[whoismorggan]

[Runner340]

Originally Posted by Rox335i

This

This may not be the end all solution but it's paid for itself a dozen times over in the last 8 months since installation!

[Rox335i]

Originally Posted by MSCD

Ouch, sorry

My first lip(CF m performance lip) lasted a year and this one lasted 1 1/2 years. At least this gives me a reason to go back to the m performance front lip.

[oem.plus_440gc]

Dropped my car off to dealership for an oil change. First OC since I picked up the car in November (I've only put on about 1,000 miles and it still shows about 4,000 miles until an oil change is needed). Also mentioned a bit of a clucking/rattling sound coming from the front end and took a drive with the shop foreman to show the noise. Got a text from my service advisor that they're replacing the passenger front strut with mount and the front thrust arm bushings. Glad the car is still under warranty! Wanted to make sure the car is in perfect (or as close to perfect as possible) condition by the time the warranty ends!

UPDATE: Went to pick up the car this morning. Before I even got out of the parking lot, I noticed it is still making the noise. We'll see what they say now.

[jnj2455]

Originally Posted by Runner340

This may not be the end all solution but it's paid for itself a dozen times over in the last 8 months since installation!

Would love to see a post of install if you have one.

[eff32fl]

Originally Posted by Runner340

This may not be the end all solution but it's paid for itself a dozen times over in the last 8 months since installation!

Is that an aftermarket camera using an MMI?

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Runner340

This may not be the end all solution but it's paid for itself a dozen times over in the last 8 months since installation!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you source it from and how much was it?

Was thinking about grabbing one of these from bimmertech but wasn't sure if I should do the kidney grill or bumper version.

[Runner340]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

If you don't mind me asking, where did you source it from and how much was it?

Was thinking about grabbing one of these from bimmertech but wasn't sure if I should do the grill or bumper version.

Went with the Bimmertech camera. I have a M Sport bumper and got the grill mount front camera option. Installing the camera was pretty simple. I just needed to remove the driver's side kidney grill to gain all the access. Then I clipped one front grill segment to fit the camera. The hard part is installing the Bimmertech MMI box that piggy backs off the head unit and screen. Not a ton of room behind or under the LCI nav head unit on my car and had to drop the glove box and mount it in the cavity between the glove box and head unit as shown in the Kies Motorsports Video below.

Took me all afternoon and part of the following morning to install the hardware. Dip switches on the MMI unit weren't set by Bimmertech for my model car so I had to reach out for some guidance that pushed the job to the next day to wrap it up. I set the camera to automatically turn on for about 10 seconds when I put it in drive after reversing. I can also manually turn the front camera on while driving by pressing the idrive menu button for 3 seconds or by one of the preset radio buttons. I would also recommend maintaining access to the front camera to position it once you have the interior part of the install working. The effort was worth it in the end. I use it a lot and a bumper and lip saver when parking.

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Runner340

Went with the Bimmertech camera. I have a M Sport bumper and got the grill mount front camera option. Installing the camera was pretty simple. I just needed to remove the driver's side kidney grill to gain all the access. Then I clipped one front grill segment to fit the camera. The hard part is installing the Bimmertech MMI box that piggy backs off the head unit and screen. Not a ton of room behind or under the LCI nav head unit on my car and had to drop the glove box and mount it in the cavity between the glove box and head unit as shown in the Kies Motorsports Video below.

Took me all afternoon and part of the following morning to install the hardware. Dip switches on the MMI unit weren't set by Bimmertech for my model car so I had to reach out for some guidance that pushed the job to the next day to wrap it up. I set the camera to automatically turn on for about 10 seconds when I put it in drive after reversing. I can also manually turn the front camera on while driving by pressing the idrive menu button for 3 seconds or by one of the preset radio buttons. I would also recommend maintaining access to the front camera to position it once you have the interior part of the install working. The effort was worth it in the end. I use it a lot and a bumper and lip saver when parking.

Thanks for the info. I already have a bimmertech MMI unit and a rear camera installed so I'd just be purchasing and adding a front camera. I prefer the kidney grill cam from an ease of install and aesthetic perspective, but I'm unsure if it would provide as good of a camera location/angle as the front bumper camera in terms of saving my front lip from curb damage. If anyone has the kidney grill camera I'd love to hear your input on that.

[jnj2455]

Originally Posted by Runner340

Went with the Bimmertech camera. I have a M Sport bumper and got the grill mount front camera option. Installing the camera was pretty simple. I just needed to remove the driver's side kidney grill to gain all the access. Then I clipped one front grill segment to fit the camera. The hard part is installing the Bimmertech MMI box that piggy backs off the head unit and screen. Not a ton of room behind or under the LCI nav head unit on my car and had to drop the glove box and mount it in the cavity between the glove box and head unit as shown in the Kies Motorsports Video below.

Took me all afternoon and part of the following morning to install the hardware. Dip switches on the MMI unit weren't set by Bimmertech for my model car so I had to reach out for some guidance that pushed the job to the next day to wrap it up. I set the camera to automatically turn on for about 10 seconds when I put it in drive after reversing. I can also manually turn the front camera on while driving by pressing the idrive menu button for 3 seconds or by one of the preset radio buttons. I would also recommend maintaining access to the front camera to position it once you have the interior part of the install working. The effort was worth it in the end. I use it a lot and a bumper and lip saver when parking.

Did you had to finagle the camera wire through an existing grommet/penetration in the firewall to connect to the MMI unit that you ultimately situated in the glovebox?

[Runner340]

Originally Posted by jnj2455

Did you had to finagle the camera wire through an existing grommet/penetration in the firewall to connect to the MMI unit that you ultimately situated in the glovebox?

After rereading your question. Actually I routed it through the firewall grommet at the drivers side foot well and to the center of the dash to the MMI. Plenty of wire length is provided. Yes, very easy to do...

[Bjorn67]

Originally Posted by Runner340

This may not be the end all solution but it's paid for itself a dozen times over in the last 8 months since installation!

Great job !

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Runner340

After rereading your question. Actually I routed it through the firewall grommet at the drivers side foot well and to the center of the dash to the MMI. Plenty of wire length is provided. Yes, very easy to do...

So...after speaking to bimmertech, the kidney grill camera only fits cars with 11 slats per grill (aka not my sport line kidney grilles) so I ordered the same camera you did and will be installing it in the bumper grill. I think while the install will be a little trickier, overall it will provide a better camera location.

11 slat grill:



8 slat grill:

[INROADRACR]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Thanks for the info. I already have a bimmertech MMI unit and a rear camera installed so I'd just be purchasing and adding a front camera. I prefer the kidney grill cam from an ease of install and aesthetic perspective, but I'm unsure if it would provide as good of a camera location/angle as the front bumper camera in terms of saving my front lip from curb damage. If anyone has the kidney grill camera I'd love to hear your input on that.

I bought my car used and it came from CA and had that hideous front license plate mount which screws into the bumper (). I purchased the Bimmer-Tech front camera and the kidney grill mount was not an option for me (8 slats) and I was worried that the grill mount field of view would be obstructed top and bottom by the license plate mount and the bottom bumper lip. So, I made use of the license plate mount. Basic engineering: if you can't fix it, feature it!

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by INROADRACR

I bought my car used and it came from CA and had that hideous front license plate mount which screws into the bumper (). I purchased the Bimmer-Tech front camera and the kidney grill mount was not an option for me (8 slats) and I was worried that the grill mount field of view would be obstructed top and bottom by the license plate mount and the bottom bumper lip. So, I made use of the license plate mount. Basic engineering: if you can't fix it, feature it!

Lol that's one way to deal with it. Not a bad idea but I'll be putting mine in the bumper grill as I don't have a front plate bracket and want it out of sight and out of harms way. Wouldn't want someone backing into me and damaging the lens and I think the overhang of the bumper will help with glare and sunlight.

[The Kurgan]

Installed a new battery yesterday at 165,500 km. It lasted almost 10 years... date of manufacture of my 2012 328i Luxury Line was February 14, 2012. The battery still started the car, but the car kept going into energy savings mode due to battery discharge, and I got sick of using the key because keyless remote entry was shut off. The new battery is a bit smaller in length, so I had to wedge a few paperback novels in place to ensure no slippage. Works great! Just waiting for my new FOXWELL NT510 Elite Full Systems Scanner to arrive so that I can register the battery. No issues to report on.

I actually am considering buying another identical battery and hooking them up in parallel. You can't have too many amps at your disposal

[Runner340]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

So...after speaking to bimmertech, the kidney grill camera only fits cars with 11 slats per grill (aka not my sport line kidney grilles) so I ordered the same camera you did and will be installing it in the bumper grill. I think while the install will be a little trickier, overall it will provide a better camera location.

11 slat grill:



8 slat grill:

There is a long intermediary wire with small connectors on both ends that I snaked along the hood release cable. To get the wire through the firewall grommet I made a hole with a pick tool. Then I took a long narrow cable tie and poked it through the hole on the firewall grommet, taped the long intermediary wire to it and pulled it through the grommet. I followed the hood release cable routing with the camera wire to the front of the car. If you have the M Sport bumper there is plenty of room to reach and position the camera once the drivers side kidney grill is removed.

[SystemOfUrdaW]

Oil change and oil drain plug issue fixed (helicoil installed), BMS oil filter cap intent to install (failed), transmission fluid changed. Everything done by my mechanic👍
The day after i tried to install BMS oil filter cap, an other fail, broke Part Number: 31106854219, was completely rusted.
Conclusion don’t ever again buy online product from “Parkauto motorsports”.
Not the customer service available in Canada.

[freakystyly]

Park Auto is in my town, they just import and resell and sometimes install things. It's a small operation and I don't think they have a lot of employees. Sorry to hear the bad experience, I've only used them once or twice to order parts.

[SystemOfUrdaW]

[QUOTE=freakystyly;28522485]
I don’t think it is a bad business to deal with in person but online it’s an other story. You buy thinking the product you buy is in stock, few minutes later you receive an email saying product available not before2-3 weeks. People trying to canceled get fees to do so, and some people even have stock fees…That is not a good way to do business. If website announces that before you buy i’m ok with that. At least 1/3 of their google reviews are bad. For me it means that is their way of doing business, not so honest.
They asked me to take pictures of my fitment issues. I spent 1 hour of labor for my mechanic to try to install, i spent 1 hour trying also to install (to take pictures of fitment issues), at least an other 1 hour emailing them and BMS.
Fed up with those guys.

[freakystyly]

Oh I totally agree, I'm not defending them too much. It is unprofessionally run by some younger guys. But I kind of knew what kind of operation it was by talking to a friend. Hopefully they get things together because they are so local to me and we don't have a lot of shipping options in Canada.

It's basically a single door mechanic shop in a backyard, there is no storefront to speak of.

[SystemOfUrdaW]

[QUOTE=freakystyly;28526650]
Exactly not a lot of option in Canada, N54Tuning is way better IMO, bought few parts from Toronto i think, Tdots performance in BC, we need more Good Autoparts business here