Where and How to Install Back Up Camera For Car?

Do you wish to have a better view of what's behind your car while reversing the car? Installing a back up camera to your car can dramatically increase your rear vision and safety while backing up and parking.

Where to install back up camera?

A rear view camera is a special designed camera which is mounted to the rear of the car, usually near your license plate at back. Some rear view cameras should be installed by replacing one of the car license plate lights, don't worry, the new back up camera can be made with LED light for better night vision. Some back up cameras installed where the trunk handle is. Others can be installed in the reserved hole near the license plate light.

You will also need a monitor to work with the backup camera so the rear view video can be displayed at front when in reverse, unfornately nearly all original screen monitor from the car does not come with a RCA connector which the aftermarket camera used for connection, so you can also buy a small monitor which can be stuck on the top dashboard or an aftermarket head unit with large screen monitor to replace the old radio unit.

Here are some useful tips to help you select which back up camera and what type of model is right for your car.

Firstly you can check the back of the vehicle, especially for the position near the license plate light, is there a reversed hole for the camera? If yes, you can measure the dimensions in mm and tell it to the back up camera supplier so they can know which model is right for your car. You can also try to replace one of the car license plate lights and install the new back up camera, that's also clean looking and easy installation.

For instance, i have a BMW 325i and want to install a back up camera, what's my choice?

The best way is upgrading the factory radio head unit with an aftermarket Android BMW E46 head unit and adding an aftermarket back up camera with RCA connector. Why? The aftermarket Android head unit provides you multiple modern features including GPS navigation, Bluetooth, WiFi, DVD player and more, and it works well with the back up camera, which replaces the vehicle license plate light for installation, so it looks like OEM. Besides, the aftermarket back up camera works well with the head unit, and you don't need to buy another monitor to display the camera videos, by the way, if you are looking for a back up camera for BMW 3 series e46, e90, f30, BMW X5, BMW X6, you can check this license plate light camera:

How to install back up camera?

Well, that depends on the position where you need to install the back up camera, the most used position is the car license plate light, remove it, then install the camera.

Some people prefer wireless back up camera because it's easier for installation, however, if you want the camera installed in your car to last long you should choose the wired camera instead because the wireless camera is not so stable compared with the wired one. Besides, after a long time the signal from the wireless camera may be weak, then you would need to replace it and install a new one. Installation for the wires camera is a little complicated as you need to run the long video cable from the front dash to the back of the vehicle, but that's really worth to do that if you want a stable and long-lasting back up camera.

Follow these easy steps to install a backup camera.

1. Find out the position where the backup camera will be installed, let's take license plate light for example
2. Remove the car license plate light, unplug it. It will be replaced
3. Run the 6m long camera video cable from the front to the back
4. Find your reverse light, the camera should be powered with 12V reverse light, one red wire to positive, and black wire to negative.
5. Connect the video cable with the monitor, it's a yellow RCA plug, so just plug and play, for this step, you may need to connect a trigger line from the head unit which usually named BACK with one red wire from the long camera video cable, if there's one such wire from the head unit, then connect it, from the other end of the long video cable, there's another loose red wire, it should connect with 12V+ reverse light power.
6. Connect the power for the camera with your reverse light.
7. Insert the car key, put in reverse gear, and check if the monitor automatically switches to back up video, if not, check the trigger wire and see if it's well connected.

The installation instructions for back up camera are more or less the same for nearly all car models. The most difficult part should be running the long video cable because it takes much time. For those who want to install a back up camera for their vehicles you can find one special for your vehicle here:

https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/backup-cameras

DVDGPSNAV provides aftermarket head units with back up cameras for all cars available.

DIY - Installing a Mercedes-Benz W204 Navigation GPS Head unit to Upgrade Factory Stereo

Installing an aftermarket navigation GPS head unit is nothing new nowadays, not only for its multi-functions to add car entertainment, but also the aftermarket navigation unit makes your car looks modern and cool. For those who have a Mercedes-Benz C-Class W204 like C300, C200, C250, etc, you can upgrade the factory stereo including a small 5.8 inch screen in the dash with an aftermarket Mercedes-Benz W204 navigation head unit, which gives you a new 8 inch high definition touch screen.

Note: The original large screen can not be upgraded with this unit.

2018 Latest Update: New Mercedes Benz W204 Android head unit supports W204 with factory large screen now.

The new Mercedes W204 navigation GPS also comes with a one din DVD player optional, which can be installed in the glove box. But since you can keep the factory CD player working after installation, DVD player is not an essential part for this unit. Besides, your factory car radio, Bluetooth can also work after installation. And the factory screen menus showed on a 5 inch screen before can also display on the new 8 inch HD screen, because you are able to see the factory menus by touching the "Original" icon.

Installation is not difficult for a professional installer, if you have some knowledge of electronic you an also do it yourself. There's a installation manual included in the package which can show you the most steps one by one. If you want to check more pictures when installing this W204 navigation by DVDGPSNAV technicians, you can check this video on youtube:

However, there are some installation tips for new installer.

•  Firstly you should prepare a special installation tools kit, so that you can detach the original screen unit and radio easily and avoid damage on the surface.
• If your Mercedes Benz C W204 comes with fiber optic cables from the factory wiring harness, then you will need to move these fiber optic cables to the new plug which connects to the back connector from the factory radio and CD player.
  
  If you did not move the fiber optic cables, there may be no sound after installation. The sound from the new W204 GPS will be transferred from the original AUX function, so make sure your W204 has a working AUX.
• If there's no audio/sound after installation, firstly you should check the above step to see if your car has fiber optic cables, if yes, then move them to the correct positions. Then you can check if you have set in AUX mode from factory menus, this is the most probably reason why there's no sound, this is the feedback from one of our customers after done this:
  "Ok thank you I found the issue I did not have it in aux mode and the volume selection was muted , everything works great now thank you ."
  

  How to activate original AUX mode?

  
  1. Firstly click "Original" icon at right of top menus of the new screen, so that you can enter the factory menus.
  
  2. Insert a CD disc into the CD player, the screen will display CD playing, then select "CD', enter, and select "AUX", enter, then the factory AUX mode activates and the screen will automatically change to new UI.
• From the original plugs, there are a small white plug and a black plug which used to connect the back of the original screen, you don't need to connect them anymore.
  
• There's a small speaker included in the package, this is used for the sound from GPS voice. So if you connect this small speaker, the GPS navigation sound will come out from this speaker so that it will not influence other sound from Radio, CD, USB, iPod, etc.
• Normally the factory functions can still work after installation, in case there's anything wrong with the factory function, you can carefully compare the factory plug with the new plug which connects to the back connector of factory radio and CD player to see if there's any wire missing connected from the new plug, if yes, just move it to the new plug. You can also take some clear pictures and send to us for further checking. 

When installing this Mercedes-Benz W204 Navigation head unit, if you still have a question during installation, welcome to contact us or leave a comment on this post, we will do our best to help you. DVDGPSNAV is a professional and reliable supplier for aftermarket car DVD players, GPS navigation systems.

UPDATE:
A new Pure Android OS Mercedes-Benz C W204 GPS unit is available now!

Android 9 OS, Octa-Cores 1.6GHz CPU, 32GB ROM, 4GB RAM

1024*600 HD 8" capacitive screen

GPS+Bluetooth+USB+WiFi+Mirror-Link...

Just click below link to learn more.

https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/mercedes-benz-w204-navigation-dvd-gps-head-unit-8-touch-screen-c-200-180-250-300-350.html

And installation instructions for Android W204 head unit:
https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/blog/installation-instructions-of-android-mercedes-benz-c-class-w204-navigation-head-unit/

DIY Suzuki SX4 Radio DVD GPS Navi Install

Installation for an aftermarket Suzuki SX4 radio is quite easy for a professional mechanic or a car stereo shop, but we also would like to share with you this installation guide for the Suzuki SX4 radio dvd gps unit, which comes with wiring harness ready for existing SX4 factory plug and fits exactly in your center console, so you will not need any double din mounting frame to relocate it, it's plug and play.

How does the replacement looks like compared to factory SX4 radio unit?

A new Android 8.0 OS Suzuki SX4 radio GPS is available now:

The new Android Suzuki SX4 radio GPS comes with 8" HD 1024x600 resolution capacitive and multi-touch screen, 8-Cores 1.6GHz CPU, 32GB ROM, 4GB RAM, more features including WiFi, Mirror-Link, etc.

Below is the wiring harness and all accessories included in the package.

1x wiring harness
1x USB cable
1x iPod cable for iPod/iPhone 4/4S
1x remote control
1x GPS antenna
1x Stylus
1x User manual

Note: The GPS SD card with GPS maps is already in the GPS card slot, because the seller should test the unit with navigation system before the shipment.

This new radio dvd is going to be installed in a 2010 Suzuki SX4 Hatchback, see the dash picture as following:

















1. In order to get the factory car radio out, firstly you will need to pry off the metal strip on both sides, get a plastic pry bar and slowly pry from the strip/trim sides until you can pry from the bottom to the top. Because there are 4 buckles on each strip. The bottom 2 buckles are plastic which is easy to pull out, and the top 2 buckles are metal.

2. After pulling out 2 metal strips, you can see 4 screws fixed the factory SX4 radio, use a cross screwdriver to remove 2 screws on left side and 2 screws on right side.

3. You are able to pull out the factory Suzuki SX4 radio/CD out now, use a towel underneath to protect the air conditioning panel.

4. Unplug the factory wiring harness at back, press the buckle to pull out the plug, get the factory radio out.

5. Remove 2 screws at top of the new Suzuki SX4 radio DVD GPS navi unit, these screws are used to protect the DVD loader during shipment, if you did not remove these 2 screws, you will not be able to use DVD function, the disc can not be inserted into.

6. Connect GPS antenna with the back port of the new unit, connect iPod cable, USB cable, plug the new wiring harness. You can put the USB and iPod cable at glove box, so it's invisible.

7. After all cables are well connected, push the new SX4 head unit into the dashboard, install screws to fix the new unit, install the strip/trim on both sides. That's all. Now you can turn on the unit and test every function now. Enjoy!