[kent11202]

OK, here's the situation. I just had a back up camera installed and it works just fine. The "problem" is that the camera image could be a little brighter at night - it can be really dark around here when backing out of the garage.

Our other car, a 2011 Ford Edge, has much bigger/brighter back up lights than our 328i but even it could use some "help" illuminating what's behind the car.

So, does anyone have any product suggestions vis-à-vis a good LED back up light system I can install to help rectify this situation?

Looking for something that can be mounted under the bumper sort of hidden so it doesn't "stand out" and cause me to incur the wrath of other BMW owners as in......

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help!

[claykin]

Curious, what color is your car? Did you do an OEM retrofit or aftermarket cam? Does your backup cam show part of the bumper in the video?

I can tell you the OEM cam on an alpine white, mineral white and possibly some other light colors shows a dark image of objects in the distance. The bumper reflects so much white light back that is causes the CCD to compensate. Placing a dark rag over the bumper proves this. The OEM cam works much better with dark colors.

All BMW had to do to correct was angle the cam so it only shows a sliver of the bumper. Currently they show too much in the image. Alternatively, if the video coming off the camera to the module is digital, they can re-program the module to ignore the bottom of the image where the bright light is reflecting back. If its digital and they have a modern designed module, they can probably make the bumper appear dark even on a white car.

[ft1330]

Originally Posted by claykin

Curious, what color is your car? Did you do an OEM retrofit or aftermarket cam? Does your backup cam show part of the bumper in the video?

I can tell you the OEM cam on an alpine white, mineral white and possibly some other light colors shows a dark image of objects in the distance. The bumper reflects so much white light back that is causes the CCD to compensate. Placing a dark rag over the bumper proves this. The OEM cam works much better with dark colors.

All BMW had to do to correct was angle the cam so it only shows a sliver of the bumper. Currently they show too much in the image. Alternatively, if the video coming off the camera to the module is digital, they can re-program the module to ignore the bottom of the image where the bright light is reflecting back. If its digital and they have a modern designed module, they can probably make the bumper appear dark even on a white car.

Good point, yes the exposure of many camera systems is going to be defined by the average light over the entire picture. BMW could program the exposure calculation to not include the bottom part... Too smart for them.

[Math]

Some smart guys here! Maybe you can suggest this to BMW in the suggestions postbox, they might even take it into consideration for future cars

[kent11202]

Thanks for the input! Although the car is mineral white, the camera only picks up a VERY small sliver of the rear bumper so I can't be sure that's part of the issue - after dark tonight I'll put a rag on the bumper to see if that makes a difference.

Absent an improvement by doing so, I'll be back to considering some sort of "additional" lighting to improve things. This isn't an "end of the world" issue but it's a little annoying when a Ford has a better setup......

[claykin]

Originally Posted by kent11202

Thanks for the input! Although the car is mineral white, the camera only picks up a VERY small sliver of the rear bumper so I can't be sure that's part of the issue - after dark tonight I'll put a rag on the bumper to see if that makes a difference.

Absent an improvement by doing so, I'll be back to considering some sort of "additional" lighting to improve things. This isn't an "end of the world" issue but it's a little annoying when a Ford has a better setup......

You didn't tell us if your retrofit is the OEM or aftermarket camera? If OEM, its more than a sliver of bumper in the image.

Check out these images. Taken 2 minutes apart and no change in surroundings, lighting, etc. Only change was adding dark towel on top of bumper and removing the towel.

[Math]

Originally Posted by claykin

You didn't tell us if your retrofit is the OEM or aftermarket camera? If OEM, its more than a sliver of bumper in the image.

Check out these images. Taken 2 minutes apart and no change in surroundings, lighting, etc. Only change was adding dark towel on top of bumper and removing the towel.

Wow, thats a big difference in picture quality!

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Math

Wow, thats a big difference in picture quality!

Yup!

To compensate I reset the brightness and contrast settings to 70% and it helped a bit. In the pic's above both were set to the factory defaults of 50%.

[kent11202]

Originally Posted by claykin

Yup!

To compensate I reset the brightness and contrast settings to 70% and it helped a bit. In the pic's above both were set to the factory defaults of 50%.

Sorry about not stating if I have an after-market or OEM unit. It's an after-market. After looking at your pictures, the picture with my unit is about the same as yours after you adjusted things. A few minutes ago I shielded the back bumper AND put tape over the two license plate lights - no difference whatsoever so it seems there's no real difference between after-market and OEM units when it comes to sensitivity. Oh, and my camera only picks up a VERY small sliver of the bumper, not nearly as much as the OEM unit.

So, while it pales in comparison to our Ford, it's still quite adequate for what we wanted - safety issues - I can live with it and thanks for posting the pics!.

[cjack]

We have a few vehicles with backup cameras, our Ford (2012 F-150 Eco) is by far the best camera I have ever seen for night time. Might be that ford just uses good cameras.

[M3AWD]

We also have a '13 Ford Edge and the camera is way brighter than my '14 F30 at night... But I never knew the white color affected exposure!

[drob23]

What about swapping in some Cree LED's for parking lights?

[kent11202]

Originally Posted by M-SP0RT

We also have a '13 Ford Edge and the camera is way brighter than my '14 F30 at night... But I never knew the white color affected exposure!

I figured out how to post a picture. Notice it's not as "limited" as the BMW one - it gets just about everything behind you and caprures more "altitude. "

Just an FYI. The is a shot of the Ford Edge backup camera system.

http://

[M3AWD]

Originally Posted by kent11202

I figured out how to post a picture. Notice it's not as "limited" as the BMW one - it gets just about everything behind you and caprures more "altitude. "

totally agree regarding the Ford Edge cam

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by kent11202

I figured out how to post a picture. Notice it's not as "limited" as the BMW one - it gets just about everything behind you and caprures more "altitude. "

Just an FYI. The is a shot of the Ford Edge backup camera system.

http://

Obviously it's mounted higher than the F30's camera...and is using a wider-angle lens. SUVs, as large and boxy as they are, were among the first vehicles to need a rear-view camera, as it's nearly impossible to see things that are lower to the ground and close to the bumper due to rear-window/rearview mirror limitations. I personally don't find the rear cam necessary on my car, but it would be nice to have, especially at night with my tinted windows. Higher-intensity backup lights would definitely help with or without the cam. Having driven loaner BMWs with the rear camera, the daytime view seems pretty adequate, though.

[kent11202]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Obviously it's mounted higher than the F30's camera...and is using a wider-angle lens. SUVs, as large and boxy as they are, were among the first vehicles to need a rear-view camera, as it's nearly impossible to see things that are lower to the ground and close to the bumper due to rear-window/rearview mirror limitations. I personally don't find the rear cam necessary on my car, but it would be nice to have, especially at night with my tinted windows. Higher-intensity backup lights would definitely help with or without the cam. Having driven loaner BMWs with the rear camera, the daytime view seems pretty adequate, though.

Yes. it's definitely mounted higher and it's a 170 degree Sony camera so you would think it would be close to the same. Also, note the amount of the rear bumper it picks up without "washing out" the image due to reflection.

Another feature with the Ford camera - you can "magnify" the image with the push of a button to see what is right on your tail - and I do mean right on your tail.

I don't know if higher intensity back up lights are available for a retro-fit but if they are, I'd likely install them - haven't had any luck searching for them.

Make no mistake, I'm not totally frustrated with the existing setup because it meets the "safety" issues we are concerned about - I'd just like it to be better than it is.