Much as we love our MINI, I do wish we could see anything other than our open convertible top in the rear view mirror. Has anyone had success adding a mirror-mounted dash cam able to show the view behind the car while driving forward?

Ideally, it shouldn't conflict with the WiFi link from my iPhone to the MINI's Carplay display. It should also not drain the car battery. (Our current dashcams do both.)

 

I added an Acumen M4 2ch rearview mirror dashcam to my MINI today, hoping its rearview camera could overcome the inability of the original rearview mirror to see through our MINI convertible's opened top. The good news is that it does. The bad news is that its display in its default setting is too dim to see well in full sunlight, and can't be adjusted to be bright enough to see well in full sunlight. Plus, under its display is a mirror that reflects a LOT of glare in full sunlight. From reading reviews, it appears at least one competitor's product has the same issue.

The manufacturer is looking into the possibility of a firmware upgrade to retain the current brightness setting when the car is powered off, and suggests adding an anti-glare film to the mirror. I'll be trying that tomorrow, though my success at installing large protective films without resulting bubbles isn't the best.

Has anyone found a rearview mirror dashcam with a really bright and glare-free display?

Update: The M4's default brightness is just right for night driving, and no glare issues at night either.

 

Update 2: Installed a nonglare film today, and it really does kill the glare. Installation wasn't difficult, and mostly successful (just a few tiny bubbles and specs of dirt left under the new film.) This film is an exact fit: www.amazon.com/dp/B09J7ZVC5W

 

I'll be watching this thread, hoping for other (better) options.

I asked about doing this over a year ago, and no one had any suggestions. There are tons of LCD-mirror dashcam sets out there, but they all get terrible reviews.
I'll gladly pay top-dollar for something that works day & night, high resolution, etc.

BTW, straz, where exactly did you mount the rear camera? I assume it needs to be fairly high, so as to seem like a normal rear street view, not a backup system.

Re the glare, maybe tinting your windows might help a little? (And heavily tint the rear window, to minimize the effects of car headlights shining into the lcd at night.)

 

Here's the rear camera, atop the license plate.

Here's the rear view from our garage via the new rearview mirror dashcam

The one thing I'd do differently if redoing this installation would be to have the pro shop also install the antiglare film.

 

You can also buy sheets of clear, anti-glare film made for computers. It sticks right on via static electricity, or something similar.

However, while it works, it also slightly darkens the display & very noticeably degrades the contrast. (I've tried several brands on my laptops, and gave up.)
The same would be true if this company provided something. How much did the film you bought affect the view quality?

This trick is to start with a much better display to start with, with extreme brightness & contrast, and the anti-glare built-in. And that gets expensive. For reference, I recently bought a wonderful 15.6" sunlight readable LCD (1500 nits and about 800 contrast) and it cost well over $2,000. A rear-view LCD would be maybe 1/3 the size, but need the same basic components, so would likely coast around $1,000. - And that's without the cameras, wiring, etc.
I'd gladly pay that much, but would the general market?
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Re your camera mounting point: I never thought of just clipping it to the plate. That does seem to be a decent trade-off (view angle vs convenience) though I think it would look better if the camera were higher. When you're driving, and look into that "mirror," does it seem normal to you, or slightly disorienting? (notwithstanding the glare and the low resolution. Just the angle and viewing width.)

 

My 2020 iMac has the nano-texture anti-glare option. It cost about $300 extra, but I was happy to pay that, rather than deal with avoidable glare for years. Had there been an option for a brighter and higher contrast screen on my new dashcam, I'd have happily bought it, for the same reason - I'll be using it for years.

Ideally, MINI would have offered this as a factory option. Their in dash display is extremely bright with plenty of contrast.

As for the rear camera height, it hasn't bothered me at all. I like that it is tucked in safely below the trunk latch, where nothing will bump it.

 

I was just looking at the Acumen products.
I think it would be worth paying more for the waterproof version:

- Mainly because it's designed for higher temps. With a convertible, that seems important.

Of course, it still won't have excellent brightness for daytime use. I wish there was a brick&mortar store where you could actually look at these devices, or at least query a knowledgeable salesman. (Do they even exist?)

 

Adding another important wrinkle:

I'm also concerned about getting the best viewing angle with the rear-view camera. Most of the units I've seen are 120 degrees, or even more, but that's too wide. Maybe they are designed as a compromise, so as to double as a backup camera, but they will give a false impression of how far away cars are.

I've been doing a lot of reading on this, but can't find a concrete answer to what angle most closely mimics the human eye. (Or an actual rear-view mirror.)
Does anyone know?

 

The one I bought (the M4 2 channel model) can be viewed at the shop which installed it for me:
South Coast Mobile Electronics
724 N El Camino Real
San Clemente CA 92672-4250
USA
(949)366-9400 or (714)595-5730
They are open 8am to 3pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Dean did my install.
They seem very familiar with it, and say they've installed tons of them. They also know the OEM, located at
19687 Valley Blvd a
Walnut CA 91789-2146
US
https://acumen-camera.com
(909)468-2828 Zoey will likely answer, and is very knowledgeable.

 

I asked an AI: What is the normal field of view of the human eye in angular degrees?

Here's the reply: Humans don’t actually see the world in one neat rectangle, but if you want the conventional “field of human vision” numbers:

• Horizontal (binocular, looking straight ahead) ≈ 200 – 210 degrees total

– About 114–120 degrees of true binocular overlap (both eyes seeing the same region)

• Vertical ≈ 130 – 150 degrees

• Temporal monocular (each eye by itself, outward side) ≈ 90 degrees from center

• Nasal monocular (each eye toward the nose) ≈ 50 – 60 degrees from center

So if you average what engineers and optometrists quote when talking about “normal human FoV,” a quick shorthand is about 210 × 150 degrees overall.

 

Thanks, but I'm in NY state !

I guess I should look for a "mobile electronics" shop near me. That's a start, at least. (Better than Best Buy, or whatever.)

As far as FOV, everything I've read so far says you want less than 100 degrees, and probably 60-70 degrees to properly mimic an actual rear-view mirror. (For "normal / expected" depth perception.) There seems to be NOTHING available is the USA. In fact there are countless thread full of people complaining about this same issue.

FWIW, the Acumen's rear camera is 170 degrees, which is WAY too wide.
I recommend tryting to retrofit at least a 120 degree camera, if you can find one that's compatible.

 

Well, I'm near giving up once again. Maybe next year......


HOWEVER: I have a new idea. Maybe it would be possible to mount some kind of camera to an iPad or tablet, and use the tablet as a rear-view screen.
This one, for instance has extreme brightness:

The camera doesn't HAVE to be sold for cars. It could be anything small with the proper connection, and the proper FOV. I don't know exactly how this is done (yet) but it definitely CAN be done.
The physical hookup should also be do-able, without too much effort.

Can a tablet be run off a 12v battery? They need more like 45w (max) but a car battery has plenty of amps, so there should be some kind of voltage converter available.

 

The solution to seeing over the top is a higher mirror. I am developing a higher mirror mount that replaces the headliner switches on the F57.

Coming soon (as I can get around to it) .

 

Joe, that's an interesting idea. But with the top UP, will that still give enough view of more distant cars?

In other words, is the top of the rear widow high enough to not interfere?

 

The low rear view mirror is a serious issue in the mini. I’m looking for ways to raie the mirros to solve forward visibility, but I thinkni should raise your rearward vision as well.

Doing this also requires a relocation of the headliner switches and lights.