Any interest in Back up camera ?
11-05-2009, 12:22 AM
#31
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My Ride: '05 545i SMG, 35% Tint, LED Angel Eyes
Definitely interested. RoverActive on eBay sells the factory ones and they are $1000+. I have ready from Bimmeerfest.com that they work without the recoding your vehicle though both on E60 & E65/66.
11-05-2009, 01:04 AM
#32
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My Ride: BMW E60 520d SE Saloon M47 2.0dTitanium Grey II, Grey−Dakota Leather, Visibility Package, Media Package, Through Load System, Lumbar support − fr seats, Automatic Air Conditioning−Advanced, High beam assistant, Hi−Fi Loudspeak
Model Year: 2006
OK I know what is being done here.
Its a video interface/multiplexer that is taking the feeds of the idrive and the rear camera and sending it to the screen. The guides are actually a feature of the camera and so may or may not match the PDC of the car. Nice.
I'd like to see a picture of what the rear image looks like in complete darkness. This is where I think most reverse cameras fail and the pdc graphics are better.
Its a video interface/multiplexer that is taking the feeds of the idrive and the rear camera and sending it to the screen. The guides are actually a feature of the camera and so may or may not match the PDC of the car. Nice.
I'd like to see a picture of what the rear image looks like in complete darkness. This is where I think most reverse cameras fail and the pdc graphics are better.
11-05-2009, 01:44 AM
#33
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My Ride: 2007 530i Olivine Green w/ Beige leather interior, 6 spd manual, premium package, comfort access, cold weather package, heated rear seats.
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For this camera option, would you have to have the navigation option to make it work?
11-05-2009, 04:38 AM
#34
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My Ride: 06' Black Saphire 530i, Premium Pkg, Cold Weather Pkg with heated rear seats, Power sunshade, Logic 7 w/CD Changer, PDC, Fold down rear seats
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Originally Posted by dmahon' post='1047765' date='Nov 5 2009, 05:44 AM
For this camera option, would you have to have the navigation option to make it work?
11-05-2009, 06:01 AM
#35
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Regarding form and positioning of this camera vs. the OEM one, and both of them getting dirty in winter conditions, see pics of OEM and alternative below.
They actually look almost the same and are mounted at equal distance from the trunk edge. On these pics it seems that the OEM one is positioned a bit further under the edge, and its angled a bit more towards the ground, but this might as well just be an illusion. I think both of them will get dirty equally easy.
The only negative seems to be the asymmetrical location in the light well, and the related light aspects (replacing the other bulb with an LED as well, maybe even reducing the number of LEDs in the other light, to match light emission of the one with the camera). but it could also be positive for people who prefer not to touch the camera everytime they reach for the trunk handle
They actually look almost the same and are mounted at equal distance from the trunk edge. On these pics it seems that the OEM one is positioned a bit further under the edge, and its angled a bit more towards the ground, but this might as well just be an illusion. I think both of them will get dirty equally easy.
The only negative seems to be the asymmetrical location in the light well, and the related light aspects (replacing the other bulb with an LED as well, maybe even reducing the number of LEDs in the other light, to match light emission of the one with the camera). but it could also be positive for people who prefer not to touch the camera everytime they reach for the trunk handle
11-05-2009, 06:44 AM
#36
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Originally Posted by toyota2bmw' post='1047751' date='Nov 5 2009, 01:22 AM
Definitely interested. RoverActive on eBay sells the factory ones and they are $1000+. I have ready from Bimmeerfest.com that they work without the recoding your vehicle though both on E60 & E65/66.
Yes, you can buy front/rear view cameras from RoverActive, but as far as I know (I am talking about e90/e92 cars), you won't be able to program it at your local dealer here in US. I know 3-4 guys who bought it and non of them made it work.
I am also in very close, good relationship with my dealer and they told me the same thing .. It can't be done ... But again, I am talking about e90/e92 cars , don't know about e60.
With the interface that I will be offering, you will have an option to add front camera , night vision ( this is kind of expensive ) and play all your movies from iPhone or iPod.
11-05-2009, 10:49 AM
#37
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My Ride: Carbon black 545i sport
Hi all, I've just come across this thread AFTER I have completed this project!
I bought an interface from E-Bay which has inputs for cam, DVD and other A/V connections. I also connected it to the I-Drive so that if I hold down the I-Drive menu button it switches to the cam. It also comes on automatically when reverse is selected. I still get the PDC audio alerts but no visual display. To be honest if you can look at the cam, check the PDC AND reverse, you're doing well not to crash! ;>)
When searching for a camera, I decided on a "bullet" style rather than the replacement for the number plate light. I drilled through the rear roundel with a hole saw and mounted the camera in the middle of the badge. The cam has leds for IR operation at night and works quite well.
Downsides - well it does get dirty easily and when it does the glare from the IR leds causes the display to be overexposed. This is paticularly bad at night. I don't think any camera will avoid this problem.
All in all, a good conversation piece, but not that very useful along with PDC.
Price wise I reckon it cost me about ?200 since I did all the work myself.
cheers
I bought an interface from E-Bay which has inputs for cam, DVD and other A/V connections. I also connected it to the I-Drive so that if I hold down the I-Drive menu button it switches to the cam. It also comes on automatically when reverse is selected. I still get the PDC audio alerts but no visual display. To be honest if you can look at the cam, check the PDC AND reverse, you're doing well not to crash! ;>)
When searching for a camera, I decided on a "bullet" style rather than the replacement for the number plate light. I drilled through the rear roundel with a hole saw and mounted the camera in the middle of the badge. The cam has leds for IR operation at night and works quite well.
Downsides - well it does get dirty easily and when it does the glare from the IR leds causes the display to be overexposed. This is paticularly bad at night. I don't think any camera will avoid this problem.
All in all, a good conversation piece, but not that very useful along with PDC.
Price wise I reckon it cost me about ?200 since I did all the work myself.
cheers
11-06-2009, 09:49 PM
#40
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My Ride: 2005 545i Black Sapphire - Fully Loaded
Model Year: 545i 2005
Hey I am located in SF and would like to purchase one of these, however I don't like the fact that it's taking one of the license plate lights to mount the camera. Is there another solution for this? I remember there was one camera that was mounted in the area of the release trunk that also retained the release trunk function.