Reversing Camera

In another thread Graham asked for Images of my reversing camera, so here are some Photos and Information:

The camera is part of a license plate holder. (German shop info)

The monitor is a 3.5” with the mounting base removed. (Shop info)

I made a little hole on the cover of the license plate lamp so that I could run the cable in the cavity above. It then runs down on the outer side of the rear lamp and enters the rear lamp trough a little hole between the rear lamp housing and the housing seal. This way there is no need to drill holes trough the boot lid. From inside the lamp there is an easy way to the rest of the lamp wiring and to the boot.





The camera gets its power from the reverse lamp. (Either by tapping the wire directly or by pinning out the wire from the lamp socket and putting it into a single connector with a Y junction.)
The video wire goes with the rest of the boot lid cables in the boot and from there in to the middle console between the rear seats. (Underneath the "cassette holder", there is enough space for the monitor cables and input box.)

I mounted the monitor on to the first aid box because of two reasons. As the camera does not cover the corners of the car, I wanted to be able to look either trough the rear window or trough the monitor without turning my head back and forth. (Not to mention that there is no place for a monitor on the dash. Well, not as long as you want to keep everything nice and "original" anyway... )

This proved to be very effective but needs some training. As the camera was designed to be used with a front mounted display, it mirrors the image. Of course when the monitor looks also forward the sides are exchanged. This is no problem by parallel parking but needs some attention when driving down a road backwards.
Power to the monitor is coming from the radio. (Also with additional connectors, so no original wire got “harmed” in the process.)

In my 840 with the black interior I only used a thick Velcro to put the monitor in place as I wanted to be able to remove it quickly. (The monitor has a short cable with a plug to a longer cable, allowing easy removal). I got rid of the base of the monitor and replaced it with a self adhesive Velcro.





It stays nicely in place, but the Velcro needs to be very tight around the first aid box so for my other car (The summer only Diva ) with the silver gray interior I just hung the Velcro from above.



I had PDC sensors (also license plate mounted) before but I like the camera much more. Aftermarket PDCs start to beep constantly at 30 cm which is still far away from the other car. The camera on the other hand sits so high that it gives a perfect view to the back.


(The image of the monitor here is way to bright, due to my photo camera.)

It doesn't have any Infrared LEDs but the two reversing lights of the E31 give more than enough light for the camera to work. (Not to mention the brake lights.)


(The garage is pitch dark, only the reversing light are on.)

The monitor turns itself on as soon as the reverse gear is engaged (because the video signal is only then present) and goes off as soon as the signal is off.
It takes an afternoon to mount everything but it's not really a big deal.
If you don't have the proper tool to remove the pins from a BMW connector, try to find an old radio with a telescope antenna. The chances are high that one of the segments fits the job. (It did nicely in my case.)
The pins are cheap and the connectors for the Y splice can be any used one from any kind of old (80s-90s) BMW wiring loom. The hole thing together was about 140 Euros (per car).

Cheers,
Steve

Thanks. I had nothing else to do last night...

I'm not quite sure that you could rely solely on the camera, at least not with the one I'm using. Probably if you would use two cameras on either side of the license plate holder, you could also see the corners but that would mean a more complex monitor system which could put the two images side by side.
A fish eye might work as well but would probably make it hard to judge distances.

On the other hand, you could use the passenger side mirror together with the monitor to see that side.

To put the monitor in the front, one option would be a replacement rear view mirror with a built in display.

Cheers,
Steve