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BMW 3-Series and 4-Series Forum (F30 / F32) | F30POST > Technical Forums > Navigation, iDrive, Audio, Video, Bluetooth, Phone, Cameras, Electronics > F32 Front and Rear PDC AND OEM Camera Install
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      04-03-2015, 10:15 PM   #1
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F32 Front and Rear PDC AND OEM Camera Install

I recently picked up a 2014 428i for my wife and it came with everything except the kitchen sink. . I ended up buying the front and rear PDC and OEM camera kits from Bimmertech and I cannot be more impressed with the entire experience from them. One thing that totally freaked me out, though, was when DHL called me to collect the customs and service fees, they wanted something like $2200!!! I was totally floored and emailed Patryk right away because that was almost as much as I paid for the kits. I am sure he was laughing but he emailed me and told me that they were using the wrong conversion rate for Poland (PLN) to USD. I called DHL and explained this to them and they told me that they valued my box of goods at something around $43k!!! The lady said they would look into it and 2 days later, they called me and gave me the new and revised cost of ~$250. The shipping is free BUT you have to pay customs fees and then DHL charges a service fee to process your order (SCAM on DHL's part, IMO but I guess they gotta make more $ somehow). Bimmertech has an alternative to using DHL but I used DHL instead so the kits stayed insured. Patryk was completely professional through everything, too. I had been emailing with him for a while before the purchase to make sure I had all the info I needed to make an informed decision. Then, during the install and after, he helped me with minor obstacles I ran in to since I needed more info about the installation. I also ended up having a connection issue with my Rear Electronics Module (REM) and the right center PDC sensor. The wiring into the harness was not seated good enough, I guess, but the tech doing the coding online told me about it and I checked into it and got it corrected. I did almost destroy the connection block trying to take it out of the holder to fix it, and I do need a new one, but it still works and there are no connectivity issues. Everything works just like OEM too . While I don't have a DIY, I took some pictures to help others with their installs and would be happy to answer any questions for an F32 install. I've seen some posts on other PDC installs about the wiring connection from the center console buttons and the ICM (don't know what it stands for) and the instructions from Patryk detail the connections to make and there were no issues with the hookup.

Here's some pics with some explanation to help since the installation instructions differ or don't depict F32 equipment:

REAR PDC:
Here is where the car battery and Rear Electronics Module (REM) are located. Pull the tool kit and cover off to get to the REM. When disconnecting the negative battery terminal, I wrapped it in a rag so it didn't accidentally touch the battery terminal. Just an added precaution that made me feel better since the cabling had some memory and "wanted" to move back towards the terminal.


This is the wiring harness to pull off of the REM. Then you slide out the brown and blue wiring blocks. The front and rear PDC wiring connects to the brown block.


Picture of the rear end with the bumper and tail lights removed.


My car (non-M Sport) had witness marks on the front and rear bumpers for where the PDCs go.


This has to be removed to get to the area where you need to drill a hole. I don't know what this is or does. It looks like it could hold wires for something like driving assistant sensors and the like.


After the plastic piece is removed, you see the battery vent and area where the rear PDC wiring must go through. A hole has to be drilled just under the other wiring harness access point. I drilled a ⅜" hole and ran the wiring through a vacuum line end connector with the tip cut off so the bare metal wouldn't rub the PDC wiring. I sealed everything with windshield sealant since it is flexible and has a wide range of temperature resistance. Sorry, no pics of that part though.


FRONT PDC:
If you have headlight washers, you will need to disconnect the passenger side hose ONLY. It's a quick disconnect. You need to have something to catch the windshield washer fluid unless you want a mess like you can kind of see in the picture. The headlight washers themselves can stay installed on the bumper.


The water trough and fuse box need to be moved out of the way so you can access the firewall port in order to run the cabling for the front PDCs. The wiring harness for them connects to the REM in the trunk and is run along the passenger outer floor board and up the back side rest. There is a DIY on here that talks about how to get the wiring to the firewall but nothing about the water trough and fuse box so I had to figure that part out.


This bolt is a beeyotch to take out. I had to use a combo wrench and pretty much go a flat at a time. A flexible shaft may have worked but there is really no clearance back there and to get that clearance, you'd need to take the whole rear engine compartment seal and covers off I think. Maybe a ratcheting wrench would work here too. It looks like there's room in the picture but it's because of the angle.


The whole goal of getting the fuse box out is to get to this plug in the firewall. I think you can also go in on the one on the left if you choose. Choose wisely.


A couple of pokes with a coat hanger will make a good enough hole to fit the wiring through. Then climb inside and pull it in and run it along the inside to the REM. You have to remove the under dash cover, FEM cover panel, sill trim, rear seat, and the rear side rest.


Now that I look at the pictures of the fuse box area, you may not need to move it out of the way. I can't remember if it gives you more clearance to get the wires into the firewall or not. I do remember my hands not being able to really get in that area at all so it might be good to get it out of the way so the wires can be inserted without causing a problem.

Camera:
You will need to tap in to a fuse in the box on the right in this picture. The instructions tell you which one but I don't remember right now. You plug the wire into the bottom of the fuse box so the camera can get the power it needs. You will run this wiring to the front driver footwell area where the camera brain is mounted. You have to remove all the same stuff like you did on the passenger side for the front PDCs too. The trunk liners are all removed too so installation of all of the kits is easier. The instructions given with the kits do a good enough job of detailing those steps.


Other wires need to go to the Front Electronic Module (FEM) from the camera brain. The FEM is located in the passenger right footwell area and getting the wiring across and keeping it hidden was a pain in the ass. You have to go up into the navigation module area and then back down into the footwell area. I don't show the nav module or anything as that is all the same as in the instructions. The instructions depict the FEM as being horizontal but it is mounted vertically in my car and the wiring harness connector that it is tapped in to isn't labeled well in the instructions either. A quick email to Patryk solved that though. The instructions say to tap into some wiring under the carpeting of the driver floor but Patryk provided amplifying instructions to tap into the FEM wiring instead. You have to pull the wiring blocks out of the wiring connector mechanism and remove some of the tape to make sure you connect to the correct pin wires.


The center console cluster that has the button to operate the PDCs and camera (along with sport and traction mode buttons) also comes with the front PDC kit. The old button cluster is removed and tossed or donated to someone else. The wiring connections here caused some issues in another post about this topic and Patryk provided pin locations to use in my instructions and there were zero issues with it working. I only had to connect one of the 2 wires needed to provide signal to the PDC button so I took apart the 2 wire cable and connector that came with the kit and ran that wire to the ICM which is located under and a little behind the shifter. In order to access this, I needed to remove my rear A/C vent ducting by taking the rear controls and vents off and then gently pulling the ducting out and into the back seat area (having the rear seat removed is pretty much a must to do this). The ICM is a silver module underneath and it says "Airbag" on a sticker on there. Patryk was very adamant about making sure the battery was disconnected when plugging into this harness. Maybe you could cause the airbags to go off or fry your car if you don't. It's a little tight getting the wiring harness unplugged and apart so the wire pin can be inserted properly too. I decided to remove my iDrive button and panel so I could access it from above and behind. Some posts I saw said to get at it from where the rear vents were but I found that to be impossible for me.


There is a lot more to this install than is depicted. I don't have the pictures of everything since the instructions show a lot of it and Patryk provided extra info as well. Once everything is connected, a Bimmertech coding guy enabled everything via Team Viewer and that was it. He was about 6 hours ahead (in Poland, I presume) so trying to work through my initial wiring issue on the rear PDC caused us to do the coding over a couple of days. I also had an issue with my internet at first that took a little bit to resolve. If the internet and wiring issue weren't present, he would have had all of the coding done in about an hour or so.

Here's the iDrive screen with the PDCs and camera working!


I hope this info helps anyone wanting to do this install. For the mod and install novice, I recommend buying some kneepads and taking some motrin as your body will ache from all the twisting and contorting you have to do. It was a lot of work but it was really fun and I learned a lot about how the car is put together.

I can't say enough positive stuff about Patryk because without him and his quick responses regardless of time, I would not have been able to get through this. The instructions are part BMW and part additional info that BMW assumes the installer already knows so they don't show it that well. Patryk provides additional info as well to help but it is difficult to have all of the needed pictures for each model configuration. I welcome the use of my pictures in any tutorials or DIYs so that someone else doing this will have an easier go of it. I don't have the time or inclination to collate all of the info I gathered into a DIY so maybe someone with more motivation can do that. Finding and learning everything that I did was part of the journey though.
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      04-28-2015, 06:18 AM   #2
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Great write-up!

Enjoy the new goodies and thanks for the positive feedback
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      04-30-2015, 10:22 AM   #3
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Great write-up! You have a lot more detail there than you give yourself credit for. I especially liked the details getting from the engine bay through the firewall. There really is not a lot about that process in these forums and i think you may have the most detailed procedure to date. Excellent job, and glad everything is working!

I could feel your pain as you were trying to get through from the engine bay to the inside cabin through the firewall. I had to do the same trying to connect some wires from the engine back into the internal cabin's ACC on the aux +12v port under the glove box a few months ago. I could never figure out how to take out the water trough near the fuse block, so i just left it in place and was able to (barely) feed a fishing wire tape at a very wicked angle through the right firewall hole into the cabin. I almost gave up. If you have some pointers/tips on how to remove that water trough, i would appreciate it. It would make accessing that firewall hole so much easier the next time around. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me Seeing that pic of your water trough out of that area near the battery posts really made me chuckle. I had never seen that before in real life or in pictures Didn't think it was possible haha

I'm still waiting for the rest of my PDC/reverse camera parts to come in but had some specific questions about this install before they arrive ...

1. Can you elaborate on the correct pin location/number to connect into when you had to connect that one wire to the center console cluster? I don't want to run into the same issue from the other post that you mentioned.

2. Curious why you only needed to connect one of the two wires to the PDC button on the center console? What are those two wires for?

Thanks!
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      01-27-2016, 05:30 PM   #4
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Quick question: Where did the whole you choose take you to? I'm also going to need to run some wires from the engine bay into the cabin and I want to do it right from the first time.

Thanks
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      01-27-2016, 11:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 963mw View Post
Quick question: Where did the whole you choose take you to? I'm also going to need to run some wires from the engine bay into the cabin and I want to do it right from the first time.

Thanks
If you read my posts on the surround view or the park assist retrofits, it outlines two different routes you can take from the engine bay into the cabin area.
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      01-28-2016, 01:43 AM   #6
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I have question about the additional coding: If you enable the PDC and the cam into the car and it works...how about the dealers playing any time a software upgrade onto your car. Are the settings then lost or did they stay?
I ask this because I got a car with afterwards installed surround view, and now, after a software update by the dealer, all integrated settings are gone.
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      01-28-2016, 11:37 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dang3r View Post
I have question about the additional coding: If you enable the PDC and the cam into the car and it works...how about the dealers playing any time a software upgrade onto your car. Are the settings then lost or did they stay?
I ask this because I got a car with afterwards installed surround view, and now, after a software update by the dealer, all integrated settings are gone.
From my understanding, if you have added the 5DL(or 3AG for reverse only) to your FA and then VO coded the car, it should be retained during dealer updates unless they have to do something that reverts your car to the Factory FA List they have on file. Otherwise, it would code over and change any FDL changes you had made, but VO coding stays intact I believe.
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      01-28-2016, 12:16 PM   #8
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No, I got front and rear PDC stock and the cam also since delivery.
Additionally the surround view was added, other mirrors with cams and the front bumper with the sideview cams. All this was proper coded before.
Former days ago my drivetrain starts to lack at rapid speed ups and I brought the car to the dealer. There they must have installed a software build from the ground, since that the most (I believe custom made) settings are lost.
Iam absolutely unexperienced with coding and would not touch the system, but I was curious about your modification and the current setup with the codings, thank you.
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