Thread: Fitting a BMW X5 style reversing camera

Originally Posted by Graeme

Mine's wiring is on the same route as your's Ron.

So, I'm not the only idiot one who likes to do things the hard way?

I didn't get a lot done today. The numberplate light/tailgate switch is back in and working.

I routed the video cable up through the corrugated rubber tube and down the rear pillar to the LH electronics compartment in the rear.

This is the tube through which the cable has to run.

L322 Tailgate Rubber Tube.jpg

Quite simply, it is impossible to do so unless you unplug it at each end. It is relatively easy to get it back into the holes if you lubricate it. I used Spray and Wipe.

L322 Tailgate Rubber Tube Unplugged.jpg

To get the cable down the E pillar, I removed the trim. If you can run the cable without removing this, do it! The panel is a right pig to get back in. I bent the pins several times. I don't know how they do it easily in the factory.

L322 D Pillar Cover.jpg

These are the rather phallic-looking pins. I had to heat them with a hot air gun to straighten them each time I bent them trying to get the trim piece back on..

L322 D Pillar Cover Pins.jpg

Just a bit of tidying up to do tomorrow.

EDIT: When I checked the supplied 6m video cable that has an included wire for the 12v supply to the camera (under the sheath), it had a resistance of 11 ohms. That shouldn't bee too much of an issue with the expected low current draw but I will check tomorrow - although it might be too late, I've refitted all the trim panels and I'm not taking them off again! The video wire had about 6 ohms resistance. Those values will improve as I will cut off a lot of the excess cable.

It's working! All the trim is back in - a mongrel of a job.

However, I wish I'd tested the camera before buttoning it all up. In fact, I'd recommend testing before you start.

The camera image appears to be slightly rotated. It's as if the camera isn't aligned in the housing. See below. I'll do some more checks tomorrow.

L322 Camera View.jpg

My camera will eventually be connected to the PiBus media centre (see PiBUS - A Raspberry Pi-BMW Interface Board ) but for the moment it's switched on and off via relay operated from 12v feed from the reversing lights.

The camera video signal goes into the white plug (actually, the plug is black with a white housing ), rear view camera inputs, pins 13 and 14, of the TV tuner module.

L322 Video In Plug.jpg

The TV tuner module rear view camera input is turned on by applying an earth to pin 17 of the blue connector.

I've picked up power from a wire freed and no longer used from the 54-pin plug in the ULF module (see my other thread on that). I utilised 3 unused pins from the same batch of no-longer used wires to insert into these plugs. I left a little wire on the pins just in case I needed them - and I did.

TV Tuner pinout.jpg

If you are not installing a media centre, then you can do the switching with a relay controlled from the reverse lights. Power to the camera can come directly from the reverse light wiring. The same supply turns on a relay. The relay merely connects pin 17 of the above plug to ground.

It would be easy to configure this so you can turn the camera on at anytime for, say, perving on the chick walking behind your car.

It's rather disappointing that Land Rover didn't install a camera. It would have been so easy to do in factory. The TV module is designed to accept the camera signal.

I might do a separate thread on the media centre install.

Originally Posted by p38arover

I might do a separate thread on the media centre install.

Please do, I bought a USB to Ibus adapter and never got past reading a few values through it. I also have a factory screen but none of the rear compartment gubbins, so might have to do some cutting and fitting like in the P38, I miss that.

Originally Posted by jsp

Please do, I bought a USB to Ibus adapter and never got past reading a few values through it. I also have a factory screen but none of the rear compartment gubbins, so might have to do some cutting and fitting like in the P38, I miss that.

John, do you want your P38A touch screen back?

I don't have a P38 I'm sure you can find a good home for it

Thanks Ron, very informative with useful photos.
It has given me something to think about.
Nothing is as easy as it seems.
I came here via your post on this same topic on the UK fullfatrr forum.

An update....

Of late, the image on the screen has been totally washed out at night and totally useless.

Blown out Image.jpg

At first I thought it might have been a failing camera but it wasn't too bad (if a little washed out) during the day.

I did suspect the signal might have been too high a level on whites but putting an oscilloscope across the video lead sort of ruled that out. To be certain, I shunted the video signal with a 50 ohm resistor which markedly reduced the level but it made no difference to the image on the screen.

The CRO attentuator setting is 0.2 volts/cm

Video Signal.jpg

I thought about it and decided that the problem might have been that the camera was being flooded with light from the adjacent LED. So I pulled the camera/light assembly out and apart. (Sorry, I forgot to take pics - it was a pig to work on whilst it hung from the upper tailgate. The wires broke several times and are hard to get back on with only two hands to hold solder, soldering iron, the wires, and the camera module. )

I found the LED panel had come adrift from its rudimentary mounting and was aiming a lot of light at the camera. There is no in-built light barrier between the camera and the LED. The camera is held in place by what appears to be translucent silicone rubber which obviously passes quite a bit of light.

To test my theory, I sprayed the silicone with black paint at test it. There was a marked improvement.

So I got the tube of black Sikaflex I had on the shelf and glued the LED panel back in putting plenty of it right around the LED panel to stop any light leakage. I then spread a liberal amount of Sikaflex around the camera module to further minimise any light leakage into the camera.

The image is significantly improved (below) but I think I will replace the camera completely. This one isn't particularly good, it blows out on whites. So I am now looking to replace the numberplate light/tailgate release assembly to revert that part of the car to standard.

Reversing lights only (taken at night, no extra lighting):

Reverse Lights only.jpg

Reversing and taillights on (note the red tinge):

Reverse and Tail Lights On.jpg

Accordingly, I DO NOT recommend fitting the type of camera/LED numberplate light that I used.