Dashcam Hardwiring

[Miller]

Hi folks,

I am expecting delivery of a Cayenne Electric S in January and am looking into dashcams since it's Prime Day in the USA. I have settled on the Viofo A329S dashcam and wanted to ask if anyone had issues with hardwiring a dashcam to a Cayenne EV (or any Porsche EV for that matter)? Some web search results mentioned hardwiring in general might trigger the EV's alert/error messages.

 

[Wivenhoe]

In the UK the prewiring for dashcams is standard. Have you optioned it ? For some obscure reason the UK dealers are still waiting for installation instructions for the Porsche dashcams from Germany.

The Macan EV forum had loads of posts from owners having non Porsche dashcams fitted with no issues at all.

 

[Miller]

In the UK the prewiring for dashcams is standard. Have you optioned it ? For some obscure reason the UK dealers are still waiting for installation instructions for the Porsche dashcams from Germany.

The Macan EV forum had loads of posts from owners having non Porsche dashcams fitted with no issues at all.

@Wivenhoe I had always assumed the prewiring option was meant for Porsche dashcams only. I'll follow up with my sales guy to see what it entails and if it's useful for non-Porsche dashcams. Thanks for bringing this up.

 

[Wivenhoe]

I think all the pre-wiring it is that the cables are pre-run in the headlining - it seems to still take the dealer a few hours to install.

Might be worth you trawling through the Macan EV forum - here's a thread
https://www.macanevowners.com/forum/threads/fitcamx-dashcam-install.25513/page-2#post-427212

 

[Saladin]

I have the Viofo A329 2ch installed in my Macan. Although I had optioned the dashcam pre-wiring, it's permanently plugged into the lighter socket. No error messages.

The only thing worth noting is that I was away last month and the battery level dropped by 13% over exactly one week. While I'm not 100% this is related, I can't think of any other reason. So I'll either unplug the cable or account for a SOC draw of ~2%/day before going on holiday again just in case.

 

[Awaz]

@Saladin
Your Club leather interior in truffle brown looks nice in pictures. Not many go for this option.
How does it look in real, and what is your experience of it?

 

[Saladin]

@Awaz, I'm really happy with my choice and would spec it on my next Porche if it goes well with my selection of exterior colour. The truffle brown is much richer in real life than pictures show, especially compared to the configurator where the colour appears flat.

It's a less expensive option on the GTS and Turbo at £2,200 compared to £3,500 on other trims, so I suppose it was slightly easier to justify as I was pretty set on Turbo. Worth every penny IMO.

I also opted for center console side panels in leather with the stitching also in truffle brown.

 

[Awaz]

Thanks.
I was thinking of going with truffle brown on the GTS when I next change the model.
And likewise, I had the same idea of going leather on centre console side panels and a racetex roof

 

[D3REM]

Re, Dashcam - I’ve just been going through exactly this with my UK Cayenne Turbo Coupé Electric order.

As said above, the UK car has the factory dashcam preparation, but when I discussed fitting the Porsche front/rear dashcam with my Porsche Centre, both my sales contact and her manager actually advised me not to go ahead with the Porsche system. My understanding was that there were still questions/issues around the installation and that, for the money, it wasn't particularly compelling compared with some of the better aftermarket systems.

I've therefore cancelled the Porsche dashcam and am currently looking at a BlackVue Elite 10 2CH, potentially with the B-130A dedicated battery for parking mode. The attraction of the separate battery is precisely to avoid unnecessary parked-state draw from the Porsche's 12V system, particularly given some of the EV battery-management stories mentioned above.

The slightly strange part is that, despite Porsche supplying the Cayenne Electric in the UK with dashcam preparation, I'm still trying to establish exactly what that preparation actually provides and whether/how it can sensibly be utilised by a third-party installation. I've gone back to my Porsche Centre and asked them to get a technical answer from the workshop on:

• whether a professionally installed BlackVue would have any warranty implications;
• exactly what the factory dashcam preparation consists of;
• whether Porsche has wiring/installation instructions that can be provided to an aftermarket installer; and
• whether they have a Porsche/EV-experienced installer they would recommend.

I certainly don't want somebody taking a brand-new Cayenne Electric apart and experimenting with wiring, airbags and trim to find out!

Once Porsche come back to me, I'll post what they say here as it might be useful to other UK owners considering an aftermarket front/rear system.

The Macan EV experience is reassuring, but I'd still like to know the proper Cayenne Electric installation route rather than assuming what works on the Macan/Taycan necessarily applies identically to the Cayenne.

 

[Wivenhoe]

They are the details the dealer is awaiting. I have asked UK Customer Disservice when the details will be issued to dealers but they haven’t given a response. I’m in the dealers tomorrow and will push for a resolution. The problem is that if I ask for the cost back, I’ll then have to find someone who will not butcher the interior or be vastly expensive due to removing stuff as they won’t know where the pre-wiring is.

 

[D3REM]

As I mentioned, the dealers view was amusing but annoying i.e. the Porsche dashcam is "old tech", it wasn't particularly good compared with the aftermarket alternatives - doesn't inspire confidence considering Porsche is charging around £1,000 for it!

The problem, as you've rightly pointed out, is the installation. I don't particularly want someone experimenting with the wiring and dismantling the interior of a brand-new +£150k Porsche, especially when they may never have worked on the new Cayenne Electric before.

And the bigger concern is what happens if something subsequently goes wrong electrically. Porsche would most likely attribute the problem to the aftermarket installation, while the installer points the finger back at Porsche. Suddenly you're stuck in the middle trying to establish who's responsible.

So the dilemma is whether to pay Porsche a premium for a system their own people don't seem particularly enthusiastic about, but with the reassurance of a dealer installation, or fit a technically superior aftermarket system and accept the potential installation and warranty complications.

It seems rather ridiculous that Porsche supplies the car with dashcam preparation but apparently hasn't provided dealers with the necessary installation guidance!

I'm going to follow up with my dealer as well tomorrow and ask for a proper technical response regarding the pre-wiring, warranty implications and whether they have an approved or recommended installer.

We can compare notes at the end of day.