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      05-31-2019, 08:27 AM   #1
jdfdj
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Exclamation Backup camera issues

I have a 2014 X1 (non-navi, base model) and I purchased a backup camera from Amazon. Its one of those ones that attaches on top of your license plate bolts and has its own mirror that clips on to the OEM mirror inside and has a screen.

I routed the wires successfully, but I ran into an issue. The camera only works for like 1 second when I first start the car (i.e. if I start the car, put it into reverse, then park, then reverse, it doesn't work at all the second time).

The issue seems to be in the +/- wires that connect to the camera itself. It seems as if the reverse +/- that I t-tapped into does not have a constant 12v. Does this seem plausible?

I have heard of people adding a relay, but not sure if that would help give me a constant 12v to the rear camera. I am trying to avoid connecting the + wires to the fuse box if possible.

Any tips?
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      05-31-2019, 07:48 PM   #2
AK_Wes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdfdj View Post
I have a 2014 X1 (non-navi, base model) and I purchased a backup camera from Amazon. Its one of those ones that attaches on top of your license plate bolts and has its own mirror that clips on to the OEM mirror inside and has a screen.

I routed the wires successfully, but I ran into an issue. The camera only works for like 1 second when I first start the car (i.e. if I start the car, put it into reverse, then park, then reverse, it doesn't work at all the second time).

The issue seems to be in the +/- wires that connect to the camera itself. It seems as if the reverse +/- that I t-tapped into does not have a constant 12v. Does this seem plausible?

I have heard of people adding a relay, but not sure if that would help give me a constant 12v to the rear camera. I am trying to avoid connecting the + wires to the fuse box if possible.

Any tips?
Where did you tap into 12v power from?
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      05-31-2019, 10:58 PM   #3
jdfdj
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I unplugged the wiring harness that goes into the rear tail light (driver's side) and used a multimeter to find the 12v reverse positive and ground. I used a t-tap on those wires.
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      06-01-2019, 01:09 PM   #4
AK_Wes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdfdj View Post
I unplugged the wiring harness that goes into the rear tail light (driver's side) and used a multimeter to find the 12v reverse positive and ground. I used a t-tap on those wires.
I initially tried tapping into the reverse lights at the tail light and had the same issue during my install. It doesn't supply enough constant power for the camera to always cycle on, so it gave me intermittent issues. I ended up running wires all the way up to the dash from the camera, however adding a relay directly off the battery might be your best option at this point. Either that, or as you mentioned earlier tapping into the fuse box.

Good Luck!
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      06-01-2019, 02:25 PM   #5
jdfdj
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AK_Wes View Post
I initially tried tapping into the reverse lights at the tail light and had the same issue during my install. It doesn't supply enough constant power for the camera to always cycle on, so it gave me intermittent issues. I ended up running wires all the way up to the dash from the camera, however adding a relay directly off the battery might be your best option at this point. Either that, or as you mentioned earlier tapping into the fuse box.

Good Luck!
Which fuses did you tap into (just trying to save myself time lol)?

Also, if I were to run it to the fuse box, you think it would still be fine if I used the rear tail light ground t-tap and just ran a + wire to the fuse box? That way instead of running 2 wires through the headliner, I just have to deal with one.
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      06-01-2019, 02:34 PM   #6
jdfdj
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Or I was thinking about this as another option:

Get a relay and connect it by the driver's tail light. It would have 4 wires coming into it:
1.) + cable from the fuse box (something that is only on when the car is on)
2.) + cable from reverse light
3.) - cable from reverse light
4.) + cable going to backup camera

Then I would just need to connect the backup camera ground to the chassis.

Am I overthinking it?
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      06-01-2019, 03:43 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdfdj View Post
Or I was thinking about this as another option:

Get a relay and connect it by the driver's tail light. It would have 4 wires coming into it:
1.) + cable from the fuse box (something that is only on when the car is on)
2.) + cable from reverse light
3.) - cable from reverse light
4.) + cable going to backup camera

Then I would just need to connect the backup camera ground to the chassis.

Am I overthinking it?
That should work..... If you are using a relay however, you can just tap into 12V power directly from the battery terminal and add an inline fuse. Then you don't even have to mess with the fuse block, which would be my preference.

Google BMW relay backup camera and there are quite a few examples.
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      07-02-2019, 03:03 PM   #8
jdfdj
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So question for you all...

I did the relay install and wired the 12v constant to the positive battery terminal. I added an 5A inline fuse. I left all the wires out and tested the camera and it worked perfectly.

I turned the car off, went back to put all the wires neatly together and wrap it up. Then I tried the camera again and it did not work.

I went to look directly at the relay to see what the issue was. The positive and ground worked fine on the relay (12.4V), so that was not the issue.

The problem seems to be that I am getting a constant 0.35-0.39V from the reverse light wire, even when the car is off. I believe this is what is triggering the relay to not work. Any tips for me? I removed the 5A fuse so the relay would not be getting 12V constant and the trigger still got 0.35-0.39V.

Last edited by jdfdj; 07-02-2019 at 04:36 PM..
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