Hardwired in to BMW 5 Series Fuse box - Issues with power on and DAB radio!

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GAmbrose

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Hello all.

Finally hard-wired my 650GW in to the fuse box last night.
BMW 5 Series (F11) RHD

Multi-Safer yellow cable connected to Fuse 21 (always on fan)
Multi-safer red cable connected to ACC power.
Multi-safer black cable connected to bolt connected to outside.

I routed the power cable around the right hand side headlining to the boot and it plugs in to the multi-safer

I routed the rear camera coaxial cable around the left side headlining to plug in to the front camera.

When I got in the car this morning and started it up, the camera said "Parking mode disable", then the camera said "BlackVue for your safe driving." and a bit later "The Blackvue is recording" but soon, both the red recording light and blue GPS light turn off. The camera doesn't state that it's shutting down.

About 15 minutes later, it again said "BlackVue for your safe driving." and I glanced at it and it was like it had rebooted.

It did this a further 4 times over an hour of driving. Powers up and then the lights go out.

At the same time it starts up, my radio seems to lose the DAB signal. It coincides with the "BlackVue for your safe driving." message.

I thought this might be an issue with interference from the rear camera coaxial cable, so I disconnected it from the front camera, but the issue still occurs...the camera doesn't stay on for more than a minute or two whilst driving and when it does boot up with the "BlackVue for your safe driving" voice notification, I lose the DAB radio signal until the camera powers off again.

I wondered if it might be a lose connection, but I physically held the power connector in to the camera and the same thing happened. The weird thing is, if I connect the coaxial cable the white LED on the rear camera is always on, even when the front camera is off, so I don't think it's a lose connection issue.

The Multi-safer is set to 12.2v cut-off, but the BMW iDrive gave me a warning that the the battery was discharging unexpectedly.

So what can I do to sort this? It took me quite a bit of time to hide the cable in the headlining so I would like to avoid having to pull it out again.

Sorry for the long thread but I thought I would include as much info as possible.
 
It really does seem to be the DAB stopping the camera working and vice versa. I drove back from work and the DAB radio didn't have a signal for about 5 minutes and the camera worked exactly as it should.

Bear in mind I already disconnected the coaxial to the rear, so it cannot be that wire that is causing the issue....it must be the power cable?!

I'm just surprised the DAB carries on working and shuts the camera down. I thought it was more likely the camera would work fine and the DAB would stop!

What can I do?
 
GAmbrose said:
It really does seem to be the DAB stopping the camera working and vice versa. I drove back from work and the DAB radio didn't have a signal for about 5 minutes and the camera worked exactly as it should.

Bear in mind I already disconnected the coaxial to the rear, so it cannot be that wire that is causing the issue....it must be the power cable?!

I'm just surprised the DAB carries on working and shuts the camera down. I thought it was more likely the camera would work fine and the DAB would stop!

What can I do?
Click to expand...
You mention getting power from an always on fan. Does the BMW5 have a fan that runs continuously? Why? At best I would think it would cycle depending on a need of something. Perhaps this is messing up your camera
 
I used this guide, from blackboxmycar when they did the F10 5 Series in Canada.

Fuse box is the same as my 5 Series F11 (Touring)

 
I'm really not getting anywhere with this.

I've changed the fuse that powers it from ignition on (to ACC) but am baffled.

Parking mode seemingly works absolutely fine, though my car warns me everyday about battery drain?

Does it matter what amp fuse the ignition is plugged in to as it's currently attached to a 5amp fuse. I thought the camera was 2amps.

Regardless, the rear camera white LED is always on, so the camera is getting power but the front camera just won't stay on whilst driving.
 
Have you checked your settings in the camera? Page 32 of the manual:

Normal Record, Voice Record, Date and Time
Display and Auto Switching to Parking Mode
function can be turned on/off.
 
Can't say about yours but the newest BMW's run everything through the computer, and if it senses an unusual (non-factory) current load it will set a warning, adjust power to that circuit (sometimes killing it) or doing both. With those cars the only way to power accessories is to run directly to the battery and put up with the warning message.

I don't mind 'smart' cars, but if they were truly smart they would have a way to make them stop doing the things which bug you. As they don't, they aren't as smart as I am and I claim no genius at all :D

Phil
 
One good reason to use a Cellink B (expensive but good)
 
Well it turns out my actual front camera unit was faulty, so the shop replaced it.

This one is working, though I've only attached it in to the cigarette lighter so far and not hard-wired it in. The DAB radio even seems fine as well, and it's the same power cable as I had before, as the shop literally just swapped the front camera and let me keep the wires.

Annoying about the battery warning. Perhaps I'll go for the Cellink over the Multi-safer. It's weird because I did a fair bit of research and specifically went for that unit because it was better with BMW's. Nobody mentioned the battery drain warning being a daily issue.
 
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