Night Vision

Does anyone here have experience with the night vision option? It is one of the few options that I did not order yet.

I have this on my current 550i. I would not recommend it. 1) In my experience it hasn't done that good of a job pointing out objects at night, 2) it's counter-intuitive to take your eyes off of the road to look at the screen to see what's up ahead of you, and 3) the price is ridiculous. I probably turned it on 5 times during the first year I owned my car, and not once since. Unless they have changed the technology, or put the viewing in a screen like the Heads Up display, I would suggest not selecting this option.

Originally Posted by emjoyner

I have this on my current 550i. I would not recommend it. 1) In my experience it hasn't done that good of a job pointing out objects at night, 2) it's counter-intuitive to take your eyes off of the road to look at the screen to see what's up ahead of you, and 3) the price is ridiculous. I probably turned it on 5 times during the first year I owned my car, and not once since. Unless they have changed the technology, or put the viewing in a screen like the Heads Up display, I would suggest not selecting this option.

+1.

There was also a post a while ago in the e60 forum from a member that pointed out the lens was not particularly well protected, and his picture slowly degraded and became more blurry over time due to rocks hitting the lens.

Worse, there was no "sacrificial" cover to the lens that could be easily exchanged. Replacing the lens involved replacing pretty much the whole unit, which costs several thousand dollars, and this was not covered by warranty.

If BMW designed the lens protection better and designed it to be integrated into the heads up display, then this option would be more interesting. But as it stands, I wouldn't consider it.

Originally Posted by Adumbration

+1.

There was also a post a while ago in the e60 forum from a member that pointed out the lens was not particularly well protected, and his picture slowly degraded and became more blurry over time due to rocks hitting the lens.

Worse, there was no "sacrificial" cover to the lens that could be easily exchanged. Replacing the lens involved replacing pretty much the whole unit, which costs several thousand dollars, and this was not covered by warranty.

If BMW designed the lens protection better and designed it to be integrated into the heads up display, then this option would be more interesting. But as it stands, I wouldn't consider it.

I think it is integrated on the HUD in the new models. That's what the latest brochure indicates.