Here is a picture of my parktronic system in the works. Just as a note on how it works... THere are 10 sensors. 6 front and 4 rear. The car is divided into 4 quadrants. front left, front right, rear left, and rear right. There is a display in front dash and rear dome light display. Each display will show 2 quadrants. So the front one shows the front left and front right. etc... The system can be left on all the time. Rear comes on only when car is in reverse. The front will turn off when car reaches 15mph even if the main switch is on. Also, the displays will dim automatically with the headlights being on. This pretty much summerizes the system. Total parts include the control unit, 10 sensors, sensor retainer rings and washers, front and rear bumber impact strips, rear bumber harness, front bumper harness, rear display harnes, front display harness, Main Harness, front display, rear display, and front dash hump to accomidate the display. In addition to this, 6 clips for holding the front bumper harness in place.

http://homepage.mac.com/drsunilpatel/PhotoAlbum18.html

http://homepage.mac.com/drsunilpatel/PhotoAlbum14.html

 

Wow....

Thats a lot of work on a car!
Good luck with the bluetooth once it becomes available.

 

Sunman -- you've done some beautiful work. I have a narrow driveway which passes right next to my house. The factory installed Parktronic goes nuts when I back out of the driveway. Now I understand why. I had some neck surgery a few years ago which makes it difficult for me to turn my head and look over my shoulder when backing up. The Parktronic is so useful that I don't know how I got along without it before.

 

I feel as if the front parktronic sensors don't look "down" enough to see curbs etc, and that the front & rear warning lights/alarms come on "all at once" way too late, no matter how slowly you park. What i mean is, all of their sensing range occurs at about 15 inches & less. You should get your 1st amber warning light at about 3 feet away from an object, 2nd at 2 feet with NO audible alarm, 3rd at 1 ft, and then the current sensitivity settings. Also the front sensors should be turned off whenever the car is in reverse or above 9 mph in drive, since rain or snow can set the alarm off screaming while you are moving at 60 MPH, and you have to turn the parktronic off at the center console to continue driving in peace once you figure out what the alarm is all about.

 

My owner's manual says that it goes off above 11mph in Drive. I haven't driven it yet in the kind of weather you described so I have not encountered that problem. The street that my house is on has a dip at the curb and a big crown in the center. It picks up that crown. I'll have to experiment to to see what it does with curbs, distances, etc. You might want to have the dealer check out why it's not disengaging at > 11 mph.

 

Mine turns off exactly at 15mph in drive. Front display stays on when in reverse as you can still hit something on teh side front when backing out. Pretty good so far. no problems. My display shows the first bar at about 2 to 2.5 feet. Full Bars at around 10 inches.

 

Do people actually find Parktronic useful? I've never had a problem parking any of my cars. I know where they start and end, and have always had a good feel for any car I've driven more than a few times. I'd prefer if it warned OTHER drivers when they were close to hitting MY car. Possibly spray some orange spray paint or pepper spray at the idiots that actually make contact.

 

There's a graphic in the owner's manual which shows the system envelope front and rear.

With the 10" high flower bed wall at the end of my driveway, the first light went on at about 30".

I have been driving for many years without it but it's one of these things that once you start using it, you wonder how you got along without it.

 

I agrree as well. Don't really need it but helpful definitly. I probably will always make sure this option is in my future cars now.

 

I agree with Sunman. I didn't really want Parktronic at first. My car ended up having it and now I will never not have it as an option again.

 

Like all neat tech inventions, its not something you would miss if you never had it at all, but it is a real help and it allows you to be a little lazy when in a parking situation.

...an nice "luxury car add-on"