haywire
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Reverse Camera Installation
Okay folks..this might be a bit long..so as promised:
As the wiring has been figured out, now is the time for the full installation of the reverse camera.
First of all, take out the bootlid trim. The detailed instructions of how to do this can be found here http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/154574-running-wire-into-boot-pics.html
Before
After
Remove the boot sides that covers the battery and the entertainment units, and also the plastic trim inside near the bumper
All the pieces out
Okay, now all the trim pieces are out, time to take out the number plate light. Put a flathead screwdriver to the slot on the left, and push the whole platelight to the right. While you're doing this pull it out, it should come off quite easily.
Plug off the platelight, and pull the wires out from the back. Time to put in the reverse camere in its place. The reverse camera plugs into the platelight slot in exactly same way as the platelight. Put the left side in first, and push it up and it should click into place. You can see the spring metal mechanism on the right of the camera.
Now this is where I've done it wrong the first time; I cut off the wire for the platelight completely in order to connect the power to the light in the reverse camera. If you do this, the car will give a 'CHECK NUMPLATE LIGHT' since the new light is LED and the old one is a bulb so the car thinks the bulb has blown out. I'm sure there's something you can do to rectify this, but my quick fix was to reconnect the number plate light and hide it within the metal of my bootlid. No more warning on the dashboard. So basically there a light turned on within my bootlid when the platelight is on.
What I did wrong - cut off the original plate light and connect the new light.
This was later on when I actually finished installing all the wires, warning on the dashboard
So my quick and easy fix was to reconnect the platelight, and hide it within the bootlid. Fasten with cable ties.
Now its time to run the wires
The hard part was to run the wire through the already tight rubber gaiter from the lid to the car's body. Firstly take off the ends of gaiter (3 grommets to take out), and try to make it straight. Then I used a metal clothes' hanger, tape one end of the wire to the hanger and sprayed some WD-40 down the gaiter. Push the hanger together with the wire down, one wire at a time. Its pretty tight in there. Try not to punch through the rubber gaiter otherwise you're really fucked. Wonder how many wires that needed to be taken out just to replace that rubber gaiter.
2 wires that needed to be routed down
Using a hanger to push the wires through. Use WD-40 or Vaseline to make your life a bit easier.
Wires routed through. Put the grommets back in carefully, otherwise water could enter the car's body and trigger rust.
Run the wire in the boot to the other side
Connect the wires to the relay. Refer to previous post for the complete diagram for the wiring here
I've put the relay in a screw at a very convenient location behind the rear light cluster.
Complete the wiring by connecting the wires to the rear light wires, nearly done here.
Test the system and put back all the trimmings and you are done.
Total time taken: Approx 3 hours.
Okay folks..this might be a bit long..so as promised:
As the wiring has been figured out, now is the time for the full installation of the reverse camera.
First of all, take out the bootlid trim. The detailed instructions of how to do this can be found here http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/154574-running-wire-into-boot-pics.html
Before
After
Remove the boot sides that covers the battery and the entertainment units, and also the plastic trim inside near the bumper
All the pieces out
Okay, now all the trim pieces are out, time to take out the number plate light. Put a flathead screwdriver to the slot on the left, and push the whole platelight to the right. While you're doing this pull it out, it should come off quite easily.
Plug off the platelight, and pull the wires out from the back. Time to put in the reverse camere in its place. The reverse camera plugs into the platelight slot in exactly same way as the platelight. Put the left side in first, and push it up and it should click into place. You can see the spring metal mechanism on the right of the camera.
Now this is where I've done it wrong the first time; I cut off the wire for the platelight completely in order to connect the power to the light in the reverse camera. If you do this, the car will give a 'CHECK NUMPLATE LIGHT' since the new light is LED and the old one is a bulb so the car thinks the bulb has blown out. I'm sure there's something you can do to rectify this, but my quick fix was to reconnect the number plate light and hide it within the metal of my bootlid. No more warning on the dashboard. So basically there a light turned on within my bootlid when the platelight is on.
What I did wrong - cut off the original plate light and connect the new light.
This was later on when I actually finished installing all the wires, warning on the dashboard
So my quick and easy fix was to reconnect the platelight, and hide it within the bootlid. Fasten with cable ties.
Now its time to run the wires
The hard part was to run the wire through the already tight rubber gaiter from the lid to the car's body. Firstly take off the ends of gaiter (3 grommets to take out), and try to make it straight. Then I used a metal clothes' hanger, tape one end of the wire to the hanger and sprayed some WD-40 down the gaiter. Push the hanger together with the wire down, one wire at a time. Its pretty tight in there. Try not to punch through the rubber gaiter otherwise you're really fucked. Wonder how many wires that needed to be taken out just to replace that rubber gaiter.
2 wires that needed to be routed down
Using a hanger to push the wires through. Use WD-40 or Vaseline to make your life a bit easier.
Wires routed through. Put the grommets back in carefully, otherwise water could enter the car's body and trigger rust.
Run the wire in the boot to the other side
Connect the wires to the relay. Refer to previous post for the complete diagram for the wiring here
I've put the relay in a screw at a very convenient location behind the rear light cluster.
Complete the wiring by connecting the wires to the rear light wires, nearly done here.
Test the system and put back all the trimmings and you are done.
Total time taken: Approx 3 hours.
