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      05-23-2013, 10:28 AM   #18
Turbo Cereal 3.0
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Drives: 2014 S4 & 2013 M3 (Kinda)
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Queens, NY

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Quote:
Originally Posted by claykin View Post
I've driven a car with top and side cams. It really depends on your environment. If you are in a very urban area and run into near blind intersections, the side view can help make sure you don't poke out too far to try to see cross traffic. For most suburban drivers side view has less value. The only time I wished I had it was when I was backed into a parking spot and an SUV was parked next to me. Pulling out required me to be more careful as I couldn't see.

Top view would be much more valuable IMO if it could show the front end of the car clearly (not distorted). This way I could see curbs when pulling front first into a corner parking spot. Unfortunately, this kinda 1st gen approach to top view by BMW is more focused toward the rear of the car. And, if you have the rear cam, the rear turning lines are typically all you need to guide you into a spot or turn while backing up. Yes, there could be an occasion where top view could be helpful in tight spots or for parallel parking when driver isn't really good at it.

What most people don't like about top view is the rear cam distance becomes VERY short. Most top view camera users find themselves either using rear cam most or they toggle back and forth between top view and rear view while backing up. Somewhat annoying. Maybe next gen will improve this...

In very low light conditions, top view doesn't work well since side of car is not illuminated. Rear view gets illumination from backup lamps and side view would see headlights of oncoming car, its really top view that suffers most in low light. Again, maybe next gen will address with better cameras or IR cameras.

Finally, rain water can be a problem with all the cameras. Water droplets sit on the camera lens and can sometimes make them almost useless. This can impact all the cameras and in some situations could render them almost useless until you wipe off the water or it dries.

All in all, rear cam - YES if your budget allows Top and side view is debatable unless you are a repeat offender of curbing your car or you drive in uber urban environments.

Hope that helps.
Thank you very much for the detailed write up. Looks like I will skip the top view cameras, as I'm not prone to any sort of curbing and I've never even had a backup camera; just sensors in my brothers M3.

I opted for every package except the Driver Assistance Plus, so I've got the works
Appreciate 0