Not sure why Penguin and deutsch100 are assuming this poor camera part is made in Germany.

Anyway, I left my car at the dealership today to look into this "blurry, fuzzy, grainy, useless at night" backup camera. No surprise that they said that "the blur is normal after comparing to other X5's". Guess I'm going to have to follow up BMW NA and see if they're ever going to do something about this -- I think it's a safety hazard. I don't need the backup camera to protect my car from dings -- I've never had that issue.

I'm going to look into after market suppliers that might be interested in addressing this issue and producing a replacement camera. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I'd also be interested to know if people think that it most likely the camera and not the wiring or the display. It seems like it would most likely be the camera -- which is what lynstermkiii said earlier.

See if you can get a camera from a Lexus LS 460. The camera on my Lexus is great day or night...

Craig

> Not sure why Penguin and deutsch100 are assuming this poor camera part is made in Germany.


Penguin is not assuming this, and did not say this. Penguin is assuming that they are, as in the past, "married" to a particular supplier for reasons other than quality, and are showing their typical stubbornness in not switching suppliers. I am providing some past behavior example where BMW stubbornly refused to fix a quality problem for what appears on the surface to be a reluctance to switch suppliers. I am guessing that the camera/system is sourced from some EC supplier, such as Phillips or Bosch, and would welcome any information which would confirm, or refute, this.

OK. Sorry, I could have worded that better. Didn't intend any slight.

The interesting thing is in the OEM catalogue there are two different cameras listed with different product codes and dates. The earlier ones listed from 2007 are no longer available. I don't know what the difference is between the two.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...39&hg=66&fg=05

Anyone know how the backup cameras in other BMW's compare to the X5? If it's BMW in general, we have a much larger voice ready at our disposal. If it is only on the X5, then we have some contention to say that if it works on other BMW's, why not on the X5?

None in the X3, should be just X5 / X6. Other vehicles aren't tall enough in the rear to warrant them. Should head over to the X6 forums and ask how they like theirs. Nobody from the '09 vehicles confirmed the same cam quality but we can assume at this point.

Hi, Folks,

I'm a new poster with a 2009 X5. I'm not sure if my camera is improved over previous years. It's still pretty generally lousy at night, but there is on my X an automatic high beam function when backing up. It's hard to explain, but the first image when stationary is the dark grainy picture, but then in gear moving backward, the light and image will appear to brighten. Still pretty lousy, but better than the first, darker picture. Does that make any sense?

:welcome:

I understand what you're saying but have a question. Are you saying that it looks like the image quality improves? I know you said the light and image appear to brighten.

I haven't noticed this behavior, as per what you said, but I'm going to check that out.

The brightened image is less grainy. But in a way, the brightening effect also has the result of washing out detail. Still, it's a bit better than just the dark, grainy first image.