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      10-02-2014, 12:54 AM   #1
gthirtyfizle
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Rear view camera dark?

Is anyone else having this issue? My rear view camera is very dark at night. I played with the settings but its still very dark, sometimes very tough to even see. can anyone else relate?
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      10-02-2014, 01:49 AM   #2
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Did you clean that actual camera bit next trunk handle?
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      10-02-2014, 07:42 AM   #3
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I have noticed the same thing now. Tried adjusting the brightness and contrast and it doesn't make much of a difference.
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      10-02-2014, 07:42 AM   #4
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Mine's the same way... I came from X6 and that camera was so bright and clear... M4's camera looks like there's no light around it at all. I can turn up the contrast and brightness but it looks like shit.
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      10-02-2014, 09:43 AM   #5
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I have noticed the same. Adjusting the brightness/contrast helped a little, but it's still pretty dark compared to other vehicles' systems.
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      10-02-2014, 10:07 AM   #6
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Same here. Almost unusable in dark conditions.
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      10-02-2014, 10:45 AM   #7
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Everyone should register complaints with their dealer. Only after they receive enough feedback will BMW do anything about it. They can't fix a problem if they don't know about it. Just a thought...
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      10-02-2014, 11:25 AM   #8
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Wonder if the rear fog lights (ad-on feature) helps the rear view camera at night?

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...&highlight=fog
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      10-02-2014, 11:46 AM   #9
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<soapbox>

I HATE REAR FOG LIGHTS. Those idiots in Volvos, Audis, and Mercedes drive down the road on a clear night with one God damn extra bright light shining in your face. Best solution is to leave them behind. It's annoying as hell having to sit behind someone with a friggin bright-ass rear fog light on when there is no reason on Earth to have it on.

</soapbox>
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      10-02-2014, 02:25 PM   #10
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Im glad im not the only one, however, my thoughts now are, besides the people who answered in this thread, is everyone elses camera clear at night? or r they just not caring/responding?

As some of you have mentioned, it is almost unusable at night, it really sucks.
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      10-02-2014, 02:35 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesM3M5 View Post
<soapbox>

I HATE REAR FOG LIGHTS. Those idiots in Volvos, Audis, and Mercedes drive down the road on a clear night with one God damn extra bright light shining in your face. Best solution is to leave them behind. It's annoying as hell having to sit behind someone with a friggin bright-ass rear fog light on when there is no reason on Earth to have it on.

</soapbox>
I have Stigmatism so I understand how that can be annoying, but if someone misuses it that doesn't make the feature itself bad. I think it's a very good safety features and could save you in foggy, rainy, snowy driving conditions, especially at night.
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      10-02-2014, 02:36 PM   #12
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Same here, I think it's just due to the position and angle of it, it's not able to capture a lot of light.
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      10-02-2014, 03:33 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesM3M5 View Post
<soapbox>

I HATE REAR FOG LIGHTS. Those idiots in Volvos, Audis, and Mercedes drive down the road on a clear night with one God damn extra bright light shining in your face. Best solution is to leave them behind. It's annoying as hell having to sit behind someone with a friggin bright-ass rear fog light on when there is no reason on Earth to have it on.

</soapbox>
QFT.

I just want to break their lights, and there is no point in that feature here in So Cal.
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      10-02-2014, 07:51 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gthirtyfizle View Post
Is anyone else having this issue? My rear view camera is very dark at night. I played with the settings but its still very dark, sometimes very tough to even see. can anyone else relate?
There is a big thread about this issue, welcome to the club!
I also own an Alpine white M4, I ended thinking that the problem must be with the camera's light sensor, this gets worst on white or light colored cars like ours. The problem begins with the license plate led's who make the top of the rear bumper too bright at a point that the camera light sensors work as in daylight mode.

I made a few tests to probe my theory and I'm very positive I'm close to the problem, first test was to put some dark cloth over the rear bumper and test the camera, you will find a big difference in terms of depth, second test I did was to cover half of the license plate led's with black duct tape and also got a nice improvement, and still using the duct tape until today.
One more: turn off the car lights, that way the rear license plate lights will not fool the camera's light sensors

I already placed a complaint to my dealer and he will forward it to the factory, I also made a short video which is located in the other thread.
So, until BMW give's some solution to this, we will have to make this stupid fixes until they make a recall out of it.
Here is the duct tape trick, I covered the outer half of the license plate led's, kind of difficult to see in this picture
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Last edited by motex; 10-02-2014 at 09:30 PM..
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      10-02-2014, 07:52 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesM3M5 View Post
Everyone should register complaints with their dealer. Only after they receive enough feedback will BMW do anything about it. They can't fix a problem if they don't know about it. Just a thought...
+1
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      10-02-2014, 07:55 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RickMonet View Post
Wonder if the rear fog lights (ad-on feature) helps the rear view camera at night?

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...&highlight=fog
My car has the rear fogs factory installed and they help in some way, one little tip I can give you is to turn off the main lights of the car, that way, the license plate lights will also go off and you will get a better picture depth, believe me, I tried every trick......
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      10-02-2014, 08:07 PM   #17
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Thank you very much for this, sorry i didnt search to see if this was discussed b4, but either way i appreciate the input. So its only us with aw/mw that have this issue? I will try the duct tape trick.

Quote:
Originally Posted by motex View Post
There is a big thread about this issue, welcome to the club!
I also own an Alpine white M4, I ended thinking that the problem must be with the camera's light sensor, this gets worst on white or light colored cars like ours. The problem begins with the license plate led's who make the top of the rear bumper too bright at a point that the camera light sensors work as in daylight mode.

I made a few tests to probe my theory and I'm very positive I'm close to the problem, first test was to put some dark cloth over the rear bumper and test the camera, you will find a big difference in terms of depth, second test I did was to cover half of the license plate led's with black duct tape and also got a nice improvement, and still using the duct tape until today.
One more: turn off the car lights, that way the rear license plate lights will not fool the camera's light sensors

I already placed a complaint to my dealer and he will forward it to the factory, I also made a short video which is located in the other thread.
So, until BMW give's some solution to this, we will have to make this stupid fixes until they make a recall out of it.
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      10-02-2014, 08:08 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motex View Post
My car has the rear fogs factory installed and they help in some way, one little tip I can give you is to turn off the main lights of the car, that way, the license plate lights will also go off and you will get a better picture depth, believe me, I tried every trick......
Thank you as well, i cant believe bmw couldn't fix this b4 production. Im sure they saw the issue with the white cars.
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      10-02-2014, 08:16 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gthirtyfizle View Post
Thank you as well, i cant believe bmw couldn't fix this b4 production. Im sure they saw the issue with the white cars.
I just hope many of us will complain about it, that way BMW will put more attention and find a fix.....
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      10-02-2014, 09:24 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BuLoOoSki View Post
I have Stigmatism so I understand how that can be annoying, but if someone misuses it that doesn't make the feature itself bad. I think it's a very good safety features and could save you in foggy, rainy, snowy driving conditions, especially at night.
+1 I use it on heavy rain mostly or foggy nights, but also to fool those idiots driving too close......they think you are braking
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      10-02-2014, 09:25 PM   #21
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I've noticed it too. Seems there's not enough light on rear of car to help visibility.
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      10-03-2014, 07:37 AM   #22
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Same issue here, its useless at night
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