Hi,

I am a newbie here. Bought my first ever car recently a BMW X1 xDrive 18d (approved used), I was hoping that given a big brand name it'll come with cameras, but it did not.

So here I am, looking to install a reverse parking camera, front and rear dash cam, but there are so many options I am getting confused.

My dealer quoted £650 for front and rear camera (supply and installation), but no reverse parking camera.

I contacted a independent garage, they quoted £390 for reverse camera (supply, installation at my place, coding etc included) and £140 for azdome 4k dash cam front and rear.

Now I am not sure if I should go with BMW dealer (peace of mind but very expensive), or go with independent garage (less expensive, good reviews about service but I am not sure about Dash cam quality due to mixed reviews).

I am not a very high mileage driver, when I bought car couple of months back, it was on 16300 miles and currently sitting at 16900 miles. 

Is it worth paying £650 to dealer or should I go with other option?

What are good front and rear dash cam options in £150 budget?

Hi Jitendra

The best rated front/rear dash cam currently is Thinkware about £200 and recommended by Camera website Viofo A119 V3 - RECOMMENDED. Buy now from Amazon (£99.59)  

There are always offerings by Nextbase who were one of the originals in the market

The price from your Independent seems really fair remember BMW do not make these they have them made badged and boxed so when you add the Dealers mark up and around £200 p/hour labour rate it isn't difficult to get to their price

Me I would DIY if that is beyond your skill set use the Independent 

Dave

3 minutes ago, Greydog said:

Hi Jitendra

The best rated front/rear dash cam currently is Thinkware about £200 and recommended by Camera website Viofo A119 V3 - RECOMMENDED. Buy now from Amazon (£99.59)  

There are always offerings by Nextbase who were one of the originals in the market

The price from your Independent seems really fair remember BMW do not make these they have them made badged and boxed so when you add the Dealers mark up and around £200 p/hour labour rate it isn't difficult to get to their price

Me I would DIY if that is beyond your skill set use the Independent 

Dave

Thanks Dave!

DIY is beyond my skill so I have decided to go with independent garage supplying my own front and rear dashcam either thinkware or ACE 3.0

 

So finally I decided on ACE 3.0 front and rear dashcam also retrofitted reversing camera. Everything is good till now. 

It is a wonder to me why BMW do not fit reverse camera to the X1 (F48). After all, they are a business to make profit. So why not fit reverse cameras and make a profit (like they fit front and rear cameras) I ask. Any thoughts?
 

Do you get your car serviced and updated at the authorised dealer. If you do I would be interested to know if you had any issues?

Morning Harry

Welcome to the Forum

Not sure what your asking here ? Does your car have front and rear cameras fitted ? If so are the OEM ? If they are then the rear camera should function as a reverse camera (as far as I am aware). In settings you should be able to select views.

If you have front and rear cameras and they are not OEM that would explain things. Reverse Cameras where an option I take it you have parking sensors. If your car was ordered with just PDC then you should have a Graphic and tone warning. To upgrade to cameras will need an ECU to handle the video signal

Dave