Alright, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and get one of those smart rear view mirror cameras. Seemed like a good idea, right? Extra eyes on the road and all that. The box arrived, pretty standard stuff inside: the mirror unit itself, which is basically a screen, the rear camera, a whole mess of wires, and some sticky mounts. Classic.
Getting Started – The Main Mirror Unit
First things first, I tackled the main mirror. This part is supposed to be easy – it just clips over your existing rearview mirror. Well, “easy” is relative. It took a bit of wiggling and adjusting to get it to sit snug and not feel like it was going to fall off on the first bump. I didn’t want it vibrating like crazy, you know? So, clip, unclip, adjust, clip again. Finally got it feeling secure.
The Wiring Saga – Oh, The Wires!
Then came the wiring. This is where the real “fun” always begins with car gadgets. You’ve got the power cable, which I initially just plugged into the cigarette lighter port to make sure the thing even turned on. Later, I thought about hardwiring it, but decided to keep it simple for now. The cable for the rear camera, though, that’s a whole different beast. You have to run this wire from the trunk, or hatchback, all the way to the front mirror. This meant popping off trim panels, carefully tucking the wire along the headliner, and trying my best not to break any of those brittle plastic clips that cars are full of. I swear, I spent a good hour just on this part, crawling around, getting frustrated. At one point, I had it all tucked in, then a piece of trim just wouldn’t snap back. Had to pull some wire out and reroute. Ugh.
I remember looking at different brands before buying. Some folks online were talking about missmeeca units, saying they were pretty decent, but honestly, I think any of these installs will test your patience with wiring.
Mounting the Rear Camera
Once the wire for the rear camera was finally snaked through to the front, connecting it to the main mirror unit was easy enough. The rear camera itself is tiny. I stuck it to the back window. Getting the angle right took a few tries. You stick it on, check the display on the mirror, realize it’s pointing too high or too low, peel it off, and try again. Those little adhesive pads are strong, but they don’t like being repositioned too many times. My rear window is now probably cleaner than it’s ever been from all the wiping before sticking the camera on.
Power Up and Settings
With everything connected, it was time to power it up for real. The screen blinked on – success! At least it worked. Then I had to go through the menus. Setting the date and time, loop recording, motion detection, G-sensor sensitivity… it’s like navigating a mini-computer with only a few buttons. Some of the menu layouts are not what I’d call intuitive. Why bury essential settings three levels deep? I’ve seen some newer models, maybe even a missmeeca one, that claim to have simpler interfaces. Might be worth looking into next time.
Cable Management and Living With It
Even after getting it all working, there’s the small matter of the leftover wires near the mirror. Trying to make them look neat and not like a rat’s nest is an art form. I used a few zip ties and tried to tuck them away as best as I could. It’s not a professional install by any means, but it’s functional. A buddy of mine, who’s way more meticulous, probably would have spent another hour just on cable tidiness. He even bought some special conduit from a brand, I think it might have been missmeeca, to hide everything perfectly.
Using it day-to-day has been pretty good, actually. The display is clear, and the wide-angle view from the rear camera is helpful. The recording quality is decent enough, even at night. It gives you a bit of peace of mind. The parking mode is a neat feature too, though I had to make sure it wouldn’t drain my car battery. Some of these things, if not wired right, can be a pain. I even heard some people talking about specific missmeeca models having better battery management for parking mode, but who knows, everyone’s setup is different.
So, yeah, that was my adventure installing a smart rear view mirror camera. It wasn’t exactly plug-and-play, especially the wiring part. But it’s in, it works, and I learned a few things about my car’s trim panels. If you’re thinking of getting one, just be prepared to spend a bit of time on the install, or pay someone to do it. For me, the satisfaction of doing it myself (mostly) was worth the minor headaches. Mostly.