Mounting a C550 in a Mini Cooper

If you don't regularly have passengers (and maybe if you do), what about on the left side of the windshield in the lower corner?

I have also tried man differnt areas and found that puttinging on the drivers side (left) on the windshiled (or on the corrner on the dash) seems to be a great place.. It is out of the way and I (and even my passangers) can see it. I would move it if my passanger wants to play around with it but it live mostly there.. Seems to be a good place for me - oh yea, I own a mini Van..

I tried mounting it on the left side of the windshield this morning, it seems to work great. You really notice the vibration in the car with it mounted on the windshield. Thanks again!

I have mine mounted in the lower left hand corner of the windshield because I am left handed. Sorta sucks that I have to have that power cord drapping around the steering column, I use battery most of the time.

I use the Battery too. I hate having that cord in my way all the time. When I get home, I plug the gps in my usb on my computer just to recharge it then.. This seems to be working great so far. Every once in a while I may use the car plug but dont like it.

Windshield mounting can get you a traffic ticket in California and Minnesota, since I live near, and occasionally travel in Minnesota, my 350 mounted is on the dash. http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1351 shows where I keep mine...yes, that's a picture of my unit, in my 2007 Chevy Colorado LT.

I read that disclaimer when I bought mine from Costco. Has any one actually gotten a ticket for mounting something on the windshield?

By using battery all the time, I am under the assumption that most of you take the GPS in and out of your vehicles on a consistent basis. You never worry about running out in a rush and forgetting it? I use the chord but I am a neat freak so I have the wiring practically invisible. It runs down the side of the dashboard as I too have mine mounted left side of windshield (Ford-expedition)and then it runs under the dashboard and then plugs into the cigarette lighter so there is no unwanted wires in my way.

Do they make a hardwire cord for the garmins?

Which garmin? Which type of mount?

I have a c530. I am not sure what mount it is, just the standard suction cup mount that came with it.

GPSs need to have a generic plug like the top radar detectors (RD) have. It is easy to hardwire your RD

I'm not aware of any Garmin models that have a bare wire power cord for the vehicle(car) mount. The only ones that are that way are for the motorcycle mounts. But it's fairly easy to add a circuit add add a 12V outlet.

Google "littelfuse add-a-circuit". You simply plug this into your fuse box into a circuit you can get power from, and you can add a circuit. I used the circuit going to the 12V outlet on the other side of my car, so I could have and outlet under the driver's side of the dash.

Sometimes it's not possible to have a direct wire setup because the voltage reducer is in the plug.
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Yeah, like I said, I wish that they were like RDs, they have NO power modifications so you can just hook up a phone cord to it!!!!

EDIT: Ok, I sounded like a real smarty. Sorry!

But at least GPSs have extended battery life. That is why I use battery most of the time.

http://www.garmin.com/products/vib10/
that's the one for the c550

Thanks, but that isn't what I am talking about. I simply wanted a power cord that had bare wires so I could directly put into my vehicle's power source.

I am going to get another Cigarette Lighter powercord and then just cut the CL part off, splice it in with a fuse, and hook it to my closest power source.

I was thinking you had the integrated traffic receiver, but I guess not.

A long time ago, radio shack had a connecter for 12V systems, it was a quick disconnect and basically looked like the ends of an extension cord. Meaning one was male and one female. You'd run wire from the fuse box to where you needed it, and put on one of the connectors, then do the same from the unit you were connecting. Then you connected and disconnected very easily. I used them for my 8 track player...now that was a long time ago!

Once I have my GPS hardwired, I would never remove the wiring.

But to be honest, like the above said, I use my battery and unless I go on a long trip (8+ hours), there is no need have a external power source.

When I get home or work, I simply plug my usb cord in and I am all set for my next outing.

I just bought a RAM Can mount! This mount consists of a full soda can (or beer) and an adapter with a 6" flex arm. It works great! No vibrations, does not block any of my instruments. The part number is RAP-299U-6DD (RAM-A-CAN Vehicle Cup Holder Mount).