Backup Camera Installation & Review – *STEALTH* Install

The glass on the rear view mirror had started to delaminate and instead of paying 30Euro+ for a direct replacement I thought, “why not get a mirror which had a built in backup camera and dashcam feature”. This article covers the backup camera installation and a review of the product.
I found a mirror that could use the stock mounting point on the windscreen. I wanted a factory look install without any wires showing. This is the camera I bought from Aliexpress. It has a dashcam facing forward and an external backup camera which is attached to the trunk/boot. When the ignition is on footage from both cameras is recorded on an SD Card which inside the rear view mirror.
When reverse is selected the video from the backup camera is shown in the mirror itself. The display covers about a quarter of the mirror.
Video Time Stamps included at the bottom of this page
Number one priority – Backup Camera
I absolutely did not want something in the car that attached with suction cups or any sort of elastic.
I wanted a mirror that was a direct replacement for the original mirror, ie a rear view mirror that used the mount already on the windscreen
I wanted a factory like fit to the mirror, something that could of been on the car from the factory.
So I ordered the product (in this case from Aliexpress) and it arrived around 4 weeks later in a superbly packaged box.
The rear view parking camera was exactly the one shown in the photo and it came with ample cabling.
The rear view mirror itself looked to be the same if not better quality than the mirror that was on the car from the factory.
Installation was a bit of pain.
I had to peel down the front edge of the headliner, remove the A-Pillar trim, the trim by the side of the dashboard, remove the glove box, run the cables to the back of the car under the plastic trim under the doors, wire the reversing camera into the reversing bulb cable from the rear light and power the camera from the stereo’s power supply.
These plastic parts are attached with clips or screws. A Haynes manual is perfect for this kind of job.
Backup Camera Installation – In Detail
Main Power
The main power supply of the unit is mounted behind the glovebox and the video signal from the backup camera connects to the loom in the same place. Power for the mirror is taken from the power feed to the stereo. The backup camera was supplied with a 10 amp fuse which seemed excessive so I replaced the fuse with a 5 amp rated fuse.
Wire Routing
The power and video signal wire were routed up the side of the dash, under the a-pillar trim and across the front edge of the headliner where it comes down and connects to the mirror.
Backup Camera Wiring
The backup camera has four wires. Live, ground and video signal and switch. The camera is powered by a 12 volt live going to the rear light cluster. Ground wire is connected to the car body. The backup camera video shows in the rear view mirror when reverse is selected. I used a positap to tap into the reverse light power cable as it entered the rear light unit. The reverse light power is connected to the switch cable in the camera. To find which cable you need to tap into either find the cable colour using a wiring diagram for the car or use a multimeter to test which cable goes live when reverse gear is selected. The video signal wire and switch signal is run to the front of the car and connects at the power unit of the mirror behind the glove box.
Total Time
All in, installation of the backup camera took around two hours and the only things I needed that were not included in the kit was a multimeter, two inline fuses (to change to smaller rated ones) and some positaps.
Backup Camera Picture
Front camera is okay. Nothing that you would vlog with but as a dashcam, perfectly acceptable. The quality of the recording vs the quality of the picture you see in the mirror is similar.
The rear camera is great. Same resolution as the front facing camera.
The mirror is slightly bigger than the original rear view mirror but zero complaints.
When I want to check the footage I remove the SD card and connect it to a PC. The backup camera and front facing camera are recorded in separate directories on the memory card.
I find the footage good, day or night.
All in all I got everything I wanted for a very reasonable 60 USD delivered.
The rear view mirror looks like the factory item.
I have a dash cam with no cables hanging from the windscreen and nothing extra suckered to the windscreen
And I have a reversing camera which does what I need perfectly.
Plus I get dashcam footage pointing backwards. Although this is not much use to me as I have the camera facing down showing the edge of the rear bumper. So I can get extra close when parking!
The only thing still unknown is how long the product will last, when it breaks, I will add a comment to this post!
Update
After around 4 years the display in the mirror packed up. But to be fair it had been wacked a few times by the dog. Yours may last longer.
Backup Camera Installation – Video Time Stamps
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0:46 Quick unboxing of the rear view mirror camera
0:53 Vehicle specific brackets
1:25 Instruction manual
1:38 Install wiring
2:14 Reversing camera
2:35 The mirror
3:05 The clamp
3:12 The camera
3:43 Mirror power cables
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4:10 Starting the install
4:21 Perfect world wire routing
4:36 Checking the clamp
4:45 Checking for switched live in dome light
5:02 Plan B wire routing
5:31 How to remove trim panels
6:12 Finding the power cables from the stereo
7:17 Trim panel removal tools
7:47 Plan B wire routing (part 2)
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Rear view camera wiring
8:08 Running the cables to the rear view mirror camera
9:05 Headliner
9:28 Another method of routing the wires
9:36 Running the camera cable to the boot
10:01 Running rear view camera cables
10:30 Removing boot trim panels
11:00 Identifying which cable is for the revers light in the rear cluster
11:25 Postiap into reverse power https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v0Sv1LVMo4
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Main power
11:40 Cutting of the supplied fuses and using inline fuses
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12:31 First impressions
12:41 The menus
13:01 Accessing the menu
13:17 Video resolution
13:21 Camera resolution
13:37 Cyclic recording
13:58 White balance
14:14 Exposure
14:22 Motion detection
14:29 Voice recording
14:41 Parking guard
14:45 Reversing line
15:34 Date stamps
15:39 “Gravity” sensing
16:13 Beep sound
16:16 Enhanced night vision
16:21 Set date and time
16:32 Auto power off
16:53 Languages
17:19 Frequency
17:35 LCD Brightness
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18:09 Driving footage in various conditions
18:10 Cloudy day
18:31 Night
18:54 Really dark
19:27 Driving away from sun
20:10 Driving towards sun
20:52 Reversing camera (I have it pointing straight down)
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21:19 Summary
What is included for the price
22:00 OEM Type fit, no loose wires, extra things attached to the interior
22:32 Can you use it as a video camera?
22:39 Mirror performance and quality
23:15 Supplied cabling, issues with the fuses
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23:35 Thank you for watching, please subscribe, look after yourself, see you next time!
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