Escort Install

Have any e60 owners had an Escort hardwired? I'm not too keen on doing the DIY but would definitely be interested in finding a place around NYC or Westchester/Duchess/Columbia counties that would do it.

Anything I should consider before having it done?

In my opinion, I'd take the Escort back and get yourself a V1. I've had both and find the V1 is much more reliable. I wired it into one of the switches above the rearview mirror. There are a few threads on installs you can find by doing a search on Valentine One.

I agree the V1 is such a nicer more feature rich unit...but in any case.

I tried hardwiring my V1 using the wire that powers the sunroof, problem is it detects the load on the wire and activates the antitrap feature and the sunroof opens and wont close.
So I decided to opt for an seemless install using the 6-8' long cord and plugging into the hidden cigarette lighter above the feet of the passenger side of the E60. Works great and easily removable, if anyone is interested in photos I can take some and post if you would like. But basicly ran the wire under the lip of the headliner and down the A-pilar and down the seams in the dash, totally invisible.

Happy scanning, has any Californians come across the laods of K brand solar powered speed monitoring devices on the highways lately? At least in the Silicon Valley they are every where. I am tempted to disable the K band frquency on the V1, since CHP uses the Ka band, and all those dummy radars use K.

Originally Posted by Chnsky545i

I agree the V1 is such a nicer more feature rich unit...but in any case.

I tried hardwiring my V1 using the wire that powers the sunroof, problem is it detects the load on the wire and activates the antitrap feature and the sunroof opens and wont close.
So I decided to opt for an seemless install using the 6-8' long cord and plugging into the hidden cigarette lighter above the feet of the passenger side of the E60. Works great and easily removable, if anyone is interested in photos I can take some and post if you would like. But basicly ran the wire under the lip of the headliner and down the A-pilar and down the seams in the dash, totally invisible.

Happy scanning, has any Californians come across the laods of K brand solar powered speed monitoring devices on the highways lately? At least in the Silicon Valley they are every where. I am tempted to disable the K band frquency on the V1, since CHP uses the Ka band, and all those dummy radars use K.

Thank you for that. I would actually be keen to see the picture of your install. Sounds like an excellent solution.

I've been reading the hardwire install posts and no one has yet mentioned the anti-trap issue that you had.

Thanks for responding.

Will post pics tomorrow night.

Here is a pic of the V1, mounted just above the rear view mirror still able to use passenger visor and not block the rear sensor.


Side of the V1 above the rear view mirror


I squeezed the wire between the base of the A-pillar and the dash (invisible)


I utilized the extra (switched) cig lighter above the feet of the passenger side

It is not this visible, I took this at a low angle, so you can get a better idea of the install. I only found the outlet trying to look for a wire to hardwire to on the passenger side, I found gold instead.

Hope these pics help. I did this install in 5 minutes, not to mention the hour I spent trying to hardwire it and realizing the hardwiring to the sunroof lead caused it to anti-trap and not close.

I wired up my V1 to the green wire with yellow sprial stripe on it and grounded to one of the torx screws right there. Worked like a charm...no problems with the sunroof. I have the remote display and placed it in the corner where the windshield meets the dash on the driver's side. I, too, put my V1 on the right side of the rearview mirror. Worked nicely on our recent 4700 mile trip to Canada....

Impressive install, thank you for posting pictures of your handiwork. I'm thinking that I may need to switch over to Valentine. Escort offers onlt the curled wire that plugs into the outlet, the straight wire is only available in the hard-wire version.

I knew that the footwell plug was there but it's not convenient for things that you plug and unplug often as it's at such a difficult angle. I use it for my Ipodf Monster Transmitter now but can move that to the ashtray plug once I free it up (that's where the Escort is now).

Thanks for the great information and advice. I'll have a play around with it this weekend. I'm just at the end of the break-in so hoping for some unfettered milage!

Have a great one.

No offense, but there are many examples of much cleaner installs than that one. I'd suggest you do as Agent 99 suggests and hardwire it into the headliner panel and not route the wire down to the footwell and plug it in. Its very simple...and if you are not up to it, I'm sure you must have a friend that knows a little bit about wiring and could easily handle the install in 15 minutes. This will allow you to get an Escort if you want to.

Originally Posted by fuenfwagon

Impressive install, thank you for posting pictures of your handiwork. I'm thinking that I may need to switch over to Valentine. Escort offers onlt the curled wire that plugs into the outlet, the straight wire is only available in the hard-wire version.

I knew that the footwell plug was there but it's not convenient for things that you plug and unplug often as it's at such a difficult angle. I use it for my Ipodf Monster Transmitter now but can move that to the ashtray plug once I free it up (that's where the Escort is now).

Thanks for the great information and advice. I'll have a play around with it this weekend. I'm just at the end of the break-in so hoping for some unfettered milage!

Have a great one.