e46, Rear-View, Relay... suggestions to relay...

**house98** · 11-25-2009, 11:34 AM

So I've had this rear-view mounted in my keyhole for over a year now. I hooked it up to my reverse lights to get power, thinking that would do the trick.

Well it sorta did -- though from what I recall, the power to the backup lights are intermittent, and not a solid source of power... which works to some degree, but the picture is almost fuzzy at best...

Again from what I recall I need to have a power relay switch that will let me have a power supply of clean power, but get triggered from something like the reverse lights going on.

Any suggestions or threads that you're aware of that I couldn't find that may help me out?

Thanks everyone!

**house98** · 11-25-2009, 12:46 PM

Ok, so I stumbled upon a page that gives a huge walkthrough (overkill for what I'm wanting) of integrating tv/rear-view into a 7 series... but the takeaway here for me is the mention of the relay switch

(if interested http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/140540/ )

They mention a 'Standard Automotive Relay" ... with a picture!

Any recommendations for a particular relay such as this?

**bes51659** · 11-25-2009, 02:08 PM

Intermittent power to backup light!?? Are you sure? If so, a relay will not help you.

Have you connected to the right wire?

One thing that might cause a problem is the "lamp fault detection". In that case the relay might help. I am sure any car relay on the nearest gas station will do.

Hope it helped-

**house98** · 11-25-2009, 02:53 PM

Yes actually. Matter of fact, I think i've found the identical one listed that the guy used (based on just the picture) : The Pilot PL-RY1 for $7.99

I don't mean intermittent... again from memory, but the way it was explained to me was that the reverse lights do not get a steady source of power.. but a variable -- very fast, but variable... such that it wont sustain solid power to power the cam... but enough to trip a relay.

... then again I could have gotten some crappy data too

. I know the cam works, hooked it up in the house just fine.

-- Matt

**mezz64** · 11-25-2009, 02:59 PM

Do you have LED taillights or standard incandescent bulbs? If it's LED then my guess is they are powered with a PWM signal to control brightness, which would match with what you are describing.

**house98** · 11-25-2009, 03:03 PM

Nope. They're not LED lights...

I'm going to go test this again, using a straight-wired 12v power just to see..

**house98** · 11-25-2009, 05:06 PM

whelp... I feel like a real big dumb-dumb ...

I have no idea what happened from last time to this time... but it works perfectly. go figure...

Thanks for the input anyway guys