brosken

Hi guys,

I ordered the "Park Assist Retrofit" set from bimmer-tech.com earlier this week. Package arrived the day after already .

This is a set that's completely plug & play = no coding or cutting into wires (unless your car is built before Sept 2005, you'll need to tap into 2 wires which is easy)

What's in the package:

• Multimedia Video Interface with CAN (I'll cal it the box for easy reference)
• trunk switch with integrated camera
• extension cable to run the camera power and video signal to the dashboard
• Remote control (infrared)
• 1 LCD cable (connect to the CiC display)
• A/V cable with 4 A/V connectors and 1 video connector for the rear view camera
• IR Cable
• Mode switching cable (button can be place anywhere you want, to switch to other A/V sources
• Rear camera power cable (not required in our case)
• RGB cable (to connect to another source I think)
• Modified power cable (connect to the CiC display)

How did I install this:

• I removed the plastic plugs from the trunk lid liner
• Removed the trunk handle switch by putting a screwdriver under the top middle notch and click it out
• Disconnected the old trunk handle microswitch plug
• Put the wires for the new trunk handle with cam thru the hole where the old handle used to be and connect the microswitch plug to the new handle (if your car is before September 2005 your plug will have a 3 pin socket (with only 2 cables connected) instead of the 2 pins, I just cut off the old switch and tapped the wires from the new switch into the old one)
• Ran the extension cable from the glovebox to the trunk (not the other way around because the cinch video plug will be too large to fit thru some holes.
• Once the extension cable plug is in the trunk you will have to pull the cable+plug through the trunk lid hinge on the right (this can be a pain in the ass...) I first pulled a small wire through the hinge pipe so I could tie it around the extension cable connector and pull it through the hinge. (wrap the connector with tape or shrink wrap so you get a conical tip, otherwise the rectangular shape of the connector will get stuk inside the pipe)
• Once it's through the hinge pipe, connect the camera to the extension cable

Now back to the dashboard:

• Remove the CiC display (CID)
• Route the extension cable to the CiD through the dashboard
• Get the A/V cable set and connect the Yellow cinch plug from the extension cable to the female yellow cinch labelled R.Cam
• Plug the A/V cable set into the box = A/V(in-out)
• Plug the extension cable white plug into the box = R-CAM
• Remove the purple LCD cable from your CiD and plug it in the box = LCD-IN
• Connect the new LCD cable from your CiD to the box = LCD-OUT
• Remove the power plug from the CiD and connect it to the Modified Power Cable
• Connect the Modified Power Cable to the CiD and the box
• Plug in the infrared cable to the box = IR, route the cable to somewhere on the dashboard so you can use the remote

Optional:

• Plug the Mode cable to the box = MODE, and route the cable to someplace you can push the mode button
• RGB cable goes into the box = RGB(IN) and hook it up to a device of your choice
• The A/V cable that has the single yellow cinch for the camera video also has 3 A/V inputs that you can connect to other devices such as playstation/xbox/etc... and 1 A/V output that you can use to send a signal to additional displays.
• Rear Camera Power cable will not be used, instead we use the plug from the extension cable

No need to tap into the reverse gear switch anywhere, the box intercepts that you're in reverse by reading the CAN cable.
You can setup the display to show about 7 different positions
Original PDC only
Full screen camera
Large PDC + small camera
Large camera + small PDC
Full screen camera + pdc picture in picture (top left, top middle, top right)

About the camera quality: Holy sh.. that camera is amazing(!!), even when it's dark it shows on the CiD as if it's almost daylight, wide angle lens, parking guide lines are useful. I used to have a rear view camera with night vision on my E39 and compared to this one, the old camera sucked big time lol.
There's a whole lot of things you can do with the box, but don't have the time at the moment to go over them.

Whole thing took me couple of hours to install (most were spent cursing at the damn trunk hinge pipe getting the extension cable through)

Gotta say this is one nice piece of hardware to add to my precious E60
Big thanks to Patryk (almost always on skype to instantly answer any questions)

Going on a long business trip tomorrow so I don't have time to make a whole step by step retrofit guide right now, but I'll put it up as soon as I'm back.

twobeemers

Sounds like a great retrofit. Can you post a picture or two of the display and the install? What did you pay for the unit?

umaysales

Is it the same with this one? here is the link from China , OEM parking system for BMW F series

robinio

This is for F series, you can see description.

brosken

Doesn't have the guidelines trajectory unfortunately because I think that requires the steering wheel angle sensor. It does have a the straight guidelines that show you if you can fit in a parking space behind you.

maruzo

does anyone know of a reputable stereo shop in los angeles who can do the rear camera retrofit/ video playback?

This would be for a 2010 535i (E60) with factory navigation and the newer Idrive unit.

godzilag

Hey Brosken, i just installed the same backup camera retrofit, one question, how did you setup the screen? ie
You can setup the display to show about 7 different positions
Original PDC only
Full screen camera
Large PDC + small camera
Large camera + small PDC
Full screen camera + pdc picture in picture (top left, top middle, top right)

brosken

Hi Godzilag, how do you like the picture quality so far?

I set it up "large camera, small pdc".
Be careful because it might look like you have a meter to go on the camera while it's only 20 cm or so. It takes some getting used to and the pdc is always handy because it covers more than just the rear

FRE-777

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