[zoltar99]

Hi everyone, new member here! I have searched the forum for a solution to my problem, but not found anything yet. I have a beautiful 2018 X3 M40i in dark blue, which is a stunner with 21 inch rims. Here is my story: two weeks ago we were out on a saturday night with some friends and parked on a large boulevard here in Valencia. We returned home after midnight and haven't noticed anything unusual with the car. Next day, Sunday, while reversing out of the garage, I noticed the reverse camera was blacked out. I got out of the car and went to see if there was something obscuring it. Noticed the camera was missing, it had been ripped off the rear handle. Someone most likely tried to pop the whole thing out, but couldn't and just ripped of the camera part. No dashboard errors, nothing, just black screen when I was reversing.
I purchased a second hand unit on ebay, the whole thing with the trunk opening handle, thinking it should be a straight swap. It has the same part number as the one being replaced, fits in perfectly, upon connecting it, the trunk button works fine, but the camera does not come on.
Does anyone know if it needs programming? I thought it was supposed to be plug and play. Could it be that the ebay camera is faulty?
Before going to BMW, I would like to know if anyone can help me here. I'm attaching some pictures of the dashboard, back of the car with the ripped off camera and old and new parts.
Many thanks in advance.
Chris

[freshxdough]

What a piece of shit. Sorry for the language.

Do you only have a rear view camera on the whole car (no 360 view). If you only have a rear view camera, it is a control unit. If it's a 360 view, it's not a control unit. In this case it would need to be programmed.

[zoltar99]

It is 360. I'll check today with a couple of independent BMW garages, if not I'll have to take it to BMW, just worried that they might not want to code a second hand camera.

[zoltar99]

Spoke to a few garages this afternoon. One independent said he'll try it without any guarantee. Another said they can't do it. Both call themselves BMW specialists. Then I spoke to a dealer, who said they can programme it, but in a month from now. Then I spoke to another dealer who said they won't do it, I need to buy the part new from them and they will program and install it. They quoted me almost 500 euros for the part and another 300 for the labour, so 800 in total. Again, in a month time. I'm tempted to give the independent garage a chance.

[DonSylver]

That sucks! Never knew anyone in their right minds will attempt to rip off a rear camera. Unless he/she has got an X3 to put it in it will be useless to them.

Do let us know if the independent garage got it done, just incase one of us needs to replace ours soon. I can’t imagine paying 800 for a rear cam at a dealership.

[zoltar99]

Originally Posted by DonSylver

That sucks! Never knew anyone in their right minds will attempt to rip off a rear camera. Unless he/she has got an X3 to put it in it will be useless to them.

Do let us know if the independent garage got it done, just incase one of us needs to replace ours soon. I can’t imagine paying 800 for a rear cam at a dealership.

Yesterday when I went to the dealer, I showed them the boot handle with the broken camera, and the girl there said she saw the exact same thing happened with an X1.
Everyone around here seems to be very busy, I made an appointment with one BMW dealer in a month time, another said end of september. The independent garage gave me a 31st august appointment. I'll see which one is able to fix it for me and I'll update the thread when it's done.

[zoltar99]

Sorted! After buying a second hand camera on ebay, i realized it was the wrong type, ICAM2-R, which is only for cars with rear camera. My car has surround view, and therefore needs ICAM2-S. A local BMW dealer gave me a quote of 800 euros to replace it, almost 500 for the parts and 300 for the labour.
I managed to find a brand new ICAM2-S on ebay from Germany for 110 euros delivered. Purchased it and when it arrived, I connected it and it worked straight away, although I was still seeing some errors. I found a very savvy person on a different forum who helped me with the update of the camera software remotely. I have now returned the wrong camera I bought initially, so all sorted in the end, a lot cheaper than the dealership wanted to charge me.