Areaview Retrofit Progress

[Cuzoe]

Okay, I think I may have answered my question, but would love some confirmation...

So when looking at the camera, is my red UP arrow correct for the how the camera's view?

Assuming yes, that would mean in this picture, which is a left side mirror, the camera's UP view is as drawn, facing "away" from the car?

If both the above are true that is good news for the left mirror, but bad news for the right side mirror. It would mean the connector on the right side needs to be under that metal frame. Orrr... can the camera's be flipped in the adaptations or coding of the camera module?

 

[Cuzoe]

And for my "last" question, haha... @xabhax do you have a part number for the piece that holds the camera into the front emblem. I have the new emblem, which came with camera bracket... but it doesn't have the back piece that would hold the camera in place.

 

[Reaper1]

There is only one place the camera can be installed at, no room anywhere else.
The cleanest way I see of mounting the camera is like in this video, It has to be done, can't think of a way around it.

 

[Reaper1]

And for my "last" question, haha... @xabhax do you have a part number for the piece that holds the camera into the front emblem. I have the new emblem, which came with camera bracket... but it doesn't have the back piece that would hold the camera in place.

3G8980561
Pretty sure that's the part number, at least that's what I ordered.

 

[Cuzoe]

There is only one place the camera can be installed at, no room anywhere else.
The cleanest way I see of mounting the camera is like in this video, It has to be done, can't think of a way around it.

I would argue that because mounting the camera will require that heating/pulling process there at least a few places the camera can be mounted. They are in the same general area, if that's what you mean. But I can already see a way to get the camera another inch outboard from where I drilled. And of course there's some more room inboard although that's not the direction I need to move.

3G8980561
Pretty sure that's the part number, at least that's what I ordered.

Thanks, ordered. Says it fits the front of the 2021-2023 Arteons, which have camera in the emblem. In typical fashion their "picture" is of an older style bracket for grill mounted cameras. Fortunately it's a $5 part.

Of course, once you know what you're looking for it's "easy" to find, haha... You can almost see the whole part number there, taking a guess at C or G, then starting with 1 for the last number.

 

[Cuzoe]

Cameras on a Skoda Karoq (mirrors from a Kodiaq though). The Karoq is only slightly larger than our Golf (which makes me think the mirrors aren't too much bigger than ours).
Not easy to determine scale here given the different shape of the mirror "arm" but this makes me feel better about our camera placement opportunity.

 

[Reaper1]

Pretty good progress from my side, Decided to try and fish the wires through the mirrors today.
The 4 wire Fakra cable is way too thick to fit inside that hole so I will just use 4 separate wires and solder the connector to the end of it.

I took out the mirror and then sprayed some silicone spray inside the hole where the wires go through, Then after playing a bit with the mirror wiring I've managed to get most of the wiring to the inside of the mirror, After that i taped the wires and pulled it back from the other side, That's the only way i can see of doing it.

Took me a while to get it through, But then after I gave it a good pull the wires somehow made it to the other side.

http://imgur.com/a/mmVZNt2

 

[Cuzoe]

But the wiring is the easy part, we need them cameras mounted .

 

[Reaper1]

But the wiring is the easy part, we need them cameras mounted .

This was easy, Used my heat gun on about 300C and after the plastic was hot enough i started pulling it down, The purpose of creating that pocket is for the camera to sit on a flat surface.
Then i will use a tool just like when you punch holes for parking sensors ( pretty sure it's around 17mm, will check again when the two mirror cameras arrive ) and use a short 3D printed cylinder just like in stock areaview mirrors which will place the camera at the right height, After that, all that's left is to secure the camera in place somehow (maybe hot glue) and I'm done.


Notice there is a slight warp to the edge of the mirror, Pulled it a little too fast and the plastic was a bit too hot, need a lot of patience when doing it but with enough practice on Aliexpress mirrors it will only take a minute.

http://imgur.com/a/GN4u3AC

 

[Cuzoe]

Not an update, but something kind of funny I think. We're all over here lamenting on how we don't want the mirror cameras to stick out too much. This is the camera on an F-150 lightning, which I'm just going to assume has areaview They didn't give a...

 

[Cuzoe]

So I ended up grabbing facelift rear emblem PN 3G0827469JBDPJ, which has a "highline" camera (not areaview camera). I found the emblem on eBay for $215. Then swapped in the areaview camera. I have not (recently at least) been able to find any areaview emblems (new or old VW logo) for under about $400.


The nipple on this part faces "in" instead of down. You can flip it around. I put a hairdryer on it for about 60 seconds then popped it off. I'm not actually sure you need to heat it up at all. But then you flip the drain around and supeglue/epoxy or whatever it back on. I used some gel type superglue where it was originally attached. Then a thin bead of RTV around the perimeter (which is overkill, it didn't have that before)...


Best part about this emblem is that it was designed to accept either camera, highline or areview. Take the rear off and the pull the whole "camera" mechanism. The motor mechanism sort of wiggles out of the way and will stay attached to the rear emblem. The entire camera mechanism is guided in, but not snapped in. That will make sense when you're looking at it. I removed the arms of the camera mechanism so I could get better pictures but you don't have to remove them to replace the cemara.


Remove the two screws holding the old, higline, camera in place (circled in red). Then pop in your areaview camera. Re-use the two screws. One goes in the same spot and the other uses an existing hole in the emblem assembly (circled in green) but it all lines right up. Second picture just to show the relative positions of both cameras when installed. You can see there isn't the clearance issue that @CarloP had to deal with modifying a Golf highline emblem. This camera swap required no modification (dremel-ing/trimming/snipping/grinding) of anything, just disassembly. These later emblems accept either camera.


Assembly is the reverse of dis-assembly. When you're getting the motor mechanism aligned to push it all in make sure the pin is seated at the bottom of the guide track (again this will be obvious once you're in there). If you don't do this you will still be able to put it all together but the camera "door" won't be held closed tightly. If there's play in the door next to my thumb after re-assembly then the motor/gear mechanism is off by a tooth or two. You should not be able to open that door more than a millimeter or two, and it's resting position will be closed.

 

[fvolanti]

you can buy the "nipple" on aliexpress for a few euros, it's apparently the only significant difference between golf and passat emblem.

I'm currently stuck with the retrofit since I want to figure out the side mirrors. I bought golf 8 side mirrors and aliexpress plastic lower trim with camera hole (that's from ID3 or so it seems) but G8 mirrors have a different attachment to the door and have a different swivel construction (same size as G7 but different locking, while passat has a bigger diameter but same locking as G7). I'm seriously considering plastic welding the attachments

 

[Cuzoe]

Nothing broke when I flipped the drain nipple, just popped off the glue. Should not need to buy a new one unless yours breaks into pieces, haha.

The mirrors will be the sticking point for most of us. Seems the best solution is going to be what @Reaper1 has done in post above.

 

[Kushdaiin]

I feel like this has already been covered and I just forgot, but are the Arteon's mirrors that different from the Golf? Don't they have areaview?

 

[Cuzoe]

Arteon mirrors are on a sort of "straight out" standoff...

Ours are on a sort of streamlined type stand off...