[Mike 540]

Hello,

has anyone done a night vision retrofit in 2018 G31 (pre LCI version, 540 ix Sport Line)? Does it even make sense to think about it? What has to be purchased and coded for it to work?

[belsby]

Having G30 with NV, my old car not. Was thinking to upgrade my old car, but easier to buy new one wirh NV.

[Joe-BMW33]

I looked into it when I first got my car. It was a daunting and expensive task. Not worth it. It is also a very rare option, so rare, I don't think any regular member on this forum has it. I have a feeling it kind of a gimmick option with rare practical application.

[WretchedRefuse]

Here is a place that sells a part that supposedly allows you to retrofit it. You would need to find the same donor car for both the camera and ECU. There would probably be coding involved as well. Unless this is a real "must have" for you, I'm with Joe; not worth the cost and the risk of it not working.

[Mike 540]

Thank you all for the reply. No, this is definitely not a "must have" and TBH I kind of expected this would be expensive and not worth it.
It is a very rare option, but I saw it working and I liked the way the system highlights on the screen persons and animals before you can actually see them in the night. The feature is great but it not only looks expensive...

[LogicalApex]

It is a rare option. The only member I am aware of who had it was SteveinArizona, but he has sold his G30 and move away from BMW for now.

I skipped it when I ordered as it was a passive system from my reading of the BMW documentation on the forum. It will highlight people and animals on the central display and possibly the cluster, but it won't do any emergency braking to prevent a collision. My use case would have been deer and if it is going to take my eyes off the road to let me know a deer is there it didn't seem valuable.

When BMW dropped it in MY2021+ one of the reasons cited, at least in the press, is that the headlights are good enough to make the feature useless. When it originally debuted on Mercedes cars in the 90s they were so poor that it offered an extra layer of protection. I can agree with that in that I find my Adaptive Full LED headlights do a better job. They keep my eyes on the road and illuminate well enough that I have been able to keep away from deer to date.

So I'd seek the upgraded headlights on a non-LCI over the night vision system. Sadly, the LCI headlights are a step down in terms of illumination over the pre-LCI upgraded lights.

[tuzii]

i have night vision, its useless, i wouldn't even waste your time or money

[jag81]

I have it also, no real point in having it to be honest, unless you live/drive in a remote area with limited lighting and lots of wildlife / pedestrains that may cross over/ need to use the road.

I've used it maybe 3-4 times in my 3 years of ownership.

[Mike 540]

Allright, it seems it is a waste of money and not worth the effort. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[Mach550]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

I looked into it when I first got my car. It was a daunting and expensive task. Not worth it. It is also a very rare option, so rare, I don't think any regular member on this forum has it. I have a feeling it kind of a gimmick option with rare practical application.

It's definitely not a gimmick if you live away from the city and street lamps. Saved my front bumper from coyotes and other animals running around roads. Only wish it was like mercedes or audi and in the instrument panel instead of the center screen.

Nowadays it helps with people on morning or late night walks/bikes to give them extra space when passing.

[Torettoshifts]

Originally Posted by Mach550

It's definitely not a gimmick if you live away from the city and street lamps. Saved my front bumper from coyotes and other animals running around roads. Only wish it was like mercedes or audi and in the instrument panel instead of the center screen.

Nowadays it helps with people on morning or late night walks/bikes to give them extra space when passing.

Please post some pictures of it in action . We are going to retrofit it

[Gautam]

Originally Posted by Mach550

It's definitely not a gimmick if you live away from the city and street lamps. Saved my front bumper from coyotes and other animals running around roads. Only wish it was like mercedes or audi and in the instrument panel instead of the center screen.

Nowadays it helps with people on morning or late night walks/bikes to give them extra space when passing.

I have it and I think one of your posts a few years ago enticed me to find an example with it.

Except I live in the suburban sprawl of the Bay Area, so opportunities for it to be useful are few and far between. It usually catches pedestrians, but not always.

In the instrument panel would be perfect, but it also monopolizes the head unit. Ideally I’d want carplay and night vision split screen, but that’s not possible.

I have every feature possible on a non LCI g30, I would still say night vision is the least useful. The other I wouldn’t mind losing is rear seat entertainment, largely because it’s also poorly executed. I do find utility in ambient air and remote control parking.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by Mach550

It's definitely not a gimmick if you live away from the city and street lamps. Saved my front bumper from coyotes and other animals running around roads. Only wish it was like mercedes or audi and in the instrument panel instead of the center screen.

Nowadays it helps with people on morning or late night walks/bikes to give them extra space when passing.

Yeah, I guess if you live in the boonies with no street lights it could be a life saver if it works as described.

I’m less than 10 miles outside of Boston in a dense area. The chances of a deer standing in the middle of the road 100 yards away in pitch black is minimal. We have deer, but they are more likely to dash across the street in full sight.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by Mach550

It's definitely not a gimmick if you live away from the city and street lamps. Saved my front bumper from coyotes and other animals running around roads. Only wish it was like mercedes or audi and in the instrument panel instead of the center screen.

Nowadays it helps with people on morning or late night walks/bikes to give them extra space when passing.

Does it activate braking on its own?

How did it save you from coyotes? Just an audible alert to increase awareness?

I moved from Philly proper to the rural area in upstate NY where we have pitch black roads and lots of deer. I’ve found the illumination from the Adaptive Full LED headlights to be incredible. I’ve had a few deer run in front of my drive path, but haven’t missed them in my scans thanks to the headlights.

Your post makes me wonder if I missed out on adding a valuable feature at build time.

[Mach550]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

Does it activate braking on its own?

How did it save you from coyotes? Just an audible alert to increase awareness?

I moved from Philly proper to the rural area in upstate NY where we have pitch black roads and lots of deer. I’ve found the illumination from the Adaptive Full LED headlights to be incredible. I’ve had a few deer run in front of my drive path, but haven’t missed them in my scans thanks to the headlights.

Your post makes me wonder if I missed out on adding a valuable feature at build time.

It's been a while but I think it flashes an animal or person icon in the hud and highlights yellow/orange for either people or animals on the nightvision view.

[tuzii]

Originally Posted by Bjames93*

Please post some pictures of it in action . We are going to retrofit it

View post on imgur.com

thats mine.

[Torettoshifts]

Originally Posted by tuzii

View post on imgur.com

thats mine.

Nice you ever get animals caught on camera from a far

[WretchedRefuse]

Can it alert to hidden police? If so, that would make it REALLY worthwhile.

[Gautam]

Originally Posted by WretchedRefuse

Can it alert to hidden police? If so, that would make it REALLY worthwhile.

There are some people who said it has helped them see speed traps, which was another selling point for me. Can’t attest to it yet though.

For wildlife, it flashes an icon of a deer in the head unit & HUD.

[tuzii]

Originally Posted by WretchedRefuse

Can it alert to hidden police? If so, that would make it REALLY worthwhile.

funny you say that, mine is an ex victorian police car (Australia) and they use it to spot speeders from a far due to the heat of the car

[bym007]

I have Nightvision as well on my '17 540i (another Aussie delivered car). While turning on nightvision on the iDrive display is kind of useless and distracting, but I like how the nightvision can pick up any living thing up and flash towards it using headlights as well as flash red colour on the HUD etc.

I have seen it pick up wildlife (dogs, foxes) and humans after dusk and it was good to be made aware of their presence.