[wlfpck]

Hey guys. So found an aftermarket (?) Front camera that can possibly be fitted to the X3 if you didn't get it from the factory. The issue is if it will work with my car (2020).

The question I have is I thought the G02 X4 and the G01 X3 are the same other than the physical body style.

My question is why the X3 is just from 2016 to 2018... while the X4 is 2019 to 2020? Is this a typo? Would this actually work with a 2020 X3?

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/category...amera-retrofit

I don't have access to my car right now so no clue what the VIN is.

If this does work with the X3, this would be a really nice way to add a front camera without having to get a new front bumper cover and all that.

[avi66]

Originally Posted by wlfpck

Hey guys. So found an aftermarket (?) Front camera that can possibly be fitted to the X3 if you didn't get it from the factory. The issue is if it will work with my car (2020).

The question I have is I thought the G02 X4 and the G01 X3 are the same other than the physical body style.

My question is why the X3 is just from 2016 to 2018... while the X4 is 2019 to 2020? Is this a typo? Would this actually work with a 2020 X3?

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/category...amera-retrofit

I don't have access to my car right now so no clue what the VIN is.

If this does work with the X3, this would be a really nice way to add a front camera without having to get a new front bumper cover and all that.

Could it be related to the version of iDrive ? The change from iDrive 6 to iDrive 7 was around modal year 2020. Completely different head unit.

[thepianist1]

Originally Posted by wlfpck

Hey guys. So found an aftermarket (?) Front camera that can possibly be fitted to the X3 if you didn't get it from the factory. The issue is if it will work with my car (2020).

The question I have is I thought the G02 X4 and the G01 X3 are the same other than the physical body style.

My question is why the X3 is just from 2016 to 2018... while the X4 is 2019 to 2020? Is this a typo? Would this actually work with a 2020 X3?

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/category...amera-retrofit

I don't have access to my car right now so no clue what the VIN is.

If this does work with the X3, this would be a really nice way to add a front camera without having to get a new front bumper cover and all that.

2020 is when ID7 and the new head unit wiring was introduced. wlfpck I want to do the same but I figured out of the four options option 3 is the most viable:

1. Bimmertech ($600 in parts plus $200+ in labor) is the most expensive and closest to the factory option, but if something goes wrong, it’s going to be hardest to replace. You have to replace the grill to add the camera, wire the camera through the engine bay and firewall into the console, take off the display to integrate the MMI into the console and connect with the camera wiring, replace and code the button and display to activate the MMI, all while making sure you don’t damage the surrounding parts. As most likely a licensed Bimmertech auto shop will install this, there will be warranty and peace of mind.
2. Aftermarket camera and display ($50 in parts and $100 in labor time) removes the need to modify the car’s internal wiring but you still need to figure out how to wire the camera into the cabin and where to secure the camera in the front, likely on license plate frame if you don’t want to replace the grill. Very few body shop will install an aftermarket part you brought into the shop due to liability, so you’re on your own, but damage will not be done to other parts of the car because the camera, display and wiring are an entirely different ecosystem.
3. Wireless solar Bluetooth camera ($80 in parts and $20 in labor time) connects with your smart phone and displays the footage on an app. If you get Android screen mirroring to work, you can project the wireless camera to the iDrive display. Since the camera is solar powered, you don’t need to worry about wiring the camera through the grill and into the firewall. This is the easiest to set up and replace if anything isn’t working but also the least reliable because the connection is not grounded and will have significant lag which might be dangerous when real time footage is important.
4. Replacing the car ($2-5k in taxes, fees, depreciation and other costs) with the surround view camera is not worth it because you’re also paying for the parking assistant and other parking features that aren’t really necessary. For me I just need the front camera so I don’t hit the curb when parking and have a perpendicular vision of front cross traffic, but that shouldn’t cost this much to have, so I would rule this out if there’s nothing else wrong with the car because I’m also not really happy with the video quality of the factory camera.

I already got option 3 to work so I’m speaking from experience that option 3 is viable, but it’s just annoying every time I park I have to pull up my phone, open the app, wait a few seconds for the camera to load, and see the distance I am from the curb. The camera footage isn’t really clear, so I think option 1 and 2 will have better quality

[wlfpck]

So found this...

https://incartec.co.uk/product/Add-f...systems-27-574

Says it will work with 2020+ X3's....

I'm supposing that then you'll need to buy their front camera...

https://incartec.co.uk/product/BMW-X...mera-CA-BMWF04

Looks like this clips into the grille... so it does seem like a very clean install and not some janky universal thing.

[thepianist1]

The camera can be universal, the red and black is neg and pos for power, the yellow is for composite video, and I don't know what the white one is. Besides, I don't think the clip on cameras would work because the X3 has the shutters that auto close and the cables can easily get caught.

How would the wire even go through the front grill with the auto close shudders? On the LCI models, the only solution I can think of is replacing the center grill piece with a camera hole and wiring it along the side of the engine bay to the firewall, but it will look kinda weird with a cable flapping around at high speeds. Then I don't know how to pull the cable through the firewall hole...

I like their solution of activating by holding down the Menu button. Not sure if that can be switched to a different button since iD7 do not have a Menu button anymore, it's been replaced by Home and Apps.

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I do think a wireless solar powered clip on camera is better. Clip onto the lower lip and have it always connected to the car's wifi hotspot. Then you need a wifi display that's also connected to the camera through the wifi hotspot.

[wlfpck]

Originally Posted by thepianist1

The camera can be universal, the red and black is neg and pos for power, the yellow is for composite video, and I don't know what the white one is. Besides, I don't think the clip on cameras would work because the X3 has the shutters that auto close and the cables can easily get caught.

How would the wire even go through the front grill with the auto close shudders? On the LCI models, the only solution I can think of is replacing the center grill piece with a camera hole and wiring it along the side of the engine bay to the firewall, but it will look kinda weird with a cable flapping around at high speeds. Then I don't know how to pull the cable through the firewall hole...

I like their solution of activating by holding down the Menu button. Not sure if that can be switched to a different button since iD7 do not have a Menu button anymore, it's been replaced by Home and Apps.

---------------

I do think a wireless solar powered clip on camera is better. Clip onto the lower lip and have it always connected to the car's wifi hotspot. Then you need a wifi display that's also connected to the camera through the wifi hotspot.

Probably just clip it to the lower grill or find a different place to clip it. Some people remove the shutters. I'm debating removing mine.

Pulling cable through the firewall is easy. People do it all the time for various things they install. You just have the find where. If I had to do it, I'd probably take the camera wire and find the nearest wiring harness and zip tie it to that and trace it back. So it's not just randomly dangling in the engine bay.

There's also other cameras out there. The issue is getting it to interface with the factory head unit. It's not a simple plug in and go kind of thing. If it were, there's tons of "universal" backup cameras that can be mounted anywhere that could also be used. Unfortunately no go on the interface.

[thepianist1]

Originally Posted by wlfpck

Probably just clip it to the lower grill or find a different place to clip it. Some people remove the shutters. I'm debating removing mine.

Pulling cable through the firewall is easy. People do it all the time for various things they install. You just have the find where. If I had to do it, I'd probably take the camera wire and find the nearest wiring harness and zip tie it to that and trace it back. So it's not just randomly dangling in the engine bay.

There's also other cameras out there. The issue is getting it to interface with the factory head unit. It's not a simple plug in and go kind of thing. If it were, there's tons of "universal" backup cameras that can be mounted anywhere that could also be used. Unfortunately no go on the interface.

wlfpck I bought a wireless camera and display set from AutoVox, and trying to figure out where to ground the camera without pulling cables through the firewall into the cabin, I’d rather not risk that. I thought I can feed the cables through the camera hole of the center piece of the kidney grill and ground to somewhere in the engine bay, but then I realized the shutters block the access from that hole to the engine, which confuses me because the factory parking assistance package has to pull the wire through that same hole. The bottom of the engine is shielded and I obviously can't stick the wire to the car paint either. Any suggestions?

[stickersteve]

I just installed a front/rear dash cam that goes right over my rear view mirror and plugged it into the OBD port. keeps my windshield completely clean and you cant tell that I even have a dash cam. Its not perfect. it makes the rear view mirror a little larger and you have to get used to watching your rear view mirror as a live screen, but it records front and back at the same time and is pretty easy to use