with Display (US_00ZKQ) as an accessory however I was unable to get it added to my build before it hit 150 status. Reason being, part shortage and BMW no longer even offers it as an accessory.

After reading reviews, I came to the conclusion that the Nextbase 622GW elite package (front and rear cams) was the clear winner. However, after contacting a dashcam installer in regards to install. He recommended that I look into 3 other options of dashcam brands. According to him Nextbase has a lithium battery and over time with the heat in Houston, we all know it is not a good combo. I.e possible leakage, rupture and the usual degradation. My rebuttal was I am going to apply 70% tint to the front windshield and the easy access of removal of the unit, so it is not always in the vehicle and exposed to sunlight for long periods.

The following are 3 brands provided by dashcam installer:

1. VIOFO A139 Pro 2CH
2. Thinkware U3000 2CH
3. Blackvue DR970X 2 CH

Does anyone have any experience with the dashcams mentioned above? Any other recommendation for dashcams not mentioned in this post?

A big thanks to Orient330iNYC he provided a great image from his VIOFO A139 Pro (Starvis 2 Sensor) dashcam on a rainy night in lovely NYC. Off topic, seeing those mustard yellow license plates at night reminded of the time I might my wife in NYC. She is a New Yorker, text book definition lol . Now, I am torn between the Nextbase 622GW and VIOFO A139 Pro which were my original choices.

TIA, it is greatly appreciated!

[X5M50D]

I have the VIOFO A139 Duo Pro (front and back dashcam).
These were professional fitted by hard wiring it to the car.
The problem I have is it continually drains the car battery resulting in a battery warning error on the central screen. Its more to do with the car stationary for extended periods whilst the camera is in parking mode. I been told the only way to overcome this is to purchase a small portable battery pack to stop the car battery from draining. I tend to disconnect the camera if I know I'm not using the car for over a few days, but does defeat the purpose of using the parking mode.
This problem maybe the case for all dashcams with parking mode fitted to the X7 and not just the VIOFO.
The dashcam overall is a nice piece of kit, though a little expensive.
Recordings are good and very clear which can be accessed from your mobile phone through their App.

[Orient330iNYC]

i did the A139 Pro in single channel mode, and a garmin mini 2 (actually 3 of them) at the sides and rear. two facing forward and to the side from the rear quarter windows and one facing rear. i also tend to upgrade the front facing camera. it was the viofo mini 2, then the mini 2 pro, then the A139 pro. as you can tell im a huge viofo fan.


it was easier to run power from the rear fuse block than to run the micro coax cable to the front, also redundancy- one corrupt sd card wont disable all recording, although the viofo and the garmins will warn of sd card issues.
I've run the cable from front to back before (my X3 had the A129 duo)

it was a diy install, i have 12V to USB A adapters hard wired into switched power. in the rear i have a harness thats running from the battery on the passenger side to the drivers side with power adapters on both ends.. the usb cable powering the rear was a pain to do, its completely hidden but i had to snake the wire with the existing tailgate wiring and it was not easy.
btw, thats factory tint with Xpel Prime 70% on top- VLT is 15% down from factory 18%

I dont run parking mode as im parked for a week at a time (weekend car) and theres no battery backup that would keep it running

[Ex_Stig]

I had a 2 channel blackview in my '18 M3 CS as well as my M5 CS. I would definitely recommend the brand, but get a different memory card as the blackview ones that come with the camera are crap.

I had the magic battery in the M3 CS, but i would get battery discharge warnings on the dash when using it, so I disconnected it. Fortunately, I didn't really need the camera to be on when the car is parked.

[PinkNinja400Guy]

The Viofo is good. Though I personally just use the car's builtin drive recorder thing. It only saves the last 20 + next 20 seconds. Realistically more like the last 10 seconds because of human reaction time + you have to hold down the button for a few seconds before it starts saving the clip. But that's good enough.

Neither option (car builtin or standalone dashcam) will record while parked, so the benefit to having a standalone dashcam isn't really significant for me.

Well, you *could* set up recording while parked with a dashcam but I've heard lots of people having issues with battery discharge warnings on these BMWs. You could buy a set of batteries to keep the dashcam powered but they have limited timespan and would degrade in texas heat and are expensive.

The car builtin dashcam can export directly to a USB stick which is more convenient than dealing with SD cards.

If you go for a dashcam make sure to get a high endurance Samsung or SanDisk SD card, either direct from the SanDisk website or from Best Buy. If you order on Amazon there's a high chance of getting a counterfeit which won't work as well. A standard SD card will wear out quickly (eventually it'll stop being able to record/store new data because the flash memory in it wears out over time).

[PinkNinja400Guy]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

I dont run parking mode as im parked for a week at a time (weekend car) and theres no battery backup that would keep it running

Just curious, if the X7 is your weekend car than what's your normal car???

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by PinkNinja400Guy

Just curious, if the X7 is your weekend car than what's your normal car???

dont have one- we live in lower Manhattan so its the a walk to the office when i have to go in. unless i have to visit one of our offices in NJ or CT the X7 stays in the garage all week.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by PinkNinja400Guy

The Viofo is good. Though I personally just use the car's builtin drive recorder thing. It only saves the last 20 + next 20 seconds. Realistically more like the last 10 seconds because of human reaction time + you have to hold down the button for a few seconds before it starts saving the clip. But that's good enough.

Neither option (car builtin or standalone dashcam) will record while parked, so the benefit to having a standalone dashcam isn't really significant for me.

Well, you *could* set up recording while parked with a dashcam but I've heard lots of people having issues with battery discharge warnings on these BMWs. You could buy a set of batteries to keep the dashcam powered but they have limited timespan and would degrade in texas heat and are expensive.

The car builtin dashcam can export directly to a USB stick which is more convenient than dealing with SD cards.

If you go for a dashcam make sure to get a high endurance Samsung or SanDisk SD card, either direct from the SanDisk website or from Best Buy. If you order on Amazon there's a high chance of getting a counterfeit which won't work as well. A standard SD card will wear out quickly (eventually it'll stop being able to record/store new data because the flash memory in it wears out over time).

if you do buy from amazon, make sure you buy from amazon as the reseller. havent had any issues with the samsung cards i've gotten from amazon direct.

Sandisk has been so so for me, i've had a high endurance card die on me. sandisk max endurance hasnt but i have that in a different device.
i have 256gb high endurance samsungs in the 3 garmin minis, and a 512gb high endurance western digital in the viofo. i dont need that much space, but it reduces wear on the flash as its not overwriting the same blocks as often. the 4K files that thing creates are about 1gb for 3 minutes of recording.

[thenew3]

I got the FitcamX for my Mach e and am probably going to get it for my X7 as well. It looks factory, uses the factory wiring and works well.

[4gv70x7]

I have the Viofo 139 Pro 2ch as well (hooked up to a Battery pack in the rear). Has the Starvis2 sensor as other have pointed out and has been working pretty well for me. Has WIfi but no display. Locked up a couple of times and I had to power cycle but pretty trouble free otherwise so far and the video quality is great. The Viofo App has some quirks but I'm not sure if thats because I'm on Android.
Our X3 has a Vantrue N4 (recommended by someone on this forum) and thats nice as well - it has a display but no Wifi. Its hardwired directly to the fuses without a battery, so do sometimes get the battery management errors. The SD card does make a difference, some dashcam manufacturers like Viofo do list out recommended cards.

[BMWFanBoi]

Originally Posted by 4gv70x7

I have the Viofo 139 Pro 2ch as well (hooked up to a Battery pack in the rear). Has the Starvis2 sensor as other have pointed out and has been working pretty well for me. Has WIfi but no display. Locked up a couple of times and I had to power cycle but pretty trouble free otherwise so far and the video quality is great. The Viofo App has some quirks but I'm not sure if thats because I'm on Android.
Our X3 has a Vantrue N4 (recommended by someone on this forum) and thats nice as well - it has a display but no Wifi. Its hardwired directly to the fuses without a battery, so do sometimes get the battery management errors. The SD card does make a difference, some dashcam manufacturers like Viofo do list out recommended cards.

Thanks for the Vantrue N4 information.

[BMWFanBoi]

Thanks to everyone for the recommendation in regards to purchasing a battery pack so it will limit vehicle battery errors.

I read this was an issue I believe on a different post or the internet. You guys have confirmed, I need a battery pack.

[BMWFanBoi]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

if you do buy from amazon, make sure you buy from amazon as the reseller. havent had any issues with the samsung cards i've gotten from amazon direct.

Sandisk has been so so for me, i've had a high endurance card die on me. sandisk max endurance hasnt but i have that in a different device.
i have 256gb high endurance samsungs in the 3 garmin minis, and a 512gb high endurance western digital in the viofo. i dont need that much space, but it reduces wear on the flash as its not overwriting the same blocks as often. the 4K files that thing creates are about 1gb for 3 minutes of recording.

Man, I am a big Sandisk fan! Especially since I get memory cards through my favorite retailer. Costco

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by BMWFanBoi

Man, I am a big Sandisk fan! Especially since I get memory cards through my favorite retailer. Costco

lol, i have unrelated PTSD from sandisk. years ago we got a batch of 300 laptops with defective sandisk ssds in them. after a certain number of hours, the bsods would start. there was a firmware fix for it, but only if it hadnt started bsoding. all of ours had. all hands to crack open and swap 300 ssds over a weekend and reimage them. not amused. its hard to find good high endurance micro sd's though.

this article also doesnt give the warm fuzzies: https://www.theverge.com/22291828/sa...lure-continued

viofo doesnt recommend the samsungs, but personal experience has been fine with the samsung high endurance. i have the sandisk max endurance in a ring alarm pro thats been constantly recording video for 6 months now, so far no problems. the western digital im trying out because there's no other good options for a 512gb high endurance card and the viofo files at 4K are pretty big. 20gb per hour roughly, so its overwriting the sd card roughly every 12 hours of driving, which is about 3 nyc traffic jams.
kioxia was supposed to have a series of high endurance cards that go up to 1tb i think but only available on ebay. i think i would rather just unplug the dashcam instead of using one of those.

[PL]

Originally Posted by BMWFanBoi

Hello Everyone,

I am planning on getting a dashcam professionally installed in my, not yet received, new 2024 X7. I opted for the BMW Advanced Car Eye 3.0 Pro with Display (US_00ZKQ) as an accessory however I was unable to get it added to my build before it hit 150 status. Reason being, part shortage and BMW no longer even offers it as an accessory.

After reading reviews, I came to the conclusion that the Nextbase 622GW elite package (front and rear cams) was the clear winner. However, after contacting a dashcam installer in regards to install. He recommended that I look into 3 other options of dashcam brands. According to him Nextbase has a lithium battery and over time with the heat in Houston, we all know it is not a good combo. I.e possible leakage, rupture and the usual degradation. My rebuttal was I am going to apply 70% tint to the front windshield and the easy access of removal of the unit, so it is not always in the vehicle and exposed to sunlight for long periods.

The following are 3 brands provided by dashcam installer:

1. VIOFO A139 Pro 2CH
2. Thinkware U3000 2CH
3. Blackvue DR970X 2 CH

Does anyone have any experience with the dashcams mentioned above? Any other recommendation for dashcams not mentioned in this post?

A big thanks to Orient330iNYC he provided a great image from his VIOFO A139 Pro (Starvis 2 Sensor) dashcam on a rainy night in lovely NYC. Off topic, seeing those mustard yellow license plates at night reminded of the time I might my wife in NYC. She is a New Yorker, text book definition lol . Now, I am torn between the Nextbase 622GW and VIOFO A139 Pro which were my original choices.

TIA, it is greatly appreciated!

I have the Thinkware 2 CH on my E450 which I installed myself. It is a very good dashcam and has a nice web access app as well. I am using a backup battery as well (they are expensive!) and even then at times I just turn it off as there are days that I may not drive the car. As for my 24 X7, I did get the Car Eye 3 pro installed as an option on my build just about a month ago. Comparing the Car Eye and the Thinkware, I would go with the Car Eye for the X7 if the option is available. It has one integrated wire running to the front cam (for both power and rear cam connections) vs. two as with most other 2 channel set ups, it also has a nice touch screen that can be used for quick review of the captured videos whereas with Thinkware I need to login to the App via my phone or take the SD card to a computer to see the videos. The Eye 3 Pro also has the parking monitor mode and like the E450 there are times that my X7 may not get started for about a week or so and so far, I haven't had any issues with the car battery. In all, IMO if you could get the Eye Car 3 Pro and have it installed that would be the way to go, if not, Thinkware is a great substitute.

[BMWFanBoi]

Originally Posted by PL

I have the Thinkware 2 CH on my E450 which I installed myself. It is a very good dashcam and has a nice web access app as well. I am using a backup battery as well (they are expensive!) and even then at times I just turn it off as there are days that I may not drive the car. As for my 24 X7, I did get the Car Eye 3 pro installed as an option on my build just about a month ago. Comparing the Car Eye and the Thinkware, I would go with the Car Eye for the X7 if the option is available. It has one integrated wire running to the front cam (for both power and rear cam connections) vs. two as with most other 2 channel set ups, it also has a nice touch screen that can be used for quick review of the captured videos whereas with Thinkware I need to login to the App via my phone or take the SD card to a computer to see the videos. The Eye 3 Pro also has the parking monitor mode and like the E450 there are times that my X7 may not get started for about a week or so and so far, I haven't had any issues with the car battery. In all, IMO if you could get the Eye Car 3 Pro and have it installed that would be the way to go, if not, Thinkware is a great substitute.

Thanks for this information. I saw that IND Distribution is selling the BMW Car Eye Pro. I was thinking of buying from them and maybe having it installed.

[willzyx]

Either of those 3 is fine. All of those are pretty much the best on the market. I have the Blackvue DR900S-2CH with a blackvue battery back and couldn't be happier. If you go with a Blackvue, get a polarizing filter, reduces glares. Make sure to change the microsd for Samsung that's specifically designed for dash cams (Pro Endurance).