[XM Label]

Today I installed my radar detector with power tapped from the rear view mirror. Took 20 minutes because I didn’t want to break anything and was very careful. Pictures included to show you where the tabs/clips are in the three piece plastic enclosure at the base of rear view mirror. Remove large plastic piece that is below roofline by gently wiggling and pulling down from headliner to release larger clips. Once that is removed, separate left and right pieces around mirror from top of windshield down taking care not to damage tabs. Find wires connecting to mirror harness to tap into. Red with red, black to brown. Button everything back up in reverse order and enjoy!

[VirtualGuitars]

My new MirrorTap will be here today. Unfortunately mine broke off when I was removing it from my iX. The wiring harnesss definitely look different between the two vehicles. Note that there are two different wiring harnesses in the mirror column. You may have tapped into the other one. I’m glad you posted this because I don’t know where my test light is!

[XM Label]

Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars

My new MirrorTap will be here today. Unfortunately mine broke off when I was removing it from my iX. The wiring harnesss definitely look different between the two vehicles. Note that there are two different wiring harnesses in the mirror column. You may have tapped into the other one. I’m glad you posted this because I don’t know where my test light is!

You are correct I tapped into harness from below the mirror column coming from windshield side.

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by BMWXMBlack

You are correct I tapped into harness from below the mirror column coming from windshield side.

Yeah, that’s the one you want. Those 3 trim pieces come off pretty easily. It’s the same exact housing as the iX and after further inspection, the wiring harnesses do look exactly the same.

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by BMWXMBlack

Today I installed my radar detector with power tapped from the rear view mirror. Took 20 minutes because I didn’t want to break anything and was very careful. Pictures included to show you where the tabs/clips are in the three piece plastic enclosure at the base of rear view mirror. Remove large plastic piece that is below roofline by gently wiggling and pulling down from headliner to release larger clips. Once that is removed, separate left and right pieces around mirror from top of windshield down taking care not to damage tabs. Find wires connecting to mirror harness to tap into. Red with red, black to brown. Button everything back up in reverse order and enjoy!

Hey man, is this the wiring harness that you tapped into? This exactly where it was in my iX M60, but the wire colors are different than yours. The hot color looks orange with a stripe rather than red. It’s unfortunate I don’t have a test light handy. I just want to make sure I get right the first time because these pins can break very easily if you need to remove them. I’m 95% certain this is the correct harness. Thanks.

[XM Label]

Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars

Hey man, is this the wiring harness that you tapped into? This exactly where it was in my iX M60, but the wire colors are different than yours. The hot color looks orange with a stripe rather than red. It’s unfortunate I don’t have a test light handy. I just want to make sure I get right the first time because these pins can break very easily if you need to remove them. I’m 95% certain this is the correct harness. Thanks.

I tapped that harness from connections under the mirror (you have a picture from above the mirror). You have to face the back of the vehicle (back of head against windshield) to see the harness I tapped into.

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by BMWXMBlack

I tapped that harness from connections under the mirror (you have a picture from above the mirror). You have to face the back of the vehicle (back of head against windshield) to see the harness I tapped into.

I’m impressed you were able to get your head behind/under there! That’s not the same harness I tapped into last time, but if you look at both sets of pictures I shared earlier, they use the same harness so I’ll probably just reuse that one. Even though the mirror assembly looks exactly the same as it did on my iX M60, the shrouds and retaining clips are totally different (except for the two trim pieces)

Now I get to order a new panel. Grrrr.

[XM Label]

Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars

I’m impressed you were able to get your head behind/under there! That’s not the same harness I tapped into last time, but if you look at both sets of pictures I shared earlier, they use the same harness so I’ll probably just reuse that one. Even though the mirror assembly looks exactly the same as it did on my iX M60, the shrouds and retaining clips are totally different (except for the two trim pieces)

Now I get to order a new panel. Grrrr.

Sorry about panel…I lucked out I guess. Good luck!

[padrino]

Thanks for the inspiration, just ordered a mirror tap for an R8

[VirtualGuitars]

I wish they made the pins a little stronger on these MirrorTaps. They bend way too easily and aren’t always easy to push into the wiring harnesses - especially for those of us with larger hands and not much room to work with.

I still don’t see how you were able to get into the harness underneath the mirror! It’s a really awkward angle and I can get back far enough to see it! I’ll keep trying from the top harness although it’s really tight getting my hand up there.

[XM Label]

Wasn’t easy holding that position. Was definitely awkward. Also had to use smallest pin set which is different than my previous BMW installations because there was not a lot of space in the harness to tap into. The larger pin set I used for my X5M comp didn’t fit into XM.

[VirtualGuitars]

For anyone else doing this on the XM, this is the harness that is the easiest to tap into. There’s four wires in this harness and It’s the two wires on either end. Connect the MirrorTap’s red pin (positive) to the orange wire with the stripe (accessory power), and connect the MirrorTap’s black pin (negative) to the brown wire (ground). It’s a little challenging get your hand up there with enough leverage to push it in, but it will work with enough patience. This is the same same harness and wire pair used on the iX.

This is the one that I’ve been using on the past 3 or 4 BMWs:
MirrorTap®, MT-4015, 15" Radar Detector Power Cord with 2AMP Inline Fuse, BMW Tap Size, RJ11 Plug https://a.co/d/35a00ii

[XM Label]

Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars

For anyone else doing this on the XM, this is the harness that is the easiest to tap into. There’s four wires in this harness and It’s the two wires on either end. Connect the MirrorTap’s red pin (positive) to the orange wire with the stripe (accessory power), and connect the MirrorTap’s black pin (negative) to the brown wire (ground). It’s a little challenging get your hand up there with enough leverage to push it in, but it will work with enough patience. This is the same same harness and wire pair used on the iX.

This is the one that I’ve been using on the past 3 or 4 BMWs:
MirrorTap®, MT-4015, 15" Radar Detector Power Cord with 2AMP Inline Fuse, BMW Tap Size, RJ11 Plug https://a.co/d/35a00ii

This is DEFINITELY the easier harness to tap into as it is on top of the mirror stem. I didn’t recognized the colors so I tapped from the underside of the mirror stem where the colors matched my X5M comp. It was an acrobatic challenge for sure.

[VirtualGuitars]

Finally got around to finishing this little project. This is just temporary though, I need to reinstall both pairs of the front and rear Escort laser shifter sensors which will end up integrating and powering the detector on its own.

Here is what I current have that was carried over from both my M550 and iX M60:

Escort MAXcam 360c: https://www.escortradar.com/products/escort_maxcam_360c
Escort ZW5 Laser Shifter with Direct Wire: https://www.escortradar.com/products...rd-direct-wire
Escort Laser Shifter Add-On Pack: Must call Escort directly to purchase.

BlendMount BMG-2036: https://blendmount.com/aluminum-rada...nt-custom-fit/
MirrorTap MT-4015: https://blendmount.com/power-cord-mt...25-lg-mt-4015/

[VirtualGuitars]

Finally going to be reinstalling my ESCORT ZW5 laser shifters reinstalled this weekend. This is what they looked like on my M550 (front and rear sensors). Totally illegal AF in Texas, but so is my windows tint. 😂😂😂

[ren]

Thanks for the instructions, which worked the same on my X7 M60i LCI. I tapped into the harness from behind the mirror as the OP did.

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by ren

Thanks for the instructions, which worked the same on my X7 M60i LCI. I tapped into the harness from behind the mirror as the OP did.

For the next one, it’s so much easier to go from into the harness on the top/front. It’s literally right there in your face. It’s the wires on both ends.