[stephtech]

Originally Posted by abash

Hey, question! I do NOT have PDC installed and I did everything, the camera works, but only the FIRST time I place it in reverse, immediately after I start the car. If I try to do it again, nothing happens....

Any advice, did you do anything different from the original post?

Thanks!

Your are not the first to get this exact same problem. I am wondering if it would have to be the CIC firmware version that would behave differently. I can confirm that I do not experience any problems with my CIC at version 16 (CIC.16) You will need to research on how to get the CIC version as I do not know for sure (I think it is with NCSexpert)

[jazz5000]

Originally Posted by jazz5000

Have moved the RCA input to pin 18+ and 28-. The reverse menu came up once but camera feed was blue screen

After that getting major electrical issues. Errors on idrive saying electrical malfunction and speedometer was going crazy

Have now removed the emulator as seems faulty

Is there a better emulator?

Was getting electronics malfunction on idrive and speedometer dials were going crazy.

Seller sent me a new emulator and this time no issues with the speedometer but still doesnt work

I have only managed to get the reverse screen up once when i first started the car and put into reverse but the camera feed was blue screen.

Not sure where to go from here.
Would having a DCT make a difference?

[vespa]

Update: I installed this system last year and it worked quite well but I began to notice that my persistent quirky bluetooth issues seemed to be related to shifting into R. I ran ISTA/D and found a huge list of CAN bus communication errors being reported from nearly every module in the car. Many of the codes could not be cleared but once I removed the emulator, all the codes cleared immediately, stayed gone, and the bluetooth worked dramatically better.

So I bought the Carsystems Bimmertech type emulator for $200 from Piping Rock. It's been working great for a couple of months and I have no error codes or major bluetooth issues. They also make a cheaper version without parking lines which is otherwise similar.

Compared to the Autofocustech unit, the Carsystems emulator has:

• Dynamic Parking Lines that can be adjusted in width, length, and curvature thru the CIC in a special menu.
• Fully working CIC menus for parking lines, brightness, and contrast.
• Automatic DVD in-motion unlocking (though this could be done thru coding instead)
• Much larger box that does not fit behind the CIC, though I did find an easy place to tuck it on the bottom left side of the CIC.
• Somewhat more involved installation due to the need to cut the CAN wires and route them in/out of the emulator. Maybe this is only necessary for advanced features like DVD in motion, I don't know.
• Carsystems doesn't include the video wire and terminal to connect to the CIC so I had to keep the one from Autofocustech. Surely these can be bought somewhere or made from dealer pins and old RCA cables.
• Very slightly longer bootup time. Autofocus boots in maybe 0.1 seconds and Carsystems boots in maybe 0.3 seconds. Still almost instant, but less instant.

[stephtech]

Originally Posted by vespa

Update: I installed this system last year and it worked quite well but I began to notice that my persistent quirky bluetooth issues seemed to be related to shifting into R. I ran ISTA/D and found a huge list of CAN bus communication errors being reported from nearly every module in the car. Many of the codes could not be cleared but once I removed the emulator, all the codes cleared immediately, stayed gone, and the bluetooth worked dramatically better.

So I bought the Carsystems Bimmertech type emulator for $200 from Piping Rock. It's been working great for a couple of months and I have no error codes or major bluetooth issues. They also make a cheaper version without parking lines which is otherwise similar.

Compared to the Autofocustech unit, the Carsystems emulator has:

• Dynamic Parking Lines that can be adjusted in width, length, and curvature thru the CIC in a special menu.
• Fully working CIC menus for parking lines, brightness, and contrast.
• Automatic DVD in-motion unlocking (though this could be done thru coding instead)
• Much larger box that does not fit behind the CIC, though I did find an easy place to tuck it on the bottom left side of the CIC.
• Somewhat more involved installation due to the need to cut the CAN wires and route them in/out of the emulator. Maybe this is only necessary for advanced features like DVD in motion, I don't know.
• Carsystems doesn't include the video wire and terminal to connect to the CIC so I had to keep the one from Autofocustech. Surely these can be bought somewhere or made from dealer pins and old RCA cables.
• Very slightly longer bootup time. Autofocus boots in maybe 0.1 seconds and Carsystems boots in maybe 0.3 seconds. Still almost instant, but less instant.

That is really good to know that it was in fact the emulator the problem. I will keep that in mind in case my emulator start to develop issues.

I was also tempted to go with the Carsystems to have the dynamic parking lines but I decided that it did not justify 125$ more.

thanks for the update, I am sure some other fellow will find that useful.

[vespa]

Yes, Carsystems is considerably more expensive and considerably more difficult, but it is a bit cheaper without the parking lines and it certainly seems to have better firmware considering that the contrast/brightness work, it activates on reverse every time, and for me, it doesn't screw up the bluetooth and produce a continuous stream of CAN bus errors.

I'm surprised that no one on this thread has read codes with ISTA and confirmed/denied the chronic CAN bus errors that I was experiencing. Maybe there's just some issue with my car, my installation, or my emulator, but I doubt it.

[stephtech]

Originally Posted by vespa

Yes, Carsystems is considerably more expensive and considerably more difficult, but it is a bit cheaper without the parking lines and it certainly seems to have better firmware considering that the contrast/brightness work, it activates on reverse every time, and for me, it doesn't screw up the bluetooth and produce a continuous stream of CAN bus errors.

I'm surprised that no one on this thread has read codes with ISTA and confirmed/denied the chronic CAN bus errors that I was experiencing. Maybe there's just some issue with my car, my installation, or my emulator, but I doubt it.

Once I installed my emulator, I did scan for errors and could not find any. Mine is working solid and consistent, no issue at all. It may change in the future but for now, fingers crossed. I am working on a prototype board that would replace completely the emulator, I just have a few codes left to figure out so i may never reach the point where you were.

How is it with the dynamic lines? Do they really match were the car is actually going?

[Josh_G]

Originally Posted by vespa

Update: I installed this system last year and it worked quite well but I began to notice that my persistent quirky bluetooth issues seemed to be related to shifting into R. I ran ISTA/D and found a huge list of CAN bus communication errors being reported from nearly every module in the car. Many of the codes could not be cleared but once I removed the emulator, all the codes cleared immediately, stayed gone, and the bluetooth worked dramatically better.

So I bought the Carsystems Bimmertech type emulator for $200 from Piping Rock. It's been working great for a couple of months and I have no error codes or major bluetooth issues. They also make a cheaper version without parking lines which is otherwise similar.

Compared to the Autofocustech unit, the Carsystems emulator has:

• Dynamic Parking Lines that can be adjusted in width, length, and curvature thru the CIC in a special menu.
• Fully working CIC menus for parking lines, brightness, and contrast.
• Automatic DVD in-motion unlocking (though this could be done thru coding instead)
• Much larger box that does not fit behind the CIC, though I did find an easy place to tuck it on the bottom left side of the CIC.
• Somewhat more involved installation due to the need to cut the CAN wires and route them in/out of the emulator. Maybe this is only necessary for advanced features like DVD in motion, I don't know.
• Carsystems doesn't include the video wire and terminal to connect to the CIC so I had to keep the one from Autofocustech. Surely these can be bought somewhere or made from dealer pins and old RCA cables.
• Very slightly longer bootup time. Autofocus boots in maybe 0.1 seconds and Carsystems boots in maybe 0.3 seconds. Still almost instant, but less instant.

i used the same emulator mentioned here but the extended version that alows actiativation of a retrofited CIC as well. i paid £150 ish from ebay and have had no issues with it what so ever. It all works perectly and looks completly OEM, mine even came on a harness extender so no wires had to be cut

[vespa]

Originally Posted by stephtech

How is it with the dynamic lines? Do they really match were the car is actually going?

You can adjust the shape of the lines in real-time thru an on-screen menu to make them fit your car/camera. They're kinda helpful in some cases and also give the car a more modern 2006-ish look.

Originally Posted by stephtech

Once I installed my emulator, I did scan for errors and could not find any.

Did you scan with ISTA after driving for a day or so? The codes I get are not the type that you'd see with a regular scanner.

I should add that my CIC is pretty flakey so it's possible that my car is the issue more than the Autofocus emulator. Here is a partial list of my "normal" CIC behavior:

• Split screen content occasionally changes to GPS coordinates or goes solid black
• Large m3u lists on the pen drive cause all voice control functions to stop listening, she still speaks but she can't hear anything I say about any topic
• Screen content doesn't always start where I left it, some days it changes to something I haven't used in months like the address book or whatnot
• Volume always starts extremely low
• Gong volume at lowest setting is 2X louder than any music source
• Podcasts sometimes pause for no apparent reason

Now I don't know if any of that is just the intended design. Kinda like the door handles that don't work the first time or the cruise control that goes in fixed increments of 55, 60, 65, etc. instead of relative increments of +/-5 as one would expect. But I do know that with the Autofocus emulator I had to cycle inputs to get the bluetooth connected every time I started the car and the CIC would sometimes take so long to boot up that I could back out of the garage and be heading down the road before it was ready.

[lnxguy]

No issues with the Autofocus camera or emulator. Works great, no lag, everything works as good as it did before the install.

Only thing I'd do differently is remove the parking aid lines (Which requires you to short two wires on the camera itself)

Great bang for the buck mod if you ask me.

[gazosnic]

Just trying to get up to speed here. As someone running an existing emulator for CIC activation retrofit, will the car systems emulator work for me? Assume the autofocus one does not work in tandem w CIC activation emulator.

Also whats the price for the one i need?

[m3toboot]

This emulator is dodgy at best. Doubt it would work with another emulator.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by Rotary Rasp

As some of you may know, our cars had the option for a factory installed backup camera in the European market. For whatever reason, BMW decided that the North American market was not worthy enough.

n8s 330xi has complied a more detailed DIY on post 198: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...&postcount=198

Also check out this wiring diagram by grzes: http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...3&d=1424898850



3 things are required:
Total Cost ~$130


Reverse camera:
ANY camera will work! But if you want it to look OEM then I recommend getting one that is integrated into the trunk handle. They can be found on ebay for around $50. If you're on a budget, there is also one that is integrated into the license plate light for about half the cost.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281330142436...84.m1497.l2649
OR
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-1-3-5-X3...item4181bd748f
OR
ANY CAMERA

I wish I could do this for my prelci

[E60525d]

Just to update this thread, I fitted a backup camera and emulator from Autofocustech and it worked perfectly first time.

It's been over 6 months since I did the install and has worked fantastic ever since. The camera comes on as soon as reverse is selected.

My car has the latest cic firmware, front and rear pdc and manual transmission.

BTW the coding as described in the first post worked fine. The emulator I didn't install direct, I bought a quadlock harness and it fitted it on that. This was I didn't modify the factory wiring plus I ensured the emulator was wired properly by soldering it on.

[trjn]

Couldn't get the micro av cable through the ribbed tube. Yanked it and ended up with just the connector in hand. Going to try and solder it, cut the wire in the middle, slip just the wire in the ribbed tube and feed it in towards the cabin. That's where I will solder the wires together again.
At least I have the camera in place as of now. Hopefully it works, I'd hate to rewire again.

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by trjn

Couldn't get the micro av cable through the ribbed tube. Yanked it and ended up with just the connector in hand. Going to try and solder it, cut the wire in the middle, slip just the wire in the ribbed tube and feed it in towards the cabin. That's where I will solder the wires together again.
At least I have the camera in place as of now. Hopefully it works, I'd hate to rewire again.

I did this too. Rather than buying the Autofocustech camera, I bought a one at a third of the price. Main difference is that it didn't have a slimline connector.

But I just cut off the connector, fed the wire through and soldered the wires back together. Worked perfectly and saved some money too.

[nleeumd]

Anyone can PM me or post links to download the coding necessary to finish this mod, I basically installed the camera and ran wires up front, but just need to have the car coded, I have the OBD usb cable.

Thanks!

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by nleeumd

Anyone can PM me or post links to download the coding necessary to finish this mod, I basically installed the camera and ran wires up front, but just need to have the car coded, I have the OBD usb cable.

Thanks!

Coding details are in the 1st post, read STEP 6.

[Josh_G]

Originally Posted by gazosnic

Just trying to get up to speed here. As someone running an existing emulator for CIC activation retrofit, will the car systems emulator work for me? Assume the autofocus one does not work in tandem w CIC activation emulator.

Also whats the price for the one i need?

This is the one i used to activate CIC on a retrofit and install a rear cam.. mine came on a quadlock harness though

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E60-E9...4AAOSwFc5XwEaa

On this one you need the camera going into the emulator and then back out to the correct pins on the CIC

If you google "Extended BMW Exx CIC Camera Emulator" thats the one you need

[DaZuc]

Originally Posted by nleeumd

Anyone can PM me or post links to download the coding necessary to finish this mod, I basically installed the camera and ran wires up front, but just need to have the car coded, I have the OBD usb cable.

Thanks!

I can help you code it if you'd like you can PM me.

[kezanian]

So I got all the requirement hardware from autofocustech, and i also got the harness to avoid messing with the OEM cables.

Disconnected the battery as a precaution, connected everything as in the diagram. and used ports 21 and 24 for the RCA.....put the navigation box back in it's place, and reconnected all the cables, car started just fine, no errors, all good....but no Bluetooth connection. it keeps showing "Please wait"

the other ends of the cable are not yet connected to the camera, and the coding was not yet done either...doing those would bring my bluetooth functionality back?

Help me out guys!

[kezanian]

Originally Posted by kormega917

Ok so i finally got my camera. Emulator. And i bought a harness. In fhe pic i depinnned and added the rca to the white connector to pins 21 and 24. Do i depin the wires i took out of the harness tht are just hanging around on the other side of harness and just leave those pins open (nothing in there)? Also as u can see sort of, the can wires are not twisted together. Do i depin/ cut n twost them along with the emulator can wires. Or are u guys twisting them separately and then just splicing together the harness can wires and emulator can wires...

I got the same question here, searched this whole thread for an answer, anyone?

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by AAbuasad

So I got all the requirement hardware from autofocustech, and i also got the harness to avoid messing with the OEM cables.

Disconnected the battery as a precaution, connected everything as in the diagram. and used ports 21 and 24 for the RCA.....put the navigation box back in it's place, and reconnected all the cables, car started just fine, no errors, all good....but no Bluetooth connection. it keeps showing "Please wait"

the other ends of the cable are not yet connected to the camera, and the coding was not yet done either...doing those would bring my bluetooth functionality back?

Help me out guys!

Sounds like you did the coding wrong. I would put the coding back to default as that should fix your bluetooth.