Back Up Camera
 

the back up camera in the X5 sucks badly , especially at night !! is there any upgrade to make it more clear but at the same time keep the red green orange indicators ? thanks

Something I found that helps is if you turn on the rear fog light..... Not a prefect solution, but it makes things a little better....

Only other option, maybe would be to fit a rear spot light to the car..... !!

Cheers
Scott

stop backing into stuff :rofl:

unfortunately BMW doesn't give the rear fog light option to us folks in the USA... another STUPID move by management.

Is there a brightness adjustment ??? I guess not.

If you can get brighter reverse lights, it will help, too. On my current 05 Ody, the reverse lights are very bright, and the rear view camera at night is very good. Once I had a burnt reverse bulb, and could not see a thing thru the camera !

BUMMER !!:confused:

I was thinking if u took car to an auto electrician, perhaps they could fit a small driving light at the back.... I KNOW STUPID in a bmw... but an option that would work.....

I personally have never needed a backup camera for any reason. The beep beep beep does the job very nicely.

There is a brightness control... the problem at night is the quality which is something akin to 20000 ISO film LOL..

I just had my dealer replaced the back up camera and it's now quite bright at night. Only downside is having to leave the vehicle overnight for programming.

there is a brightness adjustment but it still doesnt make a difference at night ..

nikman - can u post some pics of the backup screen at night ? do u know with what ur dealer replaced the camera with ? brand ? type ?

thanks

Back Up Camera Replaced by Dealer
 

Here's a pic taken without flash.

nikman: I too am quite interested in the changes they did to your back-up camera, would you be be kind enought to share the information they did to your vehicle. Thanks!

I went to my local dealer and complained that the image was too dark and fuzzy. They didn't ask any questions and ordered a brand new replacement factory camera (which took 2 days to bring in). Noticed I only have the red guiding lines and not the green ones. Don't know if that makes a difference or not, but am quite satisfied with image quality (for now). Good luck.

nikman: Thank you for sharing the information, would you happen to know if it is an upgraded camera? Thanks!

thanks for sharing .. looks good :)

> unfortunately BMW doesn't give the rear fog light option to us folks in the USA...

Actually, I'm kind of glad they don't. I see too many people in their Volvos and other European cars that drive around all the time with that @#$@ rear fog light turned on, the bright red light shining into the eyes of the driver following behind. I use to think that it was a wrong bulb put into the rear socket, such that the brake light was constantly on. Then I realized it was the Fog Light option being on all the time.

i've seen it on by drivers that don't realize, but it's not really that common... and if it is, then BMW should just make a more noticeable indicator on the dash so people know it's on and that it's something 'different' than the front fog lights.

Hi,

after my last software upgrade I wonder if the camera has a brighter picture by night (and split screen!!), it seems more light sensitive. On the other side the camera works only 50% of times, normally I get not picture and they are not able to fix it.

Best regards
Alex

that's major news!!! we need more info!!!

please find out if they changed to another make/model or was it just a software update!!!

I just scheduled an appointment to have my replaced as well. I am suprised that BMW has not recalled the camera yet. BMW need to take a
note from Lexus on the back-up camera.

or from Honda. The one on my Ody works great anytime of the day.

So the consensus is it should work at night as well?

This is the first car I've driven with a backup camera and the screen is pitch black at night time.

I'll have to get the dealer to check it out.

A little off topic, but I just noticed the x3's have an oem rear view camera kit for x3's with nav...anyone with an x5 know how long that install might have been? I am figuring it cant be too different.

THanks!

I am interested as well. pics please.

This is the picture quality of my MY08 by night, rear lights and brakes on

The taken picture is better than reality, the backup camera picture is fuzzy as hell...

I turned of the obstacle markings, that improved quality a little.

No comments by BMW so far... so could you please give us the information about the exchanged cameras (type, P/N etc.)

So long

Christian

Here is a tought (maybe some else has tried it!)
Is the Camera infra red sensitive?

You could check this out by pressing a TV remote control and see it flashing in the in car screen if it is IR sensitive.

If it is IR sensitive a small LED IR lamp could be wired in under the rear bumper to come on at night time,

what do the green lines mean vs. the red ones? i know the green ones are probably the safer location and red is 'on the edge'.... but i'm wondering how people really 'use' them.

Just for the comparison, I am going to post some pics tonight to show how the backup camera's image looks like on a Honda.

According to BMW's ETK there is a newer backup camera as of 3/2007. SI believe the E70's started being built 2.2006 so I suppose if you have one older than DOP 3/2007 you might want to have it changed.

Camera Quality
 

I just picked up my 2008 X5 last night. It finished production last week. I camera quality is exactly as bad as his photos... nothings been changed on the assembly line as of Nov 2008.

The camera is pretty much trash...

Mike

Hey Mike-

I'd be very interested in finding out the part number of your camera since the ETK nor Realoem seem to have the new part number though you're probably not too interested in stripping your brand new car just yet.

BMW needs to recall this TRASH!

As promised, here is how the rear-view camera works on the 2005 Honda Odyssey...

Alex,

That is just ridiculous!!! How can the Honda Odyssey have a rear-view camera that's so much better??? The backup camera is the only thing that I'm unhappy with on my 2008 X5 so far.

Mind that this is on a 3-year-old car !

Also, the reverse lights on my Honda are very bright. Perhaps that explains it...

I believe it's all about the reverse lights.... these cameras are not night vision or infrared...

can't we find a way to make them brighter?? there must be a bulb swap option out there!!

Hmm.... Now I wonder if I should forget the X5 and keep the Ody...:rolleyes: :rolleyes: Nah...:) We'll figure something out. One can certainly experiment by adding more reverse illumination (a power flashlight or some sort of flood light) facing towards the rear - if that will result in a better image, then we know what to do...

There were two different part numbers used before 03/07, then another part number from 04/07 to 09/07, and now yet a fourth part number from 10/07 on. Here's the ETK info (the highlighted lines).:



Attachment 20938

Hey RodyBMW-

4 pages of posts and only 1 that REALLY was worthwhile. Thanks a BILLION for the GREAT post. Excellent excellent excellent information! A+++ to you my friend.

that last part number doesn't seem to be much of an improvement if Mike's new vehicle still has the same issue!!

i'm going to try different lighting options....

ugh i didn't want this back up thing on my new car but mr said to get it.....can it be disabled?

Glad I could provide some information, however, it seems like after 4 different part numbers in just about a year of production the problem is still unsolved (according to Mike).

Yes, you can opt for only displaying the PDC view via the vehicle/tyres/manouvering aids menu in iDrive.

great! thanks Fastbuck the vehicle pickup should be soon.....

I agree about the back camera. It looks like the camera came straight out from Toy R Us. I never use it. Always have PDC on the screen. The camera is very slow, and can't see jack. Even the Backup Cameras on Toyotas are much nicer.

Looks like there is a new camera p/n according to the latest ETK! The camera with p/n 66 53 9 166 254 will be ending 2/29/08 and the latest one will be 66 53 9 181 757. So who knows, maybe BMW will finally have solved the problem with this new one?

I hope so, if not, just another part number. If anyone gets it installed please let us know if there are any differences. Thanks!

I told my dealer that the camera will raise complaints especially if the owner had the previous X5 with a camera. The camera in the E53 was really good particularly at night.

This one on the E70 is exactly like people have said - trash. Even when backing into my garage which is fully lit at night the picture quality is still terrible.

The camera was a typically a talking point by passengers in my last car whenever i was reversing. Now i'm too embarassed to have it display. Luckily the little pictorial guide showing the car and reversing zones steers the attention away from the sh!tty picture of the camera.

OT...
STIG: Titz Avatar pic of your X!
BR,mD

You mean the factory E53 camera? Do you happen to know the p/n of it?

yes i mean the factory e53 camera. i don't know the p/n for this. the e53 camera is bigger and chunkier compared to the e70 camera but it did the job very well.

Any updates on this "new" camera?