How to hardwire a Dash Cam in a VW Golf (with Pictures)

We have seen a lot of people asking how can they hard wire a dash cam into a Volkswagen Golf.

This guide shows you how to install a dash camera hardwire kit into a VW MK7 / MK7.5 Golf GTI to enable parking mode with your car camera. It should cover 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 VW Golf models.

The dash cam used in this example is a Garmin Dash Cam 46, which is a compact 1080p HD dash cam that uses a hanging windshield mount. The hardwire kit is from Garmin as well.

Things you will need for this install:

Step 1: Remove side panel next to steering wheel

The side panel to the left of the steering wheel pops off when you pry at it. Use a plastic pry tool if possible, as metal will scratch and dent the plastic

Step 2: Remove drawer under steering wheel to expose fuse box

To remove the drawer all the way, apply pressure to the sides as you pull out. This should release the drawer completely, allowing full access to all the fuses

Step 3: Use a multimeter OR circuit tester to find fuse slot that turns off when car is off

Using a multimeter or circuit tester, you will look for a 10 amp accessory fuse outlet that has no power when your car is turned off. This will allow your camera to automatically turn on and off when you start your car. The voltage in the fuse slot should be zero, or close to it when the car is off. If you are using a basic hardwire kit that is not meant for more advanced parking mode features, this is most likely the only fuse slot you will need to use. If your hardwire kit and dash cam has a parking mode feature you want to use, there should be another wire labeled “BATTERY” and is usually YELLOW, which will go in a different slot (more instruction below).

Step 4: Find an always on ACC 10AMP fuse slot with the multimeter

This will allow you to plug the YELLOW/BATTERY wire into the fuse slot that will provide power to your dash cam when parked, letting you use the parking mode option when your car is off. The fuse slot should show around 12 volts on your multimeter when the ignition is off. Make sure you ground your multimeter grounding wire clip to a metal bolt or other solid metal object.

Step 5: Crimp your Wires to the Add-A-Fuse Adapters

Using your 12V add-a-fuse, also called a “fuse holder”, crimp your 2 add a fuse adapters to the RED wire and to the YELLOW wire. Although this picture shows the single YELLOW wire going into 1 fuse slot, it is recommended to use 2 separate add-a-fuse adapters for each wire. You should be using a 2 to 5 amp fuse for the slot that is inline with the wire that connects to the dash cam hardwire kit (diagram image below). The other slot in the add-a-fuse should be used for the existing fuse that is in your cars fuse box.

Insert the wires through the side panel.
Find a bolt or screw near by that is screwed into metal (seen in picture below) to connect the hardwire kit grounding wire to. It must be a bolt/screw going into metal, not plastic. The screw on the VW Golf in this example uses a T30 Torx bit.
Plug your ACCESSORY wire from the hardwire kit, which is usually the RED wire to your fuse slot that turns off when your car turns off
Plug your CONSTANT Power wire from the hardwire kit, which is usually YELLOW to the fuse slot that always gets power, even when your car is turned off. If your hardwire kit does not have this 3rd wire, don’t worry, you can skip this step.

Image showing you where the dash cam hard wire kit fuse goes in the add-a-fuse

Step 6: Test Your Dash Cam

Once you have everything plugged into your cars fuse box and you have screwed in the grounding wire it is time to test it out.

Plug the hardwire kit wire that goes to the dash cam into the camera. Now, turn your ignition key on to give the dash cam power. Within a couple seconds your dash camera should be powering on.

Step 7: Find location on windshield to mount dash cam

When mounting your dash cam, make sure the lens is not pointing through a sun shade or tint strip at the very top of the windshield, it should be clear glass. Once you have found a good spot to mount the dash cam on your windshield (we recommend putting it right behind your rear view mirror if possible), clean the glass with rubbing alcohol to remove any dirt or oil, and let it fully dry.

Now simply stick the adhesive mount or suction cup into place. Make sure your dash cam has enough room to slide off the mount to be able to remove it in the future.

Step 8: Hide the wires

Hiding the wire can be tricky sometimes and can be different for each different car model and year. Ultimately what you’re trying to do is push the dash cam wire behind the headliner and in between paneling and rubber gaskets so the wire is out of sight.

With your hardwire kit all plugged into your fuse box, find the main wire that comes off the other end of the hardwire kit that plugs into your dash cam. Pull this cable out of the back of the side panel and through the rubber gasket, as seen in the picture below. This will allow you to close the side panel and direct the wire up the back side.

Once the main dash cam wire is coming out the back side of the panel, pull as much slack through as you can.

Now that you have all of the power cable through, plug it into your dash camera.

At this point, you will now start to work the wire from the dash cam all the way down to the fuse box. Start at the dash cam and work your way down.

Using a plastic “trim tool”, or a rigid piece of plastic (metal will scratch your car and damage the wire) that you can push the wire into the small cracks with, you can begin to work the wire into the windshield headliner opening.

Continue routing the wire down, towards the fuse box. Push the wire into the opening behind the doors weather strip, as seen in the photo below

And keep working your way down until you get it all hidden. Once all your excess wire is pulled through into the fuse box area, you now want to neatly coil it up and zip tie all the extra wire slack together as seen below. Then you can find a spot to secure the coiled wire to within the fuse box area.

That pretty much covers it. Hopefully you found this dash cam hard wiring tutorial useful. If you’re thinking about buying a new dash cam, be sure to check out our list of the Best Dash Cams of 2020

Special thanks to reddit user turtlewrangler01 for sharing these photos with us

DashCameras.net does not take any responsibility for damage or harm done to you or your vehicle. Proceed at your own risk. We recommend consulting with a certified mechanic before making any alterations to your vehicle.