Mounting behind rearview mirror - driver vs. passenger side?

[sac02]

What is everybody's preferred location when mounting a cam behind the rearview mirror?

I recently purchased a B40/A118,and am thinking about where to mount it when it arrives. This is my first dashcam purchase/installation. Here are some of the pros/cons I had thought of so far:

Drivers side allows easier access, but how often do you really need to access the camera once installed and setup?

Passenger side is more hidden for the driver, so a slightly cleaner install - but if there is some issue with the camera the driver is less likely to notice and address it quickly.

 

[Gibson99]

my problem with the a118 being on the driverside is the mirror sometimes hits it when i adjust the mirror. i couldnt put it on the passenger side as that's where my toll road transponder is, and i can't remove that without destroying it.

 

[DT MI]

My preference is right on the center line of the vehicle - mine is and the one in my wife's car is off to the right. To me it just feels uncomfortable viewing the videos taken 'off center'.

 

[Nigel]

My preference is right on the center line of the vehicle - mine is and the one in my wife's car is off to the right. To me it just feels uncomfortable viewing the videos taken 'off center'.

Agreed, mine is on the centre line too, but the lens isn't in the centre of the camera and the small offset spoils the video slightly. If I ever re-mount it then I will ensure that the lens is central to the vehicle.

 

[Chode]

One other factor to consider is: how far up your wipers reach? Placing dashcam out of sight is great, but if it's outside the wipe area, it kind of defeats the purpose (been there, done that ) ... for that reason my front dashcam is on passenger side (just) as my left wiper is longer ...

 

[Nigel]

One other factor to consider is: how far up your wipers reach? Placing dashcam out of sight is great, but if it's outside the wipe area, it kind of defeats the purpose (been there, done that ) ... for that reason my front dashcam is on passenger side (just) as my left wiper is longer ...

On most cars you can fit longer wiper blades to gain an extra inch or so in height.

 

[sac02]

In my particular car, center is not an option - the attachment point for the mirror is low, but not super low. So I can't mount above it or below it feasibly.

Good point about the windshield wiper reach, I will make sure to confirm that it is OK before I choose the placement.

 

[jokiin]

center is good if it works for the vehicle, passenger side generally has a bit more room, in one of our cars I have them mounted behind the mirror but the led's are just slightly above the mirror so it's quite easy to see if anything is going on

 

[Chode]

On most cars you can fit longer wiper blades to gain an extra inch or so in height.

Indeed, but if your wipers move in opposite directions, only the top one can really be played with.
On my car, I actually added 4" on top of Mercedes specified passenger wiper length, so it's 28" now; and 2" added to the driver side ... can't squeeze in an extra millimetre on top of that, try as I may LOL
Another trick is, at least in the UK, to make sure the mount is OVER the wipe area (yes, I know everyone and their dog ignore this rule, but hey ... )

 

[Sunny]

Doesn't matter.
I've mounted multiple cameras so one is on the left, two are right and one is below the rear view mirror.
There is not much difference in angle plus I adjust mount/angle so all point roughly at the same FOV.

 

[MoneyT8]

I've tried driver and passenger and definitely prefer passenger because it's more discrete. I find that if it's on the driver side it's more distracting to the driver. The downside is that you may not know if it's working properly or not but if you just check periodically than you should be fine. Every car is different so If I could I would mount it in the middle of the windshield.

 

[mike_f]

Just fitted a 0801 behind the rearview mirror, only problem was that the mirror back is white, so got the Mrs to paint the mirror back black to match !

Will post pics when completed.

 

[M---]

I wanted my dashcam to hide in front of the mirror. Because of the angle of the mirror, there wasn't enough space between the mirror and the glass on the driver's side. So I had to mount it on the passenger side. It's fine there.

I'm not able to see the cam's screen, but occasionally I check on it-- I pull the mirror off to the side and lean myself over to see the screen. Works well enough, plus periodically (every 2-3 weeks) I take the cam off to offload any interesting videos that I've saved.

 

[Geralt]

My car has tint strip and little black dots in center of car and directly behind windshield the only compromise would be to set the camera right below the tint which ends up in middle center of windshield or set it in passenger side. I like passenger side so passenger can be distracted with video