[evanevery]

I've begun testing the mount for my Valentine1 Radar Detector in the i8. Its basically mounted on the windshield up near the roofline and to the right (pass side) of the mirror. I've run the wiring under the headliner, tucked in behind the A-Pillar trim, down inside the rubber door molding, and into the drivers side instrument panel. I'm running the V1 from an OBD power tap and through a remote display unit with an optional bluetooth transmitter. The remote display keeps the V1 dark and moves all indications down to where only the driver can see them (not visible outside the car). Here is a shot of the remote/bluetooth units:



Anyway, I've moved the Radar Detector around to multiple locations on the windshield and I'm still getting lots of false Laser detections (front only). I've seen this before with other cars (FX45) when rolling up close to certain cars at stoplights, but never to this extent. Some positions appear better than others (radar detector facing up slightly, further away from mirror assembly). However, I've never seen so many false laser alerts than I'm getting with the i8. Sometime they appear to be almost at regular intervals (about once per minute).

I do have the Laser Headlights (but this issue is not limited to night driving). I know the i8 has lots of sensors for road/vehicle detection and I've also heard some Nav systems can emit laser specific interference (display?).

I'm still troubleshooting this. I can turn off the laser function in the V1, but I'm also wondering if other folks are seeing similar issues which are unique to the i8?

[vance]

I have a passport max 360 and the only false laser detections I get are when I use my iPhone X and it requires Face ID for something (unlocking phone, opening an app, etc). If your phone has facial recognition it could likely be that too since the facial recognition sensors are classified as lasers

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by vance

I have a passport max 360 and the only false laser detections I get are when I use my iPhone X and it requires Face ID for something (unlocking phone, opening an app, etc). If your phone has facial recognition it could likely be that too since the facial recognition sensors are classified as lasers

I thought it might be phone related as well so I turned off my phone and put it in my backpack.

It wasn't the phone... But thanks for the suggestion!

[evanevery]

I called Valentine and it looks like it is interference from the Nav Screen. They said they see this on some newer vehicles. I thought I heard the Nav system was updated on the 2019's but I'm not sure. Maybe this is only an issue starting with the 2019's?

I was able to test this by shielding the front of the detector by using my hand and it does appear to mitigate the issue.

Valentine Tech Support said some V1 owners (with similar issues) were taping business cards to their detectors to shield them from the Nav Screens. Mmmm? Let me see... No!

I worked up a profile of the front outline of the V1 so I could make a sleeve to fit over the front of the unit. I 3D printed and tweaked the outline until I got a nice fit. Then, I took careful measurements from the front of the V1 to the windshield. This included not only the distance, but also the angle, of the windshield. After that, I basically took the outline of the sleeve and extruded it and sliced it to meet the angle of the windshield. Here is what the 3D print of the V1 Shroud looks like:

[evanevery]

One other interesting thing to note...

The i8 apparently doesn't like "things" left in the OBD2 port when locking the car. (It even documents this in the iDrive owner's manual).

I had the V1 set up to use an "OBD2 Power Tap" that they sell. It not only provides power to the V1 from the OBD2 port, but it also provides the ability to mute the alerts from the V1 at a user selectable speed (from OBD2 data). This eliminates audible alerts when the vehicle is traveling below the selected speed (35 mph) or while sitting at a traffic light.

Anyway, this all worked fine until I tried to lock the car! A few seconds after locking the car the alarm would activate.

I can confirm the i8 does NOT like to have "unknown devices" connected to the OBD2 port!

I then re-wired the radar detector to use "Acc Power" from a micro-tap I had previously installed in the fuse box.

[delete_account]

Originally Posted by evanevery

I worked up a profile of the front outline of the V1 so I could make a sleeve to fit over the front of the unit....

Does your stray emission shroud narrow the detector's reception field?

[NGR]

Is this related to hand gesture control? Not sure if it's on the new i8s even but I could see that using laser to detect hand movement.

Or, do cars use laser for blind spot detection? Might explain false alerts when pulling up next to certain other vehicles.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by atthelimit

Does your stray emission shroud narrow the detector's reception field?

No, microwave frequency emissions (as used in radar) are not hindered by the plastic shroud.

It would narrow the laser reception, but laser is always a direct, head on, stationary, source.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by NGR

Is this related to hand gesture control? Not sure if it's on the new i8s even but I could see that using laser to detect hand movement.

Or, do cars use laser for blind spot detection? Might explain false alerts when pulling up next to certain other vehicles.

I had also heard that hand gesture control can cause laser false alerts. I checked (iDrive manual) to see if my 2019 has hand gesture control. I do not see any reference to it.

Cars can and do use laser type sensors for blind spot detection (and also adaptive cruise control). I sometimes saw interference in my FX45 when I rolled up behind vehicles with large reflective back ends at traffic lights. But this, is not either of those...

This is very clearly interference from the Nav Screen. I can demonstrably mitigate the false alarms by shadowing the radar detector with my hand between the Nav Display.

The shroud I printed extends all the way to the windshield. Its a bit long, but it aligns with the windshield perfectly. I ran a test yesterday and it successfully eliminates the laser interference.

I am right now printing a shorter version to test. Maybe it doesn't need to extend all the way to the windshield. (Although it looks pretty cool!)

[delete_account]

Originally Posted by evanevery

No, microwave frequency emissions (as used in radar) are not hindered by the plastic shroud.

So it's light emission from the nav, not EMR? Thought you might be wrapping the printed plastic cover with adhesive foil.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by atthelimit

So it's light emission from the nav, not EMR? Thought you might be wrapping the printed plastic cover with adhesive foil.

Its all light-based. No foil required!

Here's the short version I just finished printing. (The little bump on the top is where the shorter visor will rest against the windshield. I'll glue a little rubber strip on it.) Will test this tonight:

[NGR]

Could some kind of tint-film over the screen help? Maybe a more elegant solution than a bolt-on shroud?

Would be interesting to know why the newer screens are throwing out light in the same region as laser guns.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by NGR

Could some kind of tint-film over the screen help? Maybe a more elegant solution than a bolt-on shroud?

Would be interesting to know why the newer screens are throwing out light in the same region as laser guns.

My radar detector is very high up on the windshield (above the mirror), and its on the passenger side of the mirror, so you can barely notice the detector much less the shroud. ...and this is not a "bolt on" shroud... Its a very thin, lightweight, easily removable, friction fit shroud.

I'm not going to tint my Nav Screen, thank you. My old eyes have problems enough trying to read things in/on the dashboard...

I have no way to know if this is unique to the newer nav screens. I don't have an older i8 to compare this with.

Additionally, I know a lot of owners use a mount which places their radar detectors BELOW the mirror. This ultimately places them further forward on the windshield and may mitigate the interference issue. However, I don't like these mounts as they take a lot of unnecessary viewing area from the driver's perspective (and also make the radar detector quite visible from outside and behind the car).

Another contributing factor might be the actual brand of Radar Detector. My V1 might be more sensitive to interference than other brands. However, I should note that I have run the exact same unit in a BMW M6, BMW M4, and BMW X6M without any prior issue. (It should be noted that the windshield in the i8 has more rake to it so it does place the detector further back in the car and therefore more behind the nav screen)

[evanevery]

The first shroud I made was designed to fit right up against the windshield. It worked as intended.

I ran some experiments with a couple of shorter shrouds with a 1" and 2" "lower lip". Both of these had interference issues. However, the longer the lip, the less interference. I'm wondering if some of the interference is actually reflecting back off the windshield...

During the initial designs and testing, I was using the manufacturers radar detector mount to attach it to the windshield, and then slipping the shrouds over the front end to block the interference. It occurred to me I could make a much cleaner installation if I just combined the radar detector mount and the shroud into a single unit. Attach the shroud/mount to the windshield and just slide the radar detector forward into it. The power connector (RJ32) would then be used to lock the detector into the mount/shroud. The mounting pads/area on the shroud work great with 3M VHB double-sided adhesive tape. (I've used VMB tape for years to mount stuff to windshields. Its very strong, never had it fail, yet can still be removed if desired).

I took one more measurement to get a really good fit and alignment. The i8 windshield is not only raked at 22.4 degrees (front-back), but in the vicinity of the mount location it also falls off at 2.4 degrees (side-side). Slicing the new mount/shroud leaves the left (driver) side a little taller and longer than the right (pass side) but it fits nice and square to the windshield (on the pass side, and just above, the mirror: