The lack of a 360 camera irks me

[daniel_c]

I’m a _decent_ driver, not great, not terrible. Yet I’ve just managed to scrape the front rim on my SLK for the first time, on any car. I pictured the worst when I got out of the car to check. I pictured a big fat rift across the whole lower side of the car. Luckily it was just the rim.

But it was enough to scare me good.

I’m in the market for a G29 and and have been eying one for months now. I’m getting close to sealing the deal, but the lack of a 360 camera really irks me.

I’ve also looked into the Mercedes C-class cabriolet, and while I realize the cars aren’t really comparable, it’s 360 camera is just such a huge assistance. It takes the edge off that gnarly feeling I’m sure to feel every time I’ll need to squeeze into a small space or anything similar.

The Z4 is an expensive car, am I crazy to think that a 360 camera should have been an obvious option on it? Are there any decent reasons why it isn’t?

Having driven cars with a 360 cam, I can’t deny that it is on my list of features I wouldn’t wanna compromise on (yet here I am tho, obviously thinking of compromising :roll: ).

I’ve also looked into after-market options, but nothing seems to be available, which makes sense of course, since installation and calibration of the extra cameras, programming the iDrive etc, would be quite the task.

Do you find yourselves wishing you had a 360 cam, given that you’ve used the feature on other cars?

 

[Roadster_Surrey]

Do you mean 360 rear view camera or top view, that will show you your car all around?

I had top view in Audi S8, which was helpful due to size and shape of the car. But next A8 had standard camera and it was fine. I always thought there's no need for camera or parking sensors on small cars. Had 3 x SLK myself and they survived ok.

 

[Pondrew]

Do you mean 360 rear view camera

Interested to know how that works! Is that the one that shows the number plate as well as what's behind? :lol:

 

[F1SpaceMonkey]

You can't hit the front or scrape it if the driver assistance features are on - or i've found its difficult to. Suppose a 360 camera would be nice though but i find the drivers's assistance tech is very sensitive and hammers the brakes if close to an object. It shouldn't put you off what is a phenomenal car and driver experience.

 

[daniel_c]

Hey all, thanks for the input. And yeah, I was referring to the top-down-view that’s stitched by using the back, front and mirror cameras.

It just seems like it’s pretty old (and relatively inexpensive) tech by now, and I’m surprised an otherwise so high-tech car like the G29 doesn’t offer it.

This will be by far the most expensive thing I’ll own (and even getting a used one will be twice as expensive as my current SLK) so for the first few months, I’ll be driving it like a grandma. Unless it’s on a straight, of course 8)

 

[ori]

I would love the 360 camera due to the width restrictions these days are horrid.

I am shocked that they didn’t have the the 360 on the g29. Maybe on the lci?

 

[NS66]

I find the reliance on all this modern technology makes us all lazy and carefree so to speak - me included. My daily drive (horrible EV) has all the gizmos. We managed for many years with our senses, mirrors our eyes !!!

 

[dhobbs]

I find the reliance on all this modern technology makes us all lazy and carefree so to speak - me included. My daily drive (horrible EV) has all the gizmos. We managed for many years with our senses, mirrors our eyes !!!

I agree but parking sensors reduce the chances of coming back to your car to find a big scrape.

 

[Nanu]

You don't need cameras if the driver assist is on. Just take notice of what it is telling you, you don't need to see a wall, just a system that tells you when your getting close to hitting it and what part of the car your going to hit it with.

 

[Pondrew]

I’ve also looked into the Mercedes C-class cabriolet, and while I realize the cars aren’t really comparable, it’s 360 camera is just such a huge assistance

If you can't park a car without multiple cameras, I would say go for the Merc, mate. As it happens I have some friends who are seliing a nice 2019 C200 cab in Grey, I could put you in touch.

Think yourself lucky....when I first started driving wing mirrors (before door mirrors) were an 'accessory', not even an optional extra. How on earth we coped, is anyone's guess.

 

[Ian J]

You don't need cameras if the driver assist is on.

That's if you have Driver assist optioned

I don't have it but I did on my last car (BMW 6GT) and didn't like it very much due to all the false positives when it slammed the brakes on for no reason

 

[q96169we]

That's if you have Driver assist optioned

That's standard on G29.

[ref]Nanu[/ref], driving assistant system won't work when you are in low speed (e.g parking). There are three sub-systems: lane change warning, approach warning, and person warning.
The lane change warning is only activated when the car is traveling above 70km/h and the KAFAS can clearly detect the lines on both side of the lane. The approach warning work at any speed but only applies brake at below 60km/h. The person warning works between 10-60 km/h. None of these systems consider an object that can only kerb the wheel as a threat and stop you from kerbing the wheel.

On the other hand, 360 camera only activates at low speed to give you better view when doing low speed maneuvering (e.g parking). In theory, it can stop the driver from kerbing the wheel by giving the driver better view of surrounding. However, I personally isn't too interested in this. Maybe because I'm not used to checking screen in addition to the mirrors when parking.

 

[Russ Z4]

I have to say, I had 360 cameras on my 640d. They were very cool and did help with tight spaces - mind you that thing was an absolute barge compared to the Z4. They've never really stuck around though have they? I wonder if the uptake of them is just so low that manufacturers just dont bother with them anymore.

 

[Ian J]

That's if you have Driver assist optioned

That's standard on G29.

No it isn't as it's a £900 option

 

[q96169we]

That's if you have Driver assist optioned

That's standard on G29.

No it isn't as it's a £900 option

The £900 driving assistant pack gives you ACC and driving assistant which include lane change warning, approach warning, person warning, blind spot monitoring, crossing traffic warning, and rear collision warning. Among these systems, the lane change warning, approach warning, and person warning are standard even without the driving assistant pack (laws require them to be standard if remember correctly). The other three extra systems basically implemented on two additional radars attached to the side of rear bumper. However, none of them can stop driver from kerbing the wheel which is what the OP wants to achieve via 360 camera.

 

[q96169we]

That's if you have Driver assist optioned

That's standard on G29.

No it isn't as it's a £900 option

Sorry, I remember the wrong name of those stuffs.
The standard three systems as said above are called "Active Guard". I thought the basic stuffs called "Driving Assistant". Then the system based on two extra radars on the side of rear bumper is called "Driving Assistant plus" and the semi-autonomous driving system, which not available for G29 but can be specified on my G31 as well as other models, is called "Driving Assistant Professional". Obviously, the names keep changing and the professional can become plus later when they have L4 system ready.

 

[daniel_c]

They've never really stuck around though have they?

You mean 360-cameras haven't stuck around? Basically every new car on the higher-end scale has them, and the more expensive ones also stich the images into a 3d image, so can even rotate around the car, almost like if there was a drone flying around it.

Check out the Mercedes implementation, which is actually now even available on the C-class, which is why it boggles my mind the Z4 doesn't offer it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsuTNpIrOPE

For me, it's really not about the walls, it's about curbs. For example, there's a mall where I live, with an underground garage, where you pass through a funnel of sorts. It's a two-way pass with a parking machine in the middle. It obviously wasn't intended for a 2-way pass, so the passes are extremely narrow, and have curbs on both sides. A lot of people obviously struggle with this, as evident by the curbs being all rubber scraped. Being able to perfectly center the car through this pass, with only a few inches of available space, is pretty hard, by all standards.

Also, the 360-cam helps you park way closer to curbs than I'm otherwise confortable with.

Thinking about it some more, I'd actually be happy with just an actual front camera, as they can show you exactly where the "tyre tracks" would go when creeping forwards.

Anyhow, I realise this thread doesn't have tons of discussion value, I guess there's not much point crying about it on forums :|

 

[daniel_c]

I realise I'm making myself out to be a totally incompetent driver - of course I can park and get by without the cameras, I don't even have a backup camera on my SLK, but it's about comfort, and the Z4 is touted to be a comfortable luxury roadster. And it's about parking your 600-700k euro car without developing pit stains from the nervousness

 

[Scubaregs]

I realise I'm making myself out to be a totally incompetent driver - of course I can park and get by without the cameras, I don't even have a backup camera on my SLK, but it's about comfort, and the Z4 is touted to be a comfortable luxury roadster. And it's about parking your 600-700k euro car without developing pit stains from the nervousness

If you are paying 600-700k euros for a G29, you have more to worry about than a 360 degree camera.

 

[daniel_c]

If you are paying 600-700k euros for a G29, you have more to worry about than a 360 degree camera.

That's Sweden for you

A new, fully specced M40i is around 850k euros here.