Reversing camera question - is wireless that bad?

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linw

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#1599735 27-Jul-2016 20:44

I didn't remove the sill trims, I just shoved the cable up under the edge. Mine was plastic but a BMW might have titanium trim in which case it might be harder to stuff cable up under it!!

Dingbatt

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#1599784 27-Jul-2016 22:43

lchiu7:
I'll try out YT. The car electrician I spoke to said (and of course take this will a grain of salt) that with the older and more robust cars (like my E34 BMW) removing trim wasn't such an easy task but I have never looked at the feasibility of it myself.

You may well be right. The Bavarians may have built it to not be messed with. But I assume with the wealth of BMW forums around someone will give you a steer. I admit I was very tentative in removing the trim, in case the aging plastic was brittle. But it turned out to be reasonably flexible.

Certainly I was keen to use the wireless route at first, but was dissatisfied by the result. The good thing was it was a breeze to remove.

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blakamin

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#1599883 27-Jul-2016 23:02

lchiu7:

I'll try out YT. The car electrician I spoke to said (and of course take this will a grain of salt) that with the older and more robust cars (like my E34 BMW) removing trim wasn't such an easy task but I have never looked at the feasibility of it myself.

Trying to run wiring from the back to the front of an E34 is a nightmare. Just ask me, I've owned 2 (and 2 E32's and now my E38)... I wouldn't bother. The amount of sound deadening, lack of holes, fit of the carpet and trims... NIGHTMARE to get a tidy fit! You can do a dodgy, but a proper fit will mean removing the carpet and seats.

And all I wanted to do in the E34 was put a 12v lighter socket in the boot (that was easy in the E38, as that's where the battery lives).

Good luck! :D

Dingbatt

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#1599961 28-Jul-2016 07:03

There you go. Wireless looks like the way forward.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

richms

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#1599981 28-Jul-2016 07:50

Just splash out for the all in one screen so you don't have a mess of wires at the front. I had a neat one that just took a mini USB for powering the LCD and had the receiver integrated. "Had" because I lost it when taking it between cars.

Richard rich.ms

lchiu7

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#1600033 28-Jul-2016 09:44

Dingbatt: There you go. Wireless looks like the way forward.

I think so. I took a look at the trim etc. and it doesn't look easy to feed cables through. The car does have an aftermarket stereo though with Alpine amps in the trunk so the previous owner obviously had professionals do the wiring since I can't see anything. But for how often I need to use the camera, wireless seems fine. The trick now is to find a place to mount the camera without having to drill hots in the trunk lid. I wonder if very strong double sided tape might work? On the later model 5 series (E39 and above) AliExpress sells replacement licence plate lights that replace the existing light in the fitting but incorporate a camera but nothing for the E34.

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Dingbatt

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#1600043 28-Jul-2016 10:11

Numberplate mount? Or will that look ugly?

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lchiu7

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#1600046 28-Jul-2016 10:18

Dingbatt: Numberplate mount? Or will that look ugly?

How does that work? The licence plate is screwed directly onto the truck lid.

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Dingbatt

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#1600154 28-Jul-2016 13:01

Have seen them on eBay that include a mounting bracket that screws onto the back (or front of you prefer) of the numberplate. Then screw your numberplate on. The mounting bracket that came with mine allowed that. It is not one of the flush mount ones though. Didnt want to drill a hole in my boot lid.

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linw

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#1600244 28-Jul-2016 15:56

I hummed and hahed about my camera mount but ended up screwing the mount up onto the plastic overhang that contains the lights for the numberplate. Plastic=no rust! See, there are some advantages of buying a common garden car!!

But you could try double backed tape. Nothing to lose (except the camera!).

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