Quote:
Originally Posted by superbuick
If intrusiveness (or lack thereof) is a concern, skip the CI. Its more intrusive and performs worse, and its more susceptible to wear and tear being outside the car. If offers nothing really other than stealth appearance, and a windshield mount can be hidden pretty high up by the mirror.
Why not considering Valentine 1? I'm not a brand snob - we have both in my household, but the V1 is my choice for my car because the arrows just make it "better". Its chattier than the escort though, but with fewer falses. We have a 9500ix escort for the reference.
As far as the Laser-Interceptor - I am a brand snob there. Its the best jammer out there, and in large part because of the support. Honestly I wouldn't waste my time with other units.
I wired my LI directly into the car off of the cigarette lighter wiring under the center console - that is power switched and easy to tap into, also very close to where wou want the switch mounted anyways. It comes on and off with the car, and has caused me no issues. I have the on/off switch hidden in the ash tray. The box is tucked up under the passenger footwell (you could see it if you layed down in the footwell) for stealthiness, and easy access for updates, and mounting. Passing through the firewall was a non-issue behind the glovebox, and the wires hide under the plastic trim on the passenger side of the engine bay and go straight to the heads mounted in the grille. Its a nice setup, and was a pain-free install. Nothing to screw up immobilizers - its funny to me how worked up the BMW crowd (not you in particular) gets about putting stuff in their cars! Works great - I've been running it in this car for 1.5 years with no issues. Both of my other vehicles have Laser-interceptors in them, as well as two close friends who I convinced to get them. All hassle free.
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Thanks for the feedback - this is definitely useful!
If I went for a non-stealth (built-in) RD, I'd probably lean towards the Escort MAX. The V1 is also an option, but my understanding is that the MAX provides equivalent (if not better, depending upon who you ask) highway distance notification while providing a much better false alert suppression. I like the idea of the arrows on the V1, but honestly I can live without them. My priorities would be distance and minimizing false alerts. Supposedly the MAX is a big step above the 9500ix.
I'm still doing my homework on the laser jammers, and there's plenty of confusing info out there. The majority of what I've read says that the LI unit is one of the best, typically compared to Blinder HP-905. I'm a bit concerned though about some issues I've read about with water leakage problems on the LI heads along with potential "protection failure" against new pulsed laser photo units. I guess I'm less concerned with the protection issues against brand new technologies if LI is on top of their game with updates... a bit more concerned with reports of water leaking into the heads.
I guess none of this stuff is rock solid, and you just get the best available at any given time. Honestly, I don't even really speed. I tend to go around 80 on the highway in 65 zones, which is certainly enough to be pulled over in many cases, but 75 is usually just a tad too slow for me most days. I'm thinking I'd probably want the install done by a professional - although your setup sounds promising, I can just see myself trying to pry panels off and screwing stuff up (cosmetically if not electrically!) - yep, I guess I'm one of those guys you mentioned! Haha