What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - Stewart Honda
Hi there
Any advice would be much appreciated on this.

I bought a 2012 X3 M Sport Xdrive Auto a few months ago. It was advertised as having Bluetooth however after getting it home I discovered it didn't. As compensation the dealership (after a lot of effort) agreed to install a Hands Free Parrot Kit (MKI9200).

It was installed yesterday. When I got the car home I realised that the rear reverse camera is now not working (blank screen - an error message coming up on the dash 'reverse camera failure'). I immediately assumed that in installing the Parrot Kit, the technician has knocked out the reverse camera as it was working when I dropped the car off.

I have spoken with the dealership and they are wiping their hands of it. The technician claims he did not touch the reverse camera wiring as it is entirely separate from the Parrot Kit wiring. I do not have the knowledge to disagree, so any advice from the forum would be appreciated.

thanks in advance
Rob
BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - RobJP

Tell them that the camera was working when it was dropped off, and then not working when picked up. It's called 'duty of care', and they owe it to you to take reasonable care of your goods whilst in their charge, and to carry out work competently. They appear to have failed to do so.

I suggest you inform them of this, and if they still refuse, tell them that you will book the car in with another BMW dealership for rectification work to be carried out, pay the bill, and then take them to court for the bill to be paid in full.

Most likely, it's a blown fuse, trapped wire, or dislodged connector.

As to their insistence that the Parrot kit doesn't go near the wiring, and bearing in mind that the car battery is in the boot (and the camera wiring goes from boot to dash, and Parrot wiring therefore does the same, unless they've 'tapped in' along the line, then it is not entirely seperate. In addition, the Parrot (like the camera system) uses the car speakers, I assume. So, again, the two systems are intertwined.

I'm a bit mystified, however. These all came with the standard bluetooth - it was just the 'Enhanced Bluetooth' which was an option (wich allows texts to appear on the screen).

BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - Stewart Honda
Thanks very much for the reply and advice. I have logged a complaint with them, so will see what they say.

It looks like I will need to get an independent dealer/mechanic to look at it and get an opinion. They maybe able to tell how the fault was caused, i.e. if it was caused by the installation of the parrot kit.

In relation to the bluetooth, as I understand it, the original owner (when new) had opted out of having bluetooth installed, which was news to me and the dealership apparently, so even though the steering wheel has the hands free buttons etc, they are effectively useless.

thanks again
BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - RobJP

Have you got the last part of the VIN ?

It'll be a letter, followed by 6 numbers - I can look up on a database and see if bluetooth was fitted originally or not.

The VIN is visible at the bottom of the windscreen, passenger side, from the outside.

Edited by RobJP on 18/05/2017 at 14:44

BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - elekie&a/c doctor
Very common for up market brands like Mercedes and BMW to have the steering wheel controls for phone kit, but not actually have the hardware installed.
BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - Stewart Honda
thanks a lot for the replies. I will check the VIN out and get back.

I have had some success - the dealer has agreed to take the car back in and diagnose the problem. However, they have said that it could just be the parrot kit interfering with the reverse camera as they both go via the radio unit. I assume this is a possibility but surely both systems can co-exist together?!

thanks
BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - RobJP

So they've gone from saying "Nothing to do with us" to "It might be the 2 pieces of kit interfering with each other".

Hmm. I suspect they'll magically find a fix.

Would still love to see the last part of that VIN though. I can't imagine you could 'down-spec' one of those to exclude the standard bluetooth, and i suspect it's a load of balls.

BMW X3 M Sport X Drive Auto - Parrot Kit affecting Rear Reverse Camera - Brit_in_Germany

A ferrite core might be the simple solution.