[sandwi54]

I want to write an official review on Bimmertech's OEM integration rearview camera, which I purchased last month.

http://www.bimmer-tech.net/shop/bmw-...em-integration

The price is fairly competitive at $610, considering that it's a seamless integration with the car's camera software. Note that you need a navigation unit for this to work (either OEM or retrofitted). Once installed and coded, it functions exactly the same way as the OEM camera. It activates when the car is placed into reverse, and deactivates when taken out of reverse. Obviously, unlike the OEM camera, there is no button next to the gear shifter to activate the camera at any time.

The kit did not come with an instruction (which would be nice), and you'd have to email Bimmertech to obtain one after you receive the kit. I did not do that as the kit looked straightforward to install. Installation took me about 3 hours. The trunk liner had to be removed to install the trunk-handle camera, and the camera cable is routed along the top of the trunk, down the hinge, and through the rear seat's side bolster, which needs to be pulled out. Then the cable is routed along the door sill and into the dash. The dash trim pieces had to all be removed to have access to the NBT unit, which needs to be pulled out as well. The kit came with a new wiring harness connects between the original harness and the NBT unit. No wires need to be jumped or spliced and everything is pretty much plug-and-play.

Installation is not difficult but not easy either, and is definitely not for the faint of heart. If you have never done any car installation or removed trim pieces before, I would seek help from someone who has experience or simply pay an installer to do it. Once the installation is done, I simply logged onto Skype to get the car coded. It was straightforward and took just about 20-30 minutes.

The picture quality of the camera is decent, not as good as the OEM camera which is much more expensive, but considering it only costs $610 it's a pretty good value. Overall, I am very pleased with the kit itself as well as the support from Bimmertech. Their responses have always been fast and detailed. I would recommend this kit to anyone who bought the car on the lot that does not have the driver assistance package.

[zyncopado]

Thanks for your review. I'm just about ready to buy the same rear view cam from bimmertech for my 2012 F30 335i.

Did yours come with dynamic lines?

[sandwi54]

Originally Posted by zyncopado

Thanks for your review. I'm just about ready to buy the same rear view cam from bimmertech for my 2012 F30 335i.

Did yours come with dynamic lines?

Yes I bought the one with dynamic parking lines. However, I don't really utilize it since I am able to back into a parking spot with just the camera view alone.

[ThreePac]

I just installed my Bimmertech OEM Camera a few days ago myself. I agree with most of your sentiments sandwi54. I'm a guy that likes thorough instructions, and these instructions were horrible (a short blurb about what you have to do, then instead of one PDF with all of the instructions, about 10 small PDFs for each step you have to do). I feel that my install could've gone a lot smoother with a complete set of instructions. Camera quality is okay, but I wish it were a bit better (I have to adjust the brightness/contrast depending on where I am). Regardless, it's AWESOME to have a camera now!

The coding process was really easy...thanks to Patryk and his team.

As for the actual install, I consider myself an intermediate level installer, but I had a LOT of trouble installing this kit (no fault of Bimmertech though). One of the plastic screws holding the trunk liner stripped and I couldn't get it out (had to get the mechanic that lives next door to help). Then I couldn't get the back seat rest out. I don't have split/folding seats, and couldn't for the life of me get it to budge. I ended up going to BMW and having a few techs come out to see if they could get it off and they couldn't either! I ended up routing it through a hole in the backseat. That was pretty much the struggle. The rest was just routing it to the head unit and then trying to make sense of where the wires and module were supposed to go (again, the instructions weren't great).

So even though this sounds like a poor review, it's a pretty good option considering price. My install story may be unique, so don't let this scare you away from getting this unit! Just get somebody to install the thing for you.

[sandwi54]

Originally Posted by ThreePac

I just installed my Bimmertech OEM Camera a few days ago myself. I agree with most of your sentiments sandwi54. I'm a guy that likes thorough instructions, and these instructions were horrible (a short blurb about what you have to do, then instead of one PDF with all of the instructions, about 10 small PDFs for each step you have to do). I feel that my install could've gone a lot smoother with a complete set of instructions. Camera quality is okay, but I wish it were a bit better (I have to adjust the brightness/contrast depending on where I am). Regardless, it's AWESOME to have a camera now!

The coding process was really easy...thanks to Patryk and his team.

As for the actual install, I consider myself an intermediate level installer, but I had a LOT of trouble installing this kit (no fault of Bimmertech though). One of the plastic screws holding the trunk liner stripped and I couldn't get it out (had to get the mechanic that lives next door to help). Then I couldn't get the back seat rest out. I don't have split/folding seats, and couldn't for the life of me get it to budge. I ended up going to BMW and having a few techs come out to see if they could get it off and they couldn't either! I ended up routing it through a hole in the backseat. That was pretty much the struggle. The rest was just routing it to the head unit and then trying to make sense of where the wires and module were supposed to go (again, the instructions weren't great).

So even though this sounds like a poor review, it's a pretty good option considering price. My install story may be unique, so don't let this scare you away from getting this unit! Just get somebody to install the thing for you.

Wow it sounds like you had one hell of a day to get the camera installed. My backseat folds down and all I had to do was pull the seat side bolster out. It took some brute force but it came out nicely.

Regarding the camera quality, it could definitely be improved! The dynamic range is sub-par and the saturation could be higher. I wonder if there's a way to adjust them.