After much research, I have decided to buy a radar detector.
I have considered all of the top brands, Escort, Valentine, and Cobra.
The issue for me is that I do not want to stick a unit on the windshield of my Z.
The Escort Max2 and Valentine 1 are $500.00 plus and I don't want to spend that cash and of course these are windshield mounted units.
I wish these had corresponding concealed versions, but they do not.
Concealed radar systems can run in the thousands of dollars and that's not an option for me either.
So…
I bought the Cobra iRadar S120R.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_079IRS1...S120R&skipvs=T
It's a couple of hundred bucks cheaper, and probably not as sensitive as the top detectors, but it mounts behind the grill and runs to an iPhone app by bluetooth connection. It features a crowd sourcing app which builds a database from results of over a million other iRadar users to enhance it's detection abilities, which I think is a great resource.
Of course it's effectiveness is yet to be experienced for me.
I can not find any legit comparisons for this model to the others, even though it has been available since late 2013.
I am holding my expectations in check for this unit, as there is probably a good chance that it will not measure up, but with a 60 day return policy, I can check it out and return it if it doesn't impress.
Now, as I await it's delivery I want to explore, and hopefully the members here will contribute any input about this detector you may have, or maybe more important, inform me about the best way to connect to a switchable power connection under the hood, and the best way to access the area behind the grills on my 2011 Z4.
Thanks in advance for any input!