My 2005 X5 Aftermarket Radio Install Thread

[kmm111]

I actually don’t have a backup camera yet, but it was another benefit of getting this head unit. I haven’t even begun to research them. I “might” just go with the style you mount over the license plate but then again that might erk me too much. Low light sensitivity is going to be the key for me. I don’t really have any issues backing up the X except at night, particularly in low light levels.

[kmm111]

Originally Posted by Crowz

That's the thing though without having played the music on a very good home stereo you wont notice the frequency is missing. The thing hits hard down to that certain point. So it sounds great compared to the stock setup. The cut off I am sure is helping the factory speakers do so well by keeping them from distorting with frequencies they cant reproduce anyway.

Were talking sub 60 hz or so. I have some song that hit low frequency wise and that sound is just cut off completely. Normal rock music sounds perfect its just the songs that have a really low resonating type bass to them. If I hadn't heard them on the home stereo I have I wouldn't even know they were missing. Should do awesome when I hook up the dedicated sub in it.

Obviously I don’t expect my setup to complete with my home system, or one with a subwoofer/s. I’m speaking of my experience with the sound system from how it was & how horrible it handled bass, compared to now. It’s like all my songs “found” the missing bass. Lol. Then again I have played with my eq & go back & forth with the loudness setting.

[Crowz]

Originally Posted by CrazyOneToo

How does this mount into the vehicle? The stock unit (no navigation) has hooks that pop out to grab the dash bracket.

I'll see if I can find some pics on this for you.

[Crowz]

On the camera this is the one I have.

http://amzn.to/2ibYp9j

Works great in general and does great low light at night.

The issue to me is the field of view. I cant tell as much if its a width thing or if its just how far its angled down. My other cameras in my other vehicles seem to see wider than this one does. I haven't had a change to measure the field of view to know if its just me or if its actually narrower. The camera works I just hate recommending something I'm not totally sure is the best thing out there.

Again its not a bad camera I'm just not convinced its the best camera. But that said its cheap and can be easily replaced later once you have the wires run and all. So going with this camera for now isn't a bad idea and you can go with something else later if we find anything better with no real labor involved in swapping it out since it all plugs in close to the camera swap wise.

I mounted min in the lip above the tag. Its to the right of the tag light on the passenger side of the lip. Either side works that's just where I put mine.

So here is how to install the camera....

First you need run the cable into the hatch rubber boot to get it into the vehicle itself. I always start with this since the boot can be a royal pain in the arse. If you get this part done in my opinion your home free

So pry GENTLY on the side of the boot to work it out. This boot has all of the cables in it that go from the body into the hatch itself. Remember this thing is old by now and will rip easily if you are not careful.

Once the boot is removed run the black video/power(its all inside that one cable on mine) cable thru the boot from the hatch side. This was a royal pain.

[Crowz]

This is what you should see once you have the cable run through.

[Crowz]

Next remove the plastic trim from the passenger side of the hatch area. There are clips that pop off as you do this. These are very fragile so be careful when removing.

[bcredliner]

FYI--There's also this at Seicane site: https://www.seicane.com/blog/bmw-dvd/

[Crowz]

Run the camera cable down through this so that it comes out in the fuse compartment area.

[Crowz]

Now go back to the hatch area and remove the plastic trim from around the outside of the hatch (passenger side) so that you can tuck the cable inside of this cover.

You need to snake the wire into the area where the hatch lock is.

I don't have a good step by step set of pictures of this since it was dark and I was alone while doing this. So I'm going to just put three pictures in this spot that should show what your up against.

Notice the small hole drilled into the hatch itself with the cable coming thru. Thus kept the cable from being pinched like it would of been if I ran it through from the factory opening. I think this is the better method since it will make the cable last longer.

The camera plugs into the harness itself very close to the camera so if you need to you can remove it without cutting anything in the future.

[Crowz]

Once you reinstall all of the covers and put the torx screws back into the tag light/handle lip you now need to wire the camera in. Sorry I don't have better step by steps on this but I was dead tired at this point since I had tried several other mounting methods before this and it took all day and most of the night. Using this method it should be installable in about 60 minutes.

For the wiring I did everything at the seicanes harness plug where it connects to the factory harness at the old radio module in the bottom of the hatch area.

The video plug part plugs into the seicane provided rca plug and the power and ground I tapped right at this plug too. I used the same wire that turns the amp on to power the camera. The reason for this was to allow me to use the camera when not in reverse.