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      04-15-2012, 09:19 AM   #1
dnw
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Top View: normal to be this out of alignment?

My Top View is pretty out of alignment when comparing side view with rear. I know its difficult to get perfect alignment but this seems pretty bad. How does this compare to others with this option?

I also have a "rear view camera fault!" message every time I activate it so perhaps this is related. Going into the shop on Thursday for that.

thanks

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      04-15-2012, 10:00 AM   #2
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I would say your rear park view is out of alignment.. (the image on the right screen) . Is that what you meant? Or are you referring to the top view "top front of vehicle". If so, looks normal to me. Mine looks the same.. Top view cameras dont reach to the front of the vehicle. There is a video in the on-board manual you watch to compare.. Oops .. Disregard.. I see the mis-alignment .. Couldnt see it the the cell phone pic earlier. Looks def off
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      04-15-2012, 11:02 AM   #3
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My alignment is much better than that. Ask to have the camera alignment checked.
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      04-15-2012, 06:37 PM   #4
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Took a snap for comparison with mine.. although there is small fraction of slightly off.. yours seems excessive
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      04-15-2012, 08:22 PM   #5
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mine is like the OP also but on the right side its misaligned. hmmm
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      04-16-2012, 01:29 AM   #6
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Mine is correctly aligned and I don't get any errors.
I'd get that looked at by the dealer if I were you. Let me know if you want another photo for ammunition

Cheers
P
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      04-16-2012, 02:51 AM   #7
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Yes please plob - thank you!

Check this BMW video on you tube - it has the same problem but on the right. Interestingly, its aligned when turning but then offset when straight on. Perhaps that's the trade off. I would prefer it aligned when straight!

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      04-16-2012, 07:25 AM   #8
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I'd be taking it to the dealer asap as it would bug the nuts off me. Should *just* need a quick camera re-align?
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      04-16-2012, 09:41 AM   #9
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Here you go mate
I took a few shots for you. In the first, you can see that the alignment is just fine. If you follow the kerb on the right of the vehicle, you will see that it looks slightly different when viewed from the camera under the right mirror vs the view from the rear camera. I suspect this is because the rear camera is lower to the ground and angled slightly differently.

The second shot is a picture as I reverse onto my narrow drive (that needs weeding badly). I stopped the car and took this photo and - whilst it remained stationary, I took the third shot. This is so that you can see the flag stones and the slight bend in the border - and then compare that with the top view.
I think you will agree that the top view shows the borders of the flag stones to be quite consistent.
Therefore, I would say that what you have is wrong. I don't know which camera is out of alignment - perhaps you can find an area with flag stones on in and do a similar test with your car.

Hope that helps
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      04-16-2012, 12:28 PM   #10
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my x5 does not look that out of alignment - get it checked...
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      04-16-2012, 01:24 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dnw View Post
My Top View is pretty out of alignment when comparing side view with rear. I know its difficult to get perfect alignment but this seems pretty bad. How does this compare to others with this option?

I also have a "rear view camera fault!" message every time I activate it so perhaps this is related. Going into the shop on Thursday for that.

thanks

Definitely not right. My Top-View looks like a picture from Google Earth, completely alligned (except for the box around the car). Time for a trip to the dealer.
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      04-17-2012, 01:41 AM   #12
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Thanks everyone. I'll print these and take them with me to the dealer on Thursday. Hopefully it will be a straightforward fix.
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      04-17-2012, 06:44 AM   #13
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A friend with a '12 5-series recently damaged 2 tires and rims in a pothole the size of Manhattan. Included in his repair cost was an expensive alignment, which included aligning the camera(s). So, yes it can be done, and yes BMW will charge you for it for non-warranty repairs. Which to my thinking, means that BMW should do a camera alignment under warranty for something that is as obviously off as yours.
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      04-17-2012, 08:47 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dnw
Thanks everyone. I'll print these and take them with me to the dealer on Thursday. Hopefully it will be a straightforward fix.
I've tested this now.

If there is a threedimentional object (wall or something) there will be a huge error in the alignment because of the different angles of the cameras. If it's a twodimentional object, like a line or a low curb, it should be quite alligned.
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      04-18-2012, 05:14 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardBR
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnw
Thanks everyone. I'll print these and take them with me to the dealer on Thursday. Hopefully it will be a straightforward fix.
I've tested this now.

If there is a threedimentional object (wall or something) there will be a huge error in the alignment because of the different angles of the cameras. If it's a twodimentional object, like a line or a low curb, it should be quite alligned.
Nice.. Makes sense. If you look at my pic above... The yellow parking line (2d) is aligned. However, the curb to the right (3d) appears "mis-aligned"
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      04-19-2012, 04:50 PM   #16
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Well I am not a happy bunny. Dealer has never seen this problem before and referred to BMW tech support. They told them to reprogram the car (first answer to everything it seems) and then... are you ready for this... "drive for 500 miles over which time the cameras will self calibrate"

What utter rubbish. There is no way on earth the camera systems self calibrate as you drive, without being on and especially without any kind of reference point.

So basically I am stuck with it for another 6 weeks or so before BMW will authorise further investigation work under warranty. Tried logging a case with Customer Service and they were useless.

There were lots of embarrassed faces at the service dept and I was pretty angry- but at the situation rather than the dealer who are just operating within the rules. They have promised to have the car in for a couple of days and set me up with another "if" the problem does not resolve itself over 500 miles.

I joked and said that "if" it did I would buy them all a bottle of champagne each but seeing that it clearly wouldn't I'd see them again in 500 miles...

How utterly frustrating. Very bad brand experience.
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      04-19-2012, 05:30 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dnw View Post
Well I am not a happy bunny. Dealer has never seen this problem before and referred to BMW tech support. They told them to reprogram the car (first answer to everything it seems) and then... are you ready for this... "drive for 500 miles over which time the cameras will self calibrate"

What utter rubbish. There is no way on earth the camera systems self calibrate as you drive, without being on and especially without any kind of reference point.

So basically I am stuck with it for another 6 weeks or so before BMW will authorise further investigation work under warranty. Tried logging a case with Customer Service and they were useless.

There were lots of embarrassed faces at the service dept and I was pretty angry- but at the situation rather than the dealer who are just operating within the rules. They have promised to have the car in for a couple of days and set me up with another "if" the problem does not resolve itself over 500 miles.

I joked and said that "if" it did I would buy them all a bottle of champagne each but seeing that it clearly wouldn't I'd see them again in 500 miles...

How utterly frustrating. Very bad brand experience.
I suppose it is possible that the top view camera system is more sophisticated than we think, but still sounds like a tech support brush-off to me. To do this self calibration I'd imagine that the cameras would need to be capable of capturing a wider field of vision than is being shown on the display so that the software can shift and crop it. Also, it would need some sort of fixed reference point to compare against the other cameras in order to calibrate. Could the software be sophisticated enough to identify continguous lines like highway paint and then auto-correct? Maybe when they reprogram cars with top view cameras they roll the car onto a grid painted on the floor?
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      04-20-2012, 01:50 AM   #18
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Exactly. Such a system would be 10x more complex than even the lane guidance option.

It is complete rubbish from a tech at BMW support who has no real understanding of the system and rather than trying to find out is fobbing the dealer and myself off with this rediculous "solution". The cameras either need physical replacement/alignment or software calibration (please say that they thought to build that in due to slight variances in assemblies... I have a horrid feeling I might know the answer already...)

Grrrr. If the car wasn't otherwise so utterly fabulous I would be livid.
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      04-20-2012, 02:47 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dnw View Post
Well I am not a happy bunny. Dealer has never seen this problem before and referred to BMW tech support. They told them to reprogram the car (first answer to everything it seems) and then... are you ready for this... "drive for 500 miles over which time the cameras will self calibrate"

What utter rubbish. There is no way on earth the camera systems self calibrate as you drive, without being on and especially without any kind of reference point.

So basically I am stuck with it for another 6 weeks or so before BMW will authorise further investigation work under warranty. Tried logging a case with Customer Service and they were useless.

There were lots of embarrassed faces at the service dept and I was pretty angry- but at the situation rather than the dealer who are just operating within the rules. They have promised to have the car in for a couple of days and set me up with another "if" the problem does not resolve itself over 500 miles.

I joked and said that "if" it did I would buy them all a bottle of champagne each but seeing that it clearly wouldn't I'd see them again in 500 miles...

How utterly frustrating. Very bad brand experience.
What a load of BS. Care to name and shame the Dealer?!
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      04-21-2012, 03:38 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeltzer View Post
What a load of BS. Care to name and shame the Dealer?!
It's the PUMA system creating the BS rather than the dealer. The 'Rear View Camera Fault' message has returned today and the service manager will be calling BMW on Monday to push it. Its good to see them being proactive so I will reserve judgement for now!
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      04-21-2012, 08:05 PM   #21
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I think it's incredible that BMW tech would give that answer - or if this solution was actually listed in a manual or something. lol After 500 miles the camera is going to project an image of Princess Leia asking for Obi-Wan Kenobi as her only hope too.

Then again, maybe these are some mystical magical cameras that are installed...
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      05-12-2012, 01:59 PM   #22
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OK, so it's been in for the second time after the service foreman elevated the ridiculousness of the situation to BMW.

Three day booking, F30 N20 328i loaner (at my request, wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the N20 - not that impressed, got a shocking 15mpg)

Anyway, it's fixed. It was, just as another poster suggested and I asked them to check the first time (but computer said 'no'), a loose fixing. Basically the rear view camera module not screwed in tightly enough on assembly.

Here is the after shot, almost perfect now.

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