This 2022 BMW M4 came to us from Vancouver with an Escort Redline 360c mounted at the windscreen. The owner was happy with its radar detection. He wanted us to add laser protection.
Radar and laser are different problems
A radar gun sends out a wide cone of radio energy. It bounces off signs, guardrails and other traffic, so a good detector can usually pick it up before the gun is aimed at you. Laser works differently. A lidar unit aims a narrow beam at one vehicle and takes a reading in a fraction of a second. By the time a detector alerts you, the reading is already taken.
A laser shifter detects those incoming pulses and sends a signal back. It does a different job from a radar detector, so the two work together.
What went in
We fitted Escort's Laser ShifterMax heads. Finding room for them took the work. They need a clean, square view of the road, low and unobstructed. This M4's nose is mostly carbon lip, brake ducting and driver-assistance sensors. There's no template for it. We worked out each position on the car and checked for obstructions, then finished the mounts so the car still looked standard from three feet away.
How it turned out
The owner left with radar detection from his Redline 360c and laser protection from the ShifterMax heads. The new heads sit neatly inside the front end.
If you are looking at a similar install, come and talk to us about the vehicle first. On a car with this much going on in the front bumper, where the heads can physically go is the question that decides everything else.
The other half of an M4 that usually goes untouched is what comes out of the speakers. Match and Helix build systems engineered for this exact chassis, so everything fits the factory locations and iDrive carries on as it was — BMW sound system upgrades in North Vancouver covers what that looks like.