X5 (E53) - TV module location
 

how to identify a TV module? Can anyone tell me where it would be located?

I don't get TV option on my Nav Screen. Does it mean no TV module?

I want to retrofit a reverse camera, for that most of the thread stating need a TV module to install reverse camera. I am not interested in TV / AV just reverse camera.

Thanks in advance
Kishore

If you do not see the TV option on your NAV menu you don't have... I've found OEM units on eBay for $250-$500. You can buy OEM or find one of many aftermarket units. These video units take the camera signal (and/or TV/DVD video signal as they typically have 2 video inputs) and meshes it with your factory NAV screen... Many folks add DVD players or TV tuners in addition to the backup camera as the nearly all units have 2 inputs..

I just installed a backup camera in my X5 over the weekend.. I went after market and bought the NavTool video unit for $200. It pigtails into your Navigation DVD in the rear of the vehicle with a simple plug and play wiring harness... You then hook up your camera and run the video feed into the NavTool unit. When you shift into reverse the video unit overrides your nav screen and image shows... I purchased a BOYO CCD camera and am happy with the results. I also plan on adding aftermarket digital TV tuner in the 2nd video in (the unit has a toggle switch so you can go from TV to Nav screen).

Good luck and let me know if you want further details on how to...

Rob

Does the BMW X5 2000-2006 NAVIGATION VIDEO INTERFACE come with the actual camera? I am thinking it doesn't? Which camera do you recommend paring it up with?

There are 2 basic camera technologies... CMOS and CCD. The CCD imaging is far superior to CMOS so first thing spend the extra bucks and get a CCD camera. There are a bunch of backup camera's available out there on ebay, etc. I went with a BOYO 1/3 CCD license plate frame camera. They do have some camera's that fit in the license plate light slot of your X. You pop out the bulb assembly and pop in the camera in it's place, however I could only find CMOS camera's that do this and I wanted the higher quality picture so opted for CCD license plate frame... As with most electronics you get what you pay for so its up to the buyer - fulfill need based on budget... btw - to answer your first question the video interface does not come with the camera... Als0 - that navtool video interface is listed on their website at $350... they also list them brand new on ebay for $250/make offer. I picked mine up for under $200 2 weeks ago...

X5_Rob, with your license plate camera, are you able to see the rear bumper? The license plate frame camera looks like it can rotate.
I would like to find a camera that I can use to see the hitch ball when backing up to my trailer.
Thanks.

Turbo- the reason I installed was to see my trailer (tandem waverunners) and works very well. The camera swivels up or down... I haven't swiveled all the way down but I think the rear bumper may block your view of the hitch ball anyway... I have my turned about 1/2 way down to see most of the trailer tongue and what's behind the trailer... I can now see how far the trailer is in the water, etc..

they also have those wireless cameras that you could mount to the trailer facing the hitch...

That's what I'm using right now on my Econoline. I mounted the camera on a bracket which mounts on a magnet and I have a 9V battery that feeds power. When I need to attach the trailer, I just stick the camera on the rear doors and look at the screen. I see the ball with that setup, so it is possible to backup in one shot.
I will use that setup for the X5 for now, but in the future, I would like to have something integrated, since I have the navigation screen.

Next time you attach your trailer, if you don't mind doing a test, to rotate the camera completly down. I'm curious to kwow if it is possible to see the hitch ball.
Thank you.

Turbo - I stand corrected. I just went out and aimed the camera all the way down and installed my hitch ball... you can easily see the ball sticking out from past the bumper. The camera has a fish eye like effect and seems like it would work out perfect for you. My camera is the BOYO VTL300.. they make both a 300 and 300c... 300c is the cheaper cmos camera and not sure it would have the same view angle, etc...

Good luck!
Rob

Thank you for taking the time to check :thumbup:

Hi X5_Rob,

So either I should buy a TV Module or NavTool unit and a reverse camera.

is this correct.

-Kishore

I don't think NavTool is still available as new, but you might be able to find it as used... a TV tuner should be available as used - go for a hybrid unit, analogue/digital...

BMW Widescreen Video Module TV Tuner For E39 5 Series/E53 X5 etc | eBay

This video module is available on ebay. But I guess with this I also need to buy some harness which connects nav unit to this unit?

Do you have any idea what kind of connectors or harness I might need.

Navtool looks more easy to fix as it comes with all connectors etc...

check ebay seller KUFATEC... he might be on ebay.de... i am not sure if he has harness, but i think i bought one from him about 8 years ago... you do need a harness to go from TV module to nav computer, and that harness was the hardest piece to buy...

mine was a little too tight, so I cut it and spliced in about 2 extra feet of cable - now it is routed without being stretched...

if you decide to extend the length of your harness, you must make sure you properly shield the signal cables... but first, find the harness...

Hi TerminatorX5, do you have the part number to your hybrid tv module? Also the part number for the harness? Was all the connections for the tv module done in the trunk area?

Can you still watch tv in atsc format?

I've seen tv tuner add-on pieces for sale from china for around 100 bucks that will fit into existing tv modules, have you tried that?

Did you end up installing a rear view camera along with your tv module?

Hello Maruzo

I do not recall the part numbers, but here is a link for some of the part numbers -

TV on Nav - COMPLETED! EVERYTHING WORKS!

There have been a dozen variations of TV modules out there, but at this moment in history, it does not matter anymore, since the US has gone in digital broadcasting and the analogue had been sunsetted (sunset?).
While digital BMW module would work overseas, it would not work domestically, as we use a different digital standard (ATSC), which did not exist when the last digital tuner was manufactured (circa 2005-2010). They used Euro digital standard (I think DVB?)

so, the TV module is needed only for its AV input and the rear camera inputs - otherwise, it is an obsolete device.
I use the TV module for the AV input, where I feed the video from either of two DVD players in the headrests and a DVR that records the driving - I use a mechanical switch to switch inputs.

Also, I have the rear camera, that triggers with the signal on the PDC - this way, when the reverse gear is engaged, and the PDC is activated, the tap into PDC circuit triggers the rear camera to go on to main screen. Also, I can use the PDC button to manually activate the rear camera.

for TV in motion, there is the harness that I talked about earlier in this thread.

Here are some part numbers, but they might be outdated, I don't have notes to go along with those part numbers -

65 24 8 362 532 1 Left TV amplifier
65 24 8 362 533 1 Right TV Amplifier
65 24 8 369 471 1 Left Antenna Lead
65 24 8 369 470 1 Right Antenna Lead

61 12 8 377 436 – TV harness
61 12 6 919 758 – TV from catalog

I know this is a really old thread, but if I plan to only install the RVC do I need any of the amplifiers or antenna leads?

Thanks.

Hi Amancuso. You don't need the amplifiers or the antenna.

I installed antenna but that's because I bought an aftermarket hdtv tuner that installs into the OEM tv tuner and it came with an antenna feed.

You do need an adapter cable that connects between the nav dvd and the tv tuner.

Also you need to splice into the reverse light or the PDC, which is a pretty clever idea since you can manually turn on the camera by switching on the pdc.

My camera failed a few months ago, not sure why, could be one of the wires I connected broke off. Now whenever it's in reverse the oem screen just turns from blue to orange. LOL

Good luck with your install. It's pretty cool once it works.

Ok so the cable arrived and of course it's not the right one. Or at least I dont think so. It only has female ends. 2 blue ones, a white one, a violet one and 2 flat long connectors, a natural one and a black one. When I plugged the blue cable from the car into the TV tuner, then the white one into the TV tuner, then the blue one from the harness into the nav unit, the screen came on, but it was rolling. Any thoughts?

If image is rolling, could it be you have an analog tuner and it's receiving ATSC signals that it can't decode?

I figured it out. It's a 4:3 tuner from a 2000 740iL. I'm also convinced that the cable isn't right. Even though I was getting a picture (rolling) on the screen, the violet connector from the car had nothing to connect to if I use the violet connector on the new cable.

OK so thanks to a guy on the xoutpost Fb group, I now have the correct module and harness. It works! Now he said sound never worked on it, but on the harness it looks like there are 2 DSP style cables with the ends cut. They are both on the TV module side. Do those plug into the the 2 DSP looking ends of the module? Also how do I wire up an input to it?

Got it figured out. Those 2 "DSP" looking cables were actually the RCA inputs for Video in, and Reverse cam. I had some spare pin connectors, so I inserted new ones for Video In, Audio In and Camera In. Sound actually has to be sent from the Blue Connector on the TV module (X18804) to the White connector on the Radio unit (X13648). If you do not do this you will have NO sound on your TV module and audio input. the pin outs are as follows:

12 pin natural (white) socket casing X13648

The two audio pins are:

TVNF+ Pin 11

TVNF- Pin 12

to :

19 pin blue connector at TV Tuner X18804

TVNF+ Pin 9

TVNF- Pin 18

You’re the man!

So your tv works with sound? Is it playing back analog signal or Atsc signal?

Thanks! Yes it does. I am not using the tuner, just the AV in. It's set to NTSC at the moment. Believe it or not I found the info on an e46 forum in a post from 2007. I'm still curious about what the 2 DSP looking connectors are on the TV module/tuner. Antennas?

It's been a year so I can't remember what it was connected to. But the antenna uses coaxial connection, so don't think it's for the antenna.

My setup gives me rear view camera when in reverse, and the atsc tuner works with the OEM nav buttons, but no sound.

I think your av in is a better setup because you can connect a video source to playback video files.

Thanks Maruzo. I would def. try connecting the two wires as I mentioned above.On the blue TV module connector, there are audio out for TV, and in order to hear them, they have to go through the radio module at the white connector. Give that a shot and I bet it'll work!

Hi Amancuso,

The first image shows the black and red wires that I spliced into the reverse light wire in the wiring loom.

This is probably what you want to know.

The rest of the images are my connections and wirings. There's an oem tv cable that connects to the nav unit on the left side of the trunk. You can see the blue and black connector.

The blue from the oem cable goes into the modified tv tuner's blue connection.

The black from the oem cable goes into this cable i bought from aliexpress. This cable has multiple av in out leads as well as a connection that goes into another aliexpress cable that connects to the white connection on the oem tv tuner.

There's a green wire that goes from the thick black cable to the white switch box.

There's also a yellow wire that goes from the tv tuner to one of the aliexpress cables.

One of my images lays out all these connections.

The camera has a video out, a ground, and a wire that goes into the switch box.

I might be missing some steps here. Have to look for the install instruction to make sure.

Here's somebody's feedback on the camera cable:

"He doesn't bring, any kind of instructions. If you want to put back camera, you need to mount a cable on the blue connector and a reel, to reverse polarity. 25 Jun 2020 11:15"

The part about reversing polarity seems to make sense.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3275...%2315617%23832