Run it bare. I used a soft, Velcro cable tie to affix it to the factory cable guide with no problems. From there aim for the passenger side rear speaker in headliner. Remove speaker and come down into cavity between roof and headliner. The speaker has a 1/8" notch through which your cable should pass. Leave some slack to allow for open/close of tailgate. Run cable 90 degrees to side of cargo area. You want to pull cable out where headliner meets trim. That natural crease is your path to the front of car. Gently work the car into the crease with plastic trim tools. It works well. Good luck and reach out if needed.

 

[

I ran it through the right factory cable run. IMHO, running it parallel/'attached to g he cable run will quickly result it a pinched,cut cable.

QUOTE=OldSpool87;1572971]Run it bare. I used a soft, Velcro cable tie to affix it to the factory cable guide with no problems. From there aim for the passenger side rear speaker in headliner. Remove speaker and come down into cavity between roof and headliner. The speaker has a 1/8" notch through which your cable should pass. Leave some slack to allow for open/close of tailgate. Run cable 90 degrees to side of cargo area. You want to pull cable out where headliner meets trim. That natural crease is your path to the front of car. Gently work the car into the crease with plastic trim tools. It works well. Good luck and reach out if needed.[/QUOTE]

 

That was my first thought. However, when I opened the guide I saw no room for additional cable. I couldn't figure it out. How did you do it?

[/QUOTE]

 

Once you pop out the cable bundle (remove the top cover of the guide),'you can tape your new wire onto the bundle and pry it back in.

[/QUOTE]

 

BTW, An expensive lesson is to ensure you don't manhandle your hatch up and down with the hydraulics attached.

[/QUOTE]

 

Awesome.I'm replacing all of the wires with silicone (coming in next week) so it seems like the best time to install the camera and screen mirroring module that's been sitting in a bag since I bought this car last year, hopefully the cable bundle will be low profile enough to fit the camera video wire.

Thanks for that last tip (regarding the hatch)! How did you move the hatch up and down with the power wires disconnected?

 

Without the power wires, the tailgate will try to close under its own weight, you can push it up or let it go down as needed. Pushing too hard or high will result in the power lift strut popping off the retaining ball. If it does, leave it off until completely finished running the wires in the hatch area. You don't want to round out the ball retaining slot by repetitive popping out the ball.
Very important to keep the tailgate supported up.

 

I’m hoping to get some help from someone who has completed this successfully. I have removed all of the trim from the tailgate and around the rear glass, I’m having trouble getting the camera wire through that grommet- can anyone detail how they accomplished this? Did you need to make a new hole or cut the tape holding the loom together?

 

I’m trying to understand how others have run the camera wire through this grommet.

 

I cut a new hole in that grommet because that wiring loom was sealed up with some RTV type goop rubber material to keep moisture out. I ran the 12+ and ground for the camera power off of the passenger side backup light wiring, but that may be throwing a code as video cut out after a few seconds of display. Diagnosing now.

FYI I am using NaviFly / Avin USA android screen replacement on a 2010 E61