[Topshott1]

So someone in my parking garage hit my car really badly and drove off. Now I'm thinking of Buying a dash cam with parking monitor. I was wondering does this even make sense cause if someone hits Your car from the side while parked it wouldn't catch the car that did it cause they hit you from the side. Am I wrong?

Main question: I don't want to constantly replace a bmw battery cause the dash cams drain the battery while parked. I don't drive everyday and was wondering can you hook up the cam to spare battery. I know bmw is complicated but can I install it to a portable battery?

[oem.plus_440gc]

Not sure about your exact scenario, and technology has come a long way in the past few years, but back around 2017 I installed a blackvue dash cam in my prior car and used their power magic pro, which will keep it from killing your battery. It will work in its parked mode until the battery gets to a certain level and then disable the camera, preventing it from killing the battery. Never once had an issue with my camera/power magic pro. Not sure if there are other/better options on the market today, but this was a setup that worked just fine for me.

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by Topshott1

I don't want to constantly replace a bmw battery cause the dash cams drain the battery while parked. I don't drive everyday and was wondering can you hook up the cam to spare battery. I know bmw is complicated but can I install it to a portable battery?

I have a BlackVue B-124x external battery (https://blackvue.com/power-magic-ultra-battery-b-124x/), 40 minute charge time for 24 hours of dash cam in parking mode.

They subsequently came out with the B-130x external battery (https://shop.blackvue.com/product/po...attery-b-130x/), which is 50 minute charge for 30 hours of dash cam use.

They get charged automatically when driving (assuming you piggy back to the correct fuse that is only on with ignition). I don't drive my car often either, but when I do commute, my drive is 45-60 minutes in rush hour, so that gives me a full charge (can check charge level on app).

Regarding your point about angles, even Teslas with multiple recording angles built in (front, rear, b-pillar, fender, etc) don't always catch perpetrators, or license plates.

[louielouie]

+1 for backup battery i.e. Power Magic Pro/Ultra batteries, Cellink Neo, etc

The con is these backup batteries are expensive but the trade off is they're not the same technology as cell phone backup chargers in that they can full charge very quickly as noted by jkoral. A commute to work or to the store can provide you ample run times to cover you while parked.

There were reports all over with inconsistency in performance on BMWs with voltage regulators and since the backup batteries charge off 12v, I felt way more comfortable with that vs draining my +$1K car battery.

[Topshott1]

Thanks for the replyes

[RockCrusher]

Thinkware dash cams:

All Thinkware Dash Cams feature the Battery Protection (Voltage Cut Off) Setting to ensure you will not return to the vehicle to a low or dead battery. The Dash Cam will automatically power down once the vehicle's battery voltage level is lower than the selected value for more than 5 minutes.

The dash cam has a sentinel mode but wiht the above battery protection feature won't kill the battery.

[Topshott1]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

Thinkware dash cams:

All Thinkware Dash Cams feature the Battery Protection (Voltage Cut Off) Setting to ensure you will not return to the vehicle to a low or dead battery. The Dash Cam will automatically power down once the vehicle's battery voltage level is lower than the selected value for more than 5 minutes.

The dash cam has a sentinel mode but wiht the above battery protection feature won't kill the battery.

The thing is I hear is even with that, they throw off codes on your bmw from research.

[Topshott1]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

Thinkware dash cams:

All Thinkware Dash Cams feature the Battery Protection (Voltage Cut Off) Setting to ensure you will not return to the vehicle to a low or dead battery. The Dash Cam will automatically power down once the vehicle's battery voltage level is lower than the selected value for more than 5 minutes.

The dash cam has a sentinel mode but wiht the above battery protection feature won't kill the battery.

The thing is I hear is even with that, they throw off codes on your bmw from research.