Camera Malfunction Warning!

TJPark01 · Mar 1, 2011

Anytime I engage any of the camera features of the car I receive a malfunction warning.
1. Back up Camera
2. top view assist
3. Side view
The strange thing is that all the cameras visually seem to be working fine. Have any of you guys gotten this warning?

laser · Mar 1, 2011

TJ I had exactly this upon delivery of my car.

Dealer just ordered a new camera and installed it no problem.

Took a few days at the dealer and seems to have been quite a disassembly / assembly process.

TJPark01 · Mar 1, 2011

laser said:
TJ I had exactly this upon delivery of my car.

Dealer just ordered a new camera and installed it no problem.

Took a few days at the dealer and seems to have been quite a disassembly / assembly process.

which camera was replaced? I am getting malfunction warning on all of them but they seem to be working fine, which leads me to believe it's something software or code related

laser · Mar 1, 2011

I only have the backup camera, it was working fine but was getting the dash warning and the audible alert every time I put the car in reverse.

They just replaced the camera, i'm not sure they could or tried to diagnose any software issues.

TJPark01 · Mar 1, 2011

When you say it took a few days, did the delay come in the installation or in waiting for the parts to arrive?

laser · Mar 1, 2011

1) took from Nov 10 until Jan 19 for the dealer to have the camera and 4 replacement Goodyear RFTs. Sorry I don't know for sure which was the holdup since I needed to have both replaced on the same service visit.

2) took them a week to install the camera, gave me a loaner thankfully!

TJPark01 · Mar 1, 2011

A week to install a camera? The humanity. From what I can tell I have 5 cameras on my car.

laser · Mar 1, 2011

Schedule at your convenience and for sure go for a nice loaner!

TJPark01 · Mar 2, 2011

To the surprise of no one, the malfunction warning has now gone away by itself. The prospect of keeping this car past the warranty period is looking precarious at best. Thanks for all your help laser. Hopefully this is the last I see of this. I'm busy, and as much as I'd like to take the a test drive of the X3, I don't feel like going to the dealer what so ever.

kmac1980 · Jan 2, 2012

I have gotten this same "camera malfunction warning" for my reverse camera (none of the other ones)...only when I engage reverse. It seems to be intermittent as well. It also seems to coincide with the car being a bit dirty. Wonder if it is the car's way of saying the image may not be reliable because of the dirt obstructing it? Nothing the in owners manual suggests this though, however, it does suggest this for other camera based sensors in the car (i.e. lane departure warning)

TJPark01 · Jan 2, 2012

water got into one of the camera wiring harnesses for the driver mirror. The camera and wiring harness were replaced under warranty.

jimefam · Jan 3, 2012

I wanted to get that option for the surround cameras and was scared off by the salesman. He stated that if they break they are a pain and $$$ to replace and have a way of failing, I'm surprised that they apparently do fail as noted above this is old technology.

alex_c · Jan 3, 2012

If they are a pain and $$$ to replace, it is (mostly) NOT your time and your money. For 4 years it will be fixed under warranty.

By getting them, at least you will use them for at least 4 years. If they fail after that, is just like if you never had them...

I think that a lot of times we make a big issue out of small issues that in other areas of our life are taken as "normal". Water heaters have been around for over 100 years, and I still have had them failed in my home over the years, same for AC units, garbage disposals, toasters, vacuum cleaners, etc. You name it, whatever it is, it will fail at one point. What you should be thankful is that when your BMW fails for whatever reason, it will be fixed under warranty, at no cost for the next 4 years. Try that with almost any other stuff around your home.

As vehicles get more complex, there are more things that can go wrong. Do you realize that there are several computers running almost non-stop in your car, nearly 20x faster than any computer you have around, communicating nearly at the speed of light (that's why they use fiber optics instead of regular wiring on the main computers in your car), and still, our cars work flawlessly nearly all the time. With the number of components in the car, that means that to get a 99% reliability, the individual components need to be flawless 99.999999% of the time.

If you ask me, it is EXTRAORDINARY how incredibly precise and reliable these cars are in spite of all they do all the time. Maybe I've been lucky, but my 2011 535 worked perfectly for 14 months and 14,000 miles until I traded it in. Same for my 2008 328xi, which I had for 3 years and over 40,000 miles (other than a fuel sensor replacement under warranty).

Comparing the reliability of my BMW's with cars I had before (Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Audi), BMW's have been waaaay better. No comparison. And if you start comparing with lesser brands (Chrysler, GM, Ford, etc.) it's not even remotely close.

Heck, even my kids bicycles have had more issues than my BMW's, and they are way simpler... but still have had to adjust the chain, fix the brakes and tighten the kick stand! :rofl:

daddymalu · Jan 4, 2012

Has anyone found a good solution to this problem? My cameras seem to work although one of them flickers a little bit, but when they turn on I get a camera multifunction. There is the rare case that they work with no problems as well. But most of the time my dash lights up with a camera malfunction. My car has been in the shop for almost a week now. Thanks in advance for your help.

TJPark01 · Jan 4, 2012

daddymalu said:
My car has been in the shop for almost a week now. Thanks in advance for your help.

It's likely they ordered parts and are waiting for them. I would call the dealer to see why it's taking so long a week with no explanation is insanity...

davesf said:
I love our lexus 450h, but I'm not expecting the GSF to have the feel of the german products.
Plus, for some bizarre reason, asian auto manufacturers don't seem to believe sedans should offer fold-down rear seats.

I don't get it either, It's gotta be about cost. Sure I don't make it a habit to carry lumber in my car, but there have been several occasions where the fold down seat has been a savior.

Sharbotcom · Jan 4, 2012

I got the dreaded Camera Malfunction error last evening coming out of my underground parking at the office. The left side front camera failed. It is amazing how dependant you become on them when coming out of a narrow drive onto a busy street and you can't see the traffic on the road on either side of you. My left camera showed blue while the right was ok. The screen shuts out both images after a second and then it goes into the warning mode causing you to loose the use of the operational one also (in this care the right one). So I streched my neck and took a chance by edging out slowly until I could see. They really do have value from a safety perspective when in this type of a situation. Later at a stop light I tried them and they worked. This morning they failed again. So I guess I'll have to go to the dealer to have them looked at. Does anyne know if the error code remains in the history in case the darn thing is working when I bring it into the dealer?

Thanks,
Bill

TJPark01 · Jan 4, 2012

Sharbotcom said:
Does anyne know if the error code remains in the history in case the darn thing is working when I bring it into the dealer?

Thanks,
Bill

Even if it's working the error code is stored in the computer, when they go to look at it. I had terminal corrosion of the wiring harness causing intermittent failure on the driverside mirror. The cameras were all fine. Since they knew it would take 2 weeks to get the part from the motherland, they cleaned off the corrosion spliced it back together and gave me the car back. when the wiring harness came in, they called me to come back.

daddymalu · Jan 4, 2012

Dealer said they ordered a module that will be here in a couple weeks, I can pick up the car today and come back when the module comes in... 2 weeks seems like a really long time to order a part, and no other dealer has this part in the USA?

ihumphrey · Feb 25, 2012

Just wanted to add some more up to date info on this...about 2 weeks ago my car started throwing camera errors but the cameras were working fine. Since this thread originated there has been a BMW tsb about this. The harnesses especially on the side view and mirror located camera systems can become either corroded, disconnected or kinked such that they throw fault codes. Camera may or may not continue to function. Change of the offending harness is the solution. The one damaged harness in my car was replaced and everything is functioning normally at this time. As far as a timetable it is substantially less than when other people who have had this earlier in production. It was 1 day to diagnose and get the parts and one day to do the work. I picked up the car on the third day.

alex_c · Mar 24, 2012

I just experienced this today too...

ihumphrey · Mar 24, 2012

Have them find which harness is at fault...initially they thought the software update might fix it unlikely...they will have to disassemble and find the right camera...as I said above it only took a couple days.

alex_c · Mar 24, 2012

Thanks for the info!

CTSoxFan · Oct 23, 2013

Add me to the list of the dreaded Camera Malfunction error. All cameras seem to be working fine. Guess I will call my SA in the AM...

FrankAN · May 1, 2014

I had the rear camera malfunction error very time I would engage in reverse a couple of weeks ago. Brought it to the dealer and they told me it was because the battery was low, charged the battery and gave it back to me. Well of course it wasn't the battery! Errors continued. Brought it back to the dealer. They happened to have a camera in stock, installed it and that took care of the problem. Under warranty of course. I worry of what may happen once the warranty expires in a couple of years.

digby · Nov 24, 2014

Hi to everybody over there - thought i would throw in my experience

I had the camera fault warning - the car went back to the dealer a total of 3 times before it was finally fixed

think i now have new cameras / harnesses everywhere in the car

luckily BMW France picked up the bill

gfrisch2203 · Nov 24, 2014

Hi,I have a 535i 2015 and all 4 of my cameras stopped working .It took BMW 7 days to get the module which controls the cameras. I think this is the price you pay driving a German hi tech car.

RebelUnit · Dec 22, 2014

Since I got my car back after 3 months at the shop for a different issue, I've come across the camera malfunction error shortly after I wash the car and it has been sitting out in the cold for a few hours. I have the 5 camera set up and I get the error from back up to front bumper cams. Before my car went into the shop back in June, I've taken my car to the car wash religiously every few days and not once did I get the dreaded error. What's weird is that all the cameras seem to function just fine. And when the weather warms up a little, the error seems to go away until I take the car back to the car wash and the temperature is a bit chill.
Is there anyway other than to take it into the shop to figure out which camera might be faulty? Is there a central module that controls all the cameras or are they all independent? To no surprise, I just cleared the 80k mark so the manufacturer's warranty just finished. I just find the unnecessary ding sound whenever I put the car into reverse annoying. For what I paid for this thing and only be 3 years old makes me wonder on it's build quality. I've had cheaper Japanese cars with backup cameras that never made a fuss the whole time I've owned it. And it's strange to have to address techs on your current ride that you've taken for granted from your past vehicles lol. Thoughts?

NorwayF11 · Jan 13, 2015

@RebelUnit

I experience exactly the same problems as you did. Camera error when the car is wet and/or when the weather is cold/wet.

What did you have to do to solve the problem? Did you replace some of the cameras or any controlling modules?

Thanks!
(I now this thread is old, but I`m hoping for an answer anyway)

RebelUnit · Jan 13, 2015

The issue resolved itself without any interventions from me or a BMW tech. Although I'm suspecting this issue might be battery related and here's why:

I took 4 hour trip to drop off my mother at her place. Before and prior to my long distance trip, the camera malfunction error kept coming on whenever I placed the car in reverse even though all cameras appear to be working just fine. After I returned home that same day, I was expecting the car to give me the error when I reversed into my garage. Instead, I got no such error. Since then I have not gotten the error message. The temperature where I live have fluctuated to +10 C all the way down to -30 C for almost 2 weeks. My car is exposed to the frigid cold while I'm at work, but the error message has not come back. I have also washed the car several times during the cold snap and still no camera malfunction error which surprises me. I thought for sure the dreaded "camera malfunction" would appear shortly after my visit to the car wash.

I could be wrong and it could be a coincidence, but I'm convinced the long road trip I took fixed the problem. I'm guessing the battery just needed a good charge. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the problem won't come back anytime soon. Unfortunately, my warranty is up, so I would be on the hook for any service work done on these cameras (or module) since my extended warranty only covers engine work

Footnote: My BMW advisor did mention that my battery level was a bit low the last time I had it serviced. This would be around the time I was getting the camera malfunction error. He thinks the battery may need to be replaced soon, but to wait and see if the problem continues. The car is scheduled for it's yearly checkup at the end of February so the advisor made a note to recheck the battery again.

pfiedler · Jan 13, 2015

My 550ix has just over 10,000 miles on it. Last night (it was cold/wet/raining/salty roads/ugly) and I experienced the camera malfunction warning when shifting into reverse. Like the rest of the folks on this thread, all the cameras seem to be working fine. Sure is a weird one...especially since nobody seems to have found exactly what is wrong and causing the warning.

Just for the record, my car has NEVER been through a car wash since I purchased it new last May (2014). I only hand wash the car and it resides in a heated garage during the day as well as at home. I do drive the car in all kinds of weather, but wash it as soon as I can in temperatures that avoid water freezing on the body.

I guess I'll contact my dealer and see what they think. Problems like this are a real PITA, but better to report them to BMW so hopefully they can figure out the failure for future software and/or hardware improvements.

The car is still wonderful to drive. Now if somebody could do something about the traffic around Boston, all would be peachy!

Drive safely! :thumbup:

Wonderin · Jan 29, 2016

I got the issue (the blue colour in the screen) in my left side camera under the mirror in my f10 and I went to the BMW Dealership and they fixed it under warranty but they said when they were trying to update the software, it says the camera system software is out of date! they are waiting for BMW back in Germany to respond to them for the software's issue! But they said the car would work just fine and this issue is only minor! I am wonder if anyone had the same issue? Or any comments?

DrFlsgood · Jan 30, 2016

5 Camera system

Had the drivers front camera go out after seeing the "Camera Malfunction" warning for about a month.(Before it went out totally).
Dealer replaced the front camera and entire wiring harness for the front system. 9 hours labor and $1500 in parts (covered with warranty).

Took two days to do the job and 1 day for extra parts needed.

loaner supplied by the dealer.

Said the wiring harness had "corroded" and they replaced the entire front system.

jasani · Apr 15, 2016

I had the same problem with driver side fender camera malfunction. Took 2 days and camera and fiber optic cables were changed.

dadadave · May 13, 2016

Just to add to the weirdness, I'm getting the same thing on my new (to me) 2013. In the records it looks they'd already replaced my drivers front view camera. I can tell b/c the cut the old cable and ran a new one up randomly through the engine bay and into a new hole in the firewall grommet, busting plastic clips and plugs along the way. WTF. Anyway, it rained today and the camera started throwing errors. Here is where it gets weird and something I haven't seen mentioned - if I turn the engine off and just have the car "on" the cameras work fine with no errors. If I start the car and go slow the cameras stay on, but as soon as I go over 10mph and they auto-shut off, the next time the camera throws a malfunction and the screen goes dark. Guess it's back to the dealer for another try.

550newbie · May 15, 2016

Same here on 2014. Driver's side front camera. I have disconnected and reconnected and it will work for many, many months. Sometimes after a car wash and/or rain storm, I will still get the error.

Camera Malfunction Warning!

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