letitsnow

Bought the Blinder HP-905 and searched the forums for an easy way to get the wires from the control module in the cabin to the sensors on the grille through the firewall. There seemed to be no easy path for the cabling to get through the firewall, especially on a manual transmission car. Most articles advocated dismounting the ECU housing and possibly the windshield washer reservoir then trying to stuff the wires through some existing tight opening that required some dashboard dissasembly to access. The beauty of this install is that you never have to take any part of the dash apart and there are no holes to drill.

If you are planning an HP-905 install using this method, I would just print out the text written here and go out to your car with the hood and the driver door open to follow along. Once you visualize the path of the wires, you probably won't even need this description of the install, its pretty intuitive. Also, it's hard to see the wires in my pictures because the wires are black on a black car, sorry.

Tools needed: a scissors, some body side molding, fuse tap and a few nylon tie wraps

This install is for a 2014 B8 A5. I began by visiting a local body shop where they gave me about 8 inches of heavy duty two sided tape they use for mounting bodyside molding. Back home I began the install. After popping the hood, I gently lifted the fascia that bridges the top of the grill to the wall that makes the front of the engine compartment. It lifts up very easily without damaging the grill, fasia or its retaining clips. Only the front needs to be lifted for access. Drop the sensors in just in front of the radiator and fish them through the grill. Using 2-3 thicknesses of bodyside molding tape to compensate for the slant of the grill members, affix the sensors to the top of a horizontal grill member somewhere between the license plate and the headlamps. Follow the installation directions keeping the sensors level and parallel to the ground and far enough forward that they have an unobstructed view of the road ahead of the car.

Then simply route the two sensor wires up from behind the grill up and along the top of the drivers side fender just inside the engine compartment. At the back of the engine compartment, lift the fascia piece that connects the tops of the two rear firewalls to allow the wires to continue along the inside top of the fender toward the door. The the trick is then to simply slip the flat wires in the slot where the front fender body piece tapers to meets the exterior bottom of the A pillar (there is a small opening that connects the engine compartment to the area just inside the driver door). You really have to look at the picture to visualize this. This is the part that eliminates the complications of bringing the wire through a hole in the firewall. Coming out of this "slot" under the fender panel, you are just 1 inch from the fuse box and access to the area behind the dash. Next I removed the cover to the fuse area just inside the cabin and pulled the vertical trim piece back that bridges the area between the door molding the the interior of the car (the trim piece is part of the same piece that goes on to be the bottom of the door sill ). Pass the wires under the molding that makes the seal to the front of the driver door (I found that severing about 2cm of the door molding where it connects to the car body let the wires easily slip under the molding. Also note that I made an approximately 1cm x 7mm notch (completely invisible when reassembled) in the vertical trim piece and the fuse box cover to allow the wires to pass from the outside door hinge area into the fuse box without impinging on the wires. It will be apparent to you how much and where to remove material because if you try to reposition the vertical trim piece and replace the fuse box cover without notching, they won’t seat. Now is a good time to state that there was no compromise to the door seal either from a water or noise standpoint by routing the wires just under the molding.

Once inside the fuse area, I routed the two sensor wires inside the lower dash and out through the opening where the steering wheel tilt lever swings. I positioned some Velcro on the area just to the right of that opening (the control module is set up to Velcro on its bottom, so I have it mounted upside down, with no consequence) and then affixed the control module with the Velcro. I routed the power cable from the control module back through the same opening that I fished the sensor wires out through and connected it to switched 12v using a fuse tap.

Lastly, I found that if you lift the rubber liner up and out of the small rectangular storage area to the left of the cupholder area in the center console, there are several holes. Pushing the switch wire through the largest hole, it was simple to fish it out just below and on the medial side of the center hump then slip the wire back under the lip of the center console side fascia going forward until it exited out just next to the control module. A little more velcro on the switch and the inside forward corner of the small rectangular storage area, you can affix the switch and replace the rubber liner. Lastly, plug the connector from the switch into the control module and start the car. The switch is actually illuminated and reasonably good looking. It sits just behind the gear shift lever in a place that is convenient to turn the defense mode off if lasered.
If I had to do it over, I think it could do the install in under an hour. I wasted most of my time trying to decide just where to put the sensors. If and when I sell the car, I could have everything de-installed in under 10 minutes with no sign that it was ever there.

As far as the using a laser jammer… it had been 16 years since I had been ticketed for speeding and I’m driving my dad early on a clear Saturday morning for an emergency dash to the ophthalmologist for a possible detached retina. I get lasered going down a steep hill in his own community and stopped. I explain to the officer the situation and he states that he won’t delay me then returns with the $165 ticket for 47 in a 35mph zone.

Good luck, Oh and if you like the nifty carbon fiber finish cupholder cover seen in the switch picture, they're on ebay:

Carbon Fiber Stainless Audi A5 S5 A4 S4 Allroad Genuine Cup Holder Cover | eBay