Replacing A Class mirrors with cameras and internal monitors

[Al n Val]

hi everyone

So has anyone done the above or had it done, if so have you any tips as to how easy/hard it is and are there any advantages or disadvantages.

Something not unlike this setup



I’m seriously thinking of this mainly because of the imo, dangerous blind spot caused by the mirror and A pillar more or less touching each other. This creates an enormous blind spot which I think is downright dangerous, sometimes I can’t see the bloody roundabout never mind who’s on it.

So has anyone any advice they can pass on and maybe even an idea of costs involved or even anyone who might do it for me.

The was a guy on the Rapido owners FB group who’d done his own but the post disappeared very quickly probably because he was inundated with questions

I’m thinking is it possible to remove the mirror’s leaving the arm and attaching the camera to the arm or if anyone has a better different suggestion please fire away

Al

 

[jongood]

In the coach industry Martin they are known as P45s, as when you take one of those horrendously expensive mirrors out, your employer is keen to hand your P45 out.


Twice now, a gaffer has had a Mercedes Actross stranded in London Keith, due to a camera failing, whereupon Mercedes were called out. They blamed both incidents on "collision/impact damage", even though the onboard dashcam recorded no likeliness of such activity.
The Mercedes in-situ repair on both occasions was to............wait for it.............remove the camera and fit a mirror.

Not for me thanks.

Jock.

Techno gone mad Jock

 

[JockandRita]

Techno gone mad Jock

Yep Jon, and if it ain't broke, why try fixing it?

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[tonyidle]

The issue is how high the mirrors are. If they are at eye level, then they inevitably block your view. My mirrors are top mounted, but on some roundabout approaches (it does depend on the geometry), I do have to duck my head to see under them.

I've had cars before with worse issues. It was a coupe, the waistline was really high and the roof quite low. The mirrors blocked a lot of forward view out the side window. And there wasn't a lot of room to move to look around them either!

I have the same problem. Interestingly I found when I partially dismantled mine (to increase friction on one of the pivots) that they were intended for low mounting. They were upside down and swapped left to right to be top hung. Mine are also very noisy. I've been looking into cameras but I've only seen them on Alibaba as trade supplies.

 

[zac]

I had the 360 system fitted last year by camos and i wouldn't recommend the system. Camos were great and no issues with them but the camera's are poor quality (720p) and the images are very very stretched. They are stretched so much that if you are parked next to another motorhome its hard to see where the gap is, i wanted this system mainly as a security system not for driving. So i had something if something happened to the motorhome whilst we were not there etc but for this is just does not work, they certainly do not replace proper mirrors. They also do not work pretty much at all at night as its just to much reflection and if parked up at night in a dark place then again they cannot be used as they have no infra red on the camera's so cannot record anything.
Camos on the other hand have been good and i have discussed with them some alternative way's to overcome the night time recording issue whilst parked by fitting some PIR lights or similar but not had time to get back to them due to other issue.
This is purely my view as i know others have had this system and are happy with it but my needs were not for driving initially as mentioned.

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[tonyidle]

I had the 360 system fitted last year by camos and i wouldn't recommend the system. Camos were great and no issues with them but the camera's are poor quality (720p) and the images are very very stretched. They are stretched so much that if you are parked next to another motorhome its hard to see where the gap is, i wanted this system mainly as a security system not for driving. So i had something if something happened to the motorhome whilst we were not there etc but for this is just does not work, they certainly do not replace proper mirrors. They also do not work pretty much at all at night as its just to much reflection and if parked up at night in a dark place then again they cannot be used as they have no infra red on the camera's so cannot record anything.
Camos on the other hand have been good and i have discussed with them some alternative way's to overcome the night time recording issue whilst parked by fitting some PIR lights or similar but not had time to get back to them due to other issue.
This is purely my view as i know others have had this system and are happy with it but my needs were not for driving initially as mentioned.

That system isnt intended to replace side mirrors. At best it should be useful when parking.

 

[Guigsy]

I had the 360 system fitted last year by camos and i wouldn't recommend the system. Camos were great and no issues with them but the camera's are poor quality (720p) and the images are very very stretched. They are stretched so much that if you are parked next to another motorhome its hard to see where the gap is, i wanted this system mainly as a security system not for driving. So i had something if something happened to the motorhome whilst we were not there etc but for this is just does not work, they certainly do not replace proper mirrors. They also do not work pretty much at all at night as its just to much reflection and if parked up at night in a dark place then again they cannot be used as they have no infra red on the camera's so cannot record anything.
Camos on the other hand have been good and i have discussed with them some alternative way's to overcome the night time recording issue whilst parked by fitting some PIR lights or similar but not had time to get back to them due to other issue.
This is purely my view as i know others have had this system and are happy with it but my needs were not for driving initially as mentioned.

I understand that the cameras are fisheye, so they can look stretched and distorted at the edges. But 720p is actually pretty high resolution. Several times better than most reversing cameras. I was thinking of getting the system, but mainly for manoeuvrering.

 

[funflair]

I had the 360 system fitted last year by camos and i wouldn't recommend the system. Camos were great and no issues with them but the camera's are poor quality (720p) and the images are very very stretched. They are stretched so much that if you are parked next to another motorhome its hard to see where the gap is, i wanted this system mainly as a security system not for driving. So i had something if something happened to the motorhome whilst we were not there etc but for this is just does not work, they certainly do not replace proper mirrors. They also do not work pretty much at all at night as its just to much reflection and if parked up at night in a dark place then again they cannot be used as they have no infra red on the camera's so cannot record anything.
Camos on the other hand have been good and i have discussed with them some alternative way's to overcome the night time recording issue whilst parked by fitting some PIR lights or similar but not had time to get back to them due to other issue.
This is purely my view as i know others have had this system and are happy with it but my needs were not for driving initially as mentioned.

That’s strange, yes we get distortions at the far limit of the view but in general I think it’s very good. Is yours digital HD?

 

[zac]

That’s strange, yes we get distortions at the far limit of the view but in general I think it’s very good. Is yours digital HD?

View attachment 817491

yes digital HD with a 1tb sd card installed, in some situations they look better but for what we want it for if i had to choose again i would not go for the same system. I am guessing the Mirror replacement discussion they are using a lot better camera's as if so then they will be much better.

 

[daveclare]

Our system is there in addition to mirrors. I was told by the company who fitted it that the fish eye gives the maximum side view. Even though they're 1080 cameras, they're not night vision so that's something that could be improved.

Mind you we always hope to be somewhere by the time the light goes. They are an expensive option and not the solution to everything. Ours have stopped me pulling out on overtaking cars. Cars which were definitely not showing in the mirrors. Because of this I'd have them fitted to every motorhome we will ever have.

I've noticed that when driving in the rain, the only camera to suffer bad blurring is the rear one. I'm not sure whether it'll make a difference, but I might try fitting some mudflaps.

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[zac]

I understand that the cameras are fisheye, so they can look stretched and distorted at the edges. But 720p is actually pretty high resolution. Several times better than most reversing cameras. I was thinking of getting the system, but mainly for manoeuvrering.

i dont think its the resolution of the camera per se that's causing my issues but more the fact that they are fisheye and not being able to see anything when dark is the issue, also driving at night i have to turn the screen off as it simply has no benefit and more of a hindrance.

 

[Al n Val]

Sorry for the wait, this my view from the drivers seat and outside

Now it there’s a way to either shorten or adjust the arms to create a gap please enlightenment me

 

[GMLS]

Have a chat with motorhomeretrofits.See their YouTube channel for some ideas on what can be done with cameras

 

[Al n Val]

Have a chat with motorhomeretrofits.See their YouTube channel for some ideas on what can be done with cameras

I’ve watched some of they’re videos this afternoon

They’re also at the other end of the country from me but if needs must

 

[bigtwin]

I’m seriously thinking of this mainly because of the imo, dangerous blind spot caused by the mirror and A pillar more or less touching each other. This creates an enormous blind spot which I think is downright dangerous, sometimes I can’t see the bloody roundabout never mind who’s on it.

So it seems i’m not the only one with blind spot issues then

I have exactly the same problem; it is downright dangerous!

I enquired with Concorde about having the mirrors changed to coach type mirrors.

Cost to change the mirrors: €16,000
Cost to change the wipers (mandatory if forward mounted mirrors are used) to sweep in opposing directions : €6,000

At that sort of cost, it’s likely that a camera system would be substantially cheaper.

Ian

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[Al n Val]

I have exactly the same problem; it is downright dangerous!

I enquired with Concorde about having the mirrors changed to coach type mirrors.

Cost to change the mirrors: €16,000
Cost to change the wipers (mandatory if forward mounted mirrors are used) to sweep in opposing directions : €6,000

At that sort of cost, it’s likely that a camera system would be substantially cheaper.

Ian

Good God

it’d be cheaper to crash into something on a roundabout, that’s mental money

 

[bigtwin]

Good God

it’d be cheaper to crash into something on a roundabout, that’s mental money

Not half!

Ian

 

[CazPaul]

I have exactly the same problem; it is downright dangerous!

I enquired with Concorde about having the mirrors changed to coach type mirrors.

Cost to change the mirrors: €16,000
Cost to change the wipers (mandatory if forward mounted mirrors are used) to sweep in opposing directions : €6,000

At that sort of cost, it’s likely that a camera system would be substantially cheaper.

Ian

Good grief those 2 total almost what our Concorde is chuffing worth.

 

[herald_400rl]

Don't do it!! SWMBO builds on lorry chassis and the customers hate them, pay extra in fact for proper mirrors. You can get blind spot mirrors, or even get cameras as well as. If someone knocks your camera off you can't drive, if they smack the back of a mirror you can tape it back up.

 

[Dutch 68]

Leave the mirrors and install bird eye view system? Best of both worlds

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[funflair]

Sorry for the wait, this my view from the drivers seat and outside

Now it there’s a way to either shorten or adjust the arms to create a gap please enlightenment me

View attachment 817729View attachment 817736View attachment 817743

That doesn't look good, on our Flair the mirrors were bottom mounted so you could see over the top of them no problem, then it became trendy to top mount and stick them right in your viewing line, not a good move in my opinion, but what do we know? we only drive them.