Adding Rear Camera to PDC Nav?

[doane2u]

Would love to have a backup camera. My existing PDC helps in parking, but the rear view from my 2012 135i convertible is terrible with the top up because of the small rear window and the huge blind spots.. makes it really hard to backup when you can't see back at an angle.

Just found this camera/handle listed on Ebay for only $60 and states it will work with my series, but don't know about the hookup at the NAV unit, etc.?

I can find any listing for a reverse image camera emulator for the 135i E88 series on Ebay, will I need one for my NAV unit?


Thanks,

[zx10guy]

If you want something that just works, look into the Bimmertech options. Yes, they're expensive, but the stuff just works and has total integration with our car's iDrive system.

How I know is I have their MMI system installed. I did the entire install myself and added the smart phone screen mirroring capability. There is a sticky of my write up on my install in the connected/electronics sub forum.

[doane2u]

Thanks, zx10guy, is expensive, but the MM1 system looks like an easy install with no coding.

Hope some others can get back with other suggestions.

[zx10guy]

The install to me now is straight forward as I did all the hard work for everyone attempting the install. But if you're doing it for the first time, it's rather involved. Especially if you want to make sure the install is as factory as possible with cable routing and such. The hard part is figuring out how to mount the MMI box as there isn't really a good location to mount it due to the length of the video cable supplied with the kit.

But so far, I have not found any suitable substitute which integrates completely with iDrive and has the video quality. There has been others here that chose to use a cheaper solution which uses either a separate screen or their smart phone with mixed results. The fact this system puts the back up camera video right on the iDrive screen, activates when you put the car in reverse without having to tap into any wiring, and supports dynamic steering lines which move with your steering wheel are all reasons why the cost is worth it. The icing on the cake is the ability to add the Smart View module to allow smart phone mirroring. I don't even use the factory nav system any more. I use Waze which displays on the iDrive screen.

[doane2u]

So you got the MMI unit that requires no coding. I found your other install thread from 2015 here, thank you.
In this first photo what are the two units.. the one on the left, the multimedia unit, looks huge, and what is the one on the right?

Had you tried contacting BimmerTech and asking about getting an extension cable so that big unit would be mounted someplace else, and if you had a longer cable would it have been easier with a better location available?

Also, do you still have the PDP warning feature while you are viewing the rear camera at the same time, or is that only available on the OEM unit that requires coding?

Thanks,

[zx10guy]

Yes. I got the MMI and from my understanding all the other backup camera retrofits from Bimmertech do not require any coding.

Yes, the MMI is a rather large box but it's not overly large. I would say it has the footprint of a run of the mill single DIN head unit. The box on the right is the Smart View module which allows me to mirror my smart phone screen to the iDrive screen. It also allows me to send audio which I can have played out from the car stereo's system.

I seem to recall mentioning the need for a longer video cable. But I think the cable that's included is it. You may be able to find a longer cable somewhere as I think the cable is called a LVD cable. I've already have the cable and box set where everything works so I'm not going to tear apart my dash to redo it now.

As for the PDC feature, I don't know as my car did not get optioned for it. Incidentally Bimmertech sells a retrofit kit to add PDC to cars which don't have it. I suspect the PDC display will work for all the backup camera retrofits. If you look in my DIY write up thread on my install, you'll see I took a picture of the screen mirroring function from my smart phone working. The picture shows me being able to display the mobile Bimmerpost website on the iDrive screen. But on the right, you'll see I have the trip computer info displayed at the same time. How this is accomplished is setting the MMI box to picture in picture mode. I actually prefer this mode better than the default which is to stretch the video from the MMI box to fill the entire iDrive screen. This causes an unnatural stretch/distortion of the video. Setting the video output to PIP maintains the proper video aspect ratio. But you should contact Bimmertech for confirmation on if the PDC display will stay up when you activate the backup camera.

[doane2u]

Okay, thanks. I'm looking into a simple wired system and will let everyone know how it works as an alternative for only about $50, obviously won't be as good or as versatile as your system, but we will see... if it just helps me see behind me when in reverse I'll be happy.

Really appreciate all your help and advice

See it here