BMW E36 Blog

Parking System With Camera For Your BMW

6th February 2008

Parking System With Camera For Your BMW

posted in Technical Info, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized |


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I wrote couple days ago an article about BMW E36 Parking Distance Control (Parking Sensors) and I was very excited to discover that some BMW E36 cars came with a parking distance control system. If you didn’t read my previous post yet, please do before proceeding with this. I’ve decided to dig into this subject more and may be find a DIY about how to install such a system in a BMW if that car didn’t originally have one. So, I was looking for more information about this parking distance control system (PDC for short) and I found that it costs a lot of money. I also found some information about other solutions that I thought are more valuable and I guess more modern for BMW cars.

The modern parking systems are actually equipped with camera(s) to help you park your car and see everything that is behind you. These systems are usually very expensive and hard to install, but I found two systems that I thought you’d like to know about.

The first system is equipped with two cameras which are supposed to work as  left and right mirrors while parking. Take a look at this photo:


This system is provided with two TFT LCD monitors and you can control brightness, color, and contrast. What I didn’t understand about this system is why they provided 2 monitors with different sizes? Why the two monitors are not of the same size?

Anyway, I kept looking for more information and I found another system which provides you with a monitor and a digital distance display that is integrated into your rear-view mirror. I think this is much cooler as I hate to make huge changes to the car’s interior. So, I think this system can be used inside your BMW and look OEM a the same time.

Take a look at these photos:


 

This system issues a warning sound when getting too close as well. I think this is much cooler than the previous one.

What I still need to figure out about these systems is how they can be installed inside a BMW E36. I think the most obvious thing is to connect the power of this system with your reverse light. This way, the system will turn on automatically when you use the reverse gear. But I still need to know how hard is it going to be to make holes inside your rear bumper and whether they’re going to look good or not.

Please feel free to let me know what you think? Do you know of any better solutions?

 

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 4:32 pm and is filed under Technical Info, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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There are currently 5 responses to “Parking System With Camera For Your BMW”

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  1. 1 On February 6th, 2008, Dennis said:

    Hi again Tony

    Think the last two rearmirror integrated ones looks cool! About the holes you have to drill, it’s pretty easy, most kits have supplied the drill you need so its just to measure where you have to drill etc. The drilling i presume is rather easy as it’s plastic and not metal. Then you just have to decide if you want them colored or not?

    One thing i dont like about the video pdc is that i think it will get too messy if you have bad weather all the time, as we do in Denmark, Germany UK etc. I don’t think you can see anything through the bumber camera when it’s covered in dirt.

    I can see why new bmw mercedes etc. have a rearview camera, when they have a mediacenter installed, but to throw in a rearviewcamera in a 12 year old bmw is a bit overkill i think.

    I like the normal PDC as it’s original and it’s something that most modern car even today dont have equipped as a factory option. My Dad’s old Toyota Avensis did’nt have it installed, and they didnt have the parts at toyota for 4 years ago. So he had to get some 3rd party PDC installed, i could’nt stop thinking about my bmw had it from start 🙂

    Dennis

    posted on February 6th, 2008 at 6:49 pm

  2. 2 On February 6th, 2008, Dennis said:

    Hehe or as my girlfriend just said… Why install a camera that shows what you already are seeing in your rearmirror?!
    Think she got a point 😉

    posted on February 6th, 2008 at 6:52 pm

  3. 3 On February 7th, 2008, Tony Sticks said:

    LOL Dennis!!! The PDC with ultrasonic sensors doesn’t show you exactly what is behind you and that’s the problem. Your GF is right, but you can’t see the objects that are below your trunk, can you? I’d rather watch everything behind me while parking.

    To be honest, it doesn’t matter if you have the ultrasonic thing or the camera system, but the idea itself is very cool and I consider it a nice upgrade for our BMW E36.

    posted on February 7th, 2008 at 9:46 am

  4. 4 On February 28th, 2008, Baback said:

    Hi,

    I have a reversing camera on my M3. I happened to think that it would be good to fix it
    in the rear BMW logo. It sure was because it gave me everything I wanted to see. The good
    thing is that my DVD entertainment system allowed for a rear camera input. So now when I
    put the car in reverse the camera overides anything on screen to the camera.

    posted on February 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

  5. 5 On February 28th, 2008, Tony Sticks said:

    Wow! I like that. Now that’s a great solution for the reverse problem.

    posted on February 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pm