DIY: BMW Advanced Car Eye Camera (Dashcam)

[jwzimm]

Originally Posted by BrulSmurf

- The Mac software from dashcamviewer.com has a 5-movie seq. limit in the free version and I haven't been able to get it working at all yet.

Yeah, I emailed with the author of that software and he was unable to separate the overlaid front and rear images. It seems that this camera uses a weird method of storing the video in the files that the software is not compatible with. It is the one thing that is annoying about this camera for me.

[chimp]

Fantastic write-up. OP - where did you get the replacement tabs/fasteners ahead of time? When I do this, I know I will break at least two.

[VinnyA320]

Originally Posted by chimp

Fantastic write-up. OP - where did you get the replacement tabs/fasteners ahead of time? When I do this, I know I will break at least two.

You can get the fasteners at any BMW parts shop at the dealership or even order them online at getbmwparts.com

[2seriesaddict]

Hi!
I recently bought the camera and once it went out off the dealer that installed it, I began learning. Basically rear camera was not connected properly and I fixed it. One thing that gets to me is that I can't see the same videos in my mac that with the camera. Any chance you know why the difference? On the other hand, while seeing videos in the camera, I often get "Invalid File" in a sequence. From that point forward nothing is recorded until a new event happens. Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks!

[Soul_Glo]

@VinnyA320 using your awesome guide yesterday and have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. Any tips on removing the black cover on the FEM unit?
2. Was the dark green wire on the brown plug?
3. Lastly, any tips for placing the black trim kick panel back in place when everything is installed?

Thanks

[VinnyA320]

Originally Posted by 37psi

@VinnyA320 using your awesome guide yesterday and have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. Any tips on removing the black cover on the FEM unit?
2. Was the dark green wire on the brown plug?
3. Lastly, any tips for placing the black trim kick panel back in place when everything is installed?

Thanks

Sorry it took me a few days to respond. The cover for the fem unit is held in by a screw. Be very careful when removing it as it also has a plastic clip that hold it in place as well. I broke mine initially and ended up ordering a new cover. I also broke the screw. The screw goes into a plastic part of the fem unit and if tightened too much will crack the plastic. As for the trim cover just note how the plastic clips line up when you put it back on and possibly have a few extra ones in case they break. Local bmw parts shops or bmwparts places online have them for a pretty cheap price. The initial wiring i wrote on the guide was wrong and a few responses down someone helped me correct it. I will get the post to refer you to. The unit will still work regardless but the way I had it i would not go into park mode. If you have any other questions feel free to message me.

Edit: ian2828's post is correct for the wiring setup. I will also correct my guide to show the correct wiring.

[Soul_Glo]

Is parking mode 6 hour constant?

The reason I ask is because when I park up at say 6pm, sometimes the blue LED has been on at 4am without me unlocking the car...

Anyone know?

Thanks

2seriesaddict
VinnyA320

[Antony]

Originally Posted by ian2828

Huge thanks to Vinny for this. I've just completed the installation on my 2016 F30 (which has a similar wiring layout) and I wanted to share a couple of points.

My car is a right hand drive UK model. I discovered that the whole wiring arrangement is a mirror image of Vinny's left hand drive (so the FEM unit to tap into is in the passenger footwell on the left side). The FEM is also in the opposite orientation with the relevant wires further back, making it very difficult to use the wiring connectors supplied with the kit. I ended up carefully splicing and soldering the connections and covering with heat shrink tubing. This was all rather tricky with the restricted access to the wiring.

I'm fairly sure, however, that the wiring shown in the DIY is incorrect.



Vinny's photo appears to show the red wire from the camera attached to the thick red wire from Pin 33 in the car, and the yellow fused wire attached to the thin green wire from Pin 20. I think these should be switched. Here's an extract from the BMW EBA instructions:

Attachment 1383764

The image of the wiring at the top could be misleading. It makes it look like the red wire A3 is the fused wire. In fact, the fused wire is A2 (yellow - GE, gelb).

Ignoring the misleading image in the EBA and using the table, A2 (yellow) connects to Pin 33 (large red wire in car), A3 (red) connects to Pin 20 (green wire in car) and A4 (black) connects to Pin 24 (brown wire in car). It seems sensible that the fused wire to the camera connects to the large red power supply wire in the car.

This is the way I wired my car and everything (including parking mode) works perfectly. Maybe it doesn't matter in terms of the functioning of the camera, but I believe this is the correct way according to the instructions.

Hi, Thank you for your sharing!

Does that means A2: ACC, A3: constant 12V, A4: Ground?
And I am just wondering that why we need one 5-way miniature connector, only 3 2-way miniature connectors needed, doesn't it?

Tony

[Davetwilliams]

Perhaps a bit late - I completed this install today on a RHD F31 (340i touring) including routing the rearcam through the tailgate...

The 5 way connector has the central slot with a thicker profile to cope with the larger diameter 12v supply cable you’re trying to connect to. If it wasn’t for that then all three could be the smaller two way connectors.

[andyzdeman]

Originally Posted by Davetwilliams

Perhaps a bit late - I completed this install today on a RHD F31 (340i touring) including routing the rearcam through the tailgate...

The 5 way connector has the central slot with a thicker profile to cope with the larger diameter 12v supply cable you’re trying to connect to. If it wasn’t for that then all three could be the smaller two way connectors.

Hey Dave
I am going to be installing on a RHD F30 very soon.
On prev uk post mentioned the wires needing soldered because they were too short. A bit concerning. Did you find any problems like this on RHD that aren't just covered if you reverse the OP's DIY?

Mind if i PM you if I get into difficulties?

[Atomicteal_M3]

I just installed this camera. Can somebody tell me if there is an option to select USA upon initial setup or will I have to select The Union Jack flag as this is the only other option for English?

Edit: figured it out.

[BMW Thailand]

Hi guys,

If someone still following this could you please advice what do I supposed to do if the system is keep rebooting after every minute recorded?

I'm using it for only 1 week and it was fine for the first couple of days but now I had to disconnect it's very annoying and useless.

Local dealer sold me the kit with a big discount so they refused to take care of warranty.

I have istalled it myself and I'm very much sure it's fine because it was working well for a while.

I tried to format the memory card but the same thing happens again.

I was looking but don't find any info on how to upgrade firmware.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Best Regards

[Atomicteal_M3]

Originally Posted by BMW Thailand

Hi guys,

If someone still following this could you please advice what do I supposed to do if the system is keep rebooting after every minute recorded?

I'm using it for only 1 week and it was fine for the first couple of days but now I had to disconnect it's very annoying and useless.

Local dealer sold me the kit with a big discount so they refused to take care of warranty.

I have istalled it myself and I'm very much sure it's fine because it was working well for a while.

I tried to format the memory card but the same thing happens again.

I was looking but don't find any info on how to upgrade firmware.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Best Regards

It just started happening to mine as well. Did you ever figure out what caused it?

[XuLeTZ]

Hi,

Sorry for opening an old thread.
I bought a VIOFO A129 PRO duo 4K camera, came with the hardwire kit and it has 3 cables and I want to connect them 'by the book' into the FEM.
Can someone tell me if the OEM dashcam has the following wires as mine?
I have black which is ground obiously, RED is BATTERY and YELLOW is ACC+, Not sure why I have the feeling that BMW is using RED for ACC+ and YELLOW for BATTERY.
Can someone confirm? I was looking to make sure but couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance,
Alex

[wuwentao]

I also have the same question about power on the BMW advanced car eye on desk for replace the touch screen(also want to replace the dash cam later).

we know there is three wires for the advanced car eye:
1. gnd
2. ACC+
3. BATTERY

external power: I have DC 12V power with two wires: [+] and [-]
BMW advaned car eye: resolder 3 wires from the DC in slot to connect my external DC 12V power.

test 1:

manual connect two wired in advanced car eye with:
a. connect wire 1 to [-], it should be gnd
b. connect wire 2 with 12v [+], it should be battery? I'm not sure...

result: after connect these two wires, device can be power on , the display screen can show startup logo, but it will swith to parking mode for recoding.

test 2:

a. connect the same gnd to [-]
b. another another wire 3 to [+], it should be acc+? I'm not sure...

result: it can't be power on and no any outputs in LCD display.

my question is how to switch the BMW advanced car eye to normal driving mode and keep LCD can be touch and reset setting/formating SD card?


finally: I know we can connect it to car, just for interesting and once know these wires info, I will consider to buy a new dash cam to replace with it, but I'm not sure whether I can use the exist 3 wires power cable.

in addition, I also found some TXD/RXD/GND in the circuit board, I will try to connect an serial console to it and check whether it can works with some output info.