npa201

Hello All,

Yesterday, I bought a 2015 C-300 w/ premium packaging, panaramic roof, upgraded sound, and heated front seats. It has the smaller screen and is pre-wired for NAV (but they didn't have any SD cards in at the time). It was a last minute purchase to take advantage of end of year sales and to be honest I had been set on purchasing a BMW 3-series all along and yet the C-300 surprised me enough to buy one (we had bought an X5 a year earlier). This is mostly going to be used as a commuter car to a train station so I didn't want to go overboard with the car and any new car was an upgrade for me (except for size) since my prior car was a 1999 GS300 RWD (last year's winter was the final straw!).

Anyway, in my haste of purchasing a car all within 24 hours I didn't check out most of the options. I opted for no rear view camera as my previous car didn't have it and the C-300 is a smaller car. Same goes with parking assists. I figured, I drive the same 10 miles everyday and we will use the X-5 for any long distance driving. Now I'm starting to regret that decision after pulling into my somewhat tight garage last night and is perpendicular to the street. I started thinking about the long winters when I need to pull out and there is a mountain of snow that has been plowed up and would just back my prior car up to it until it hit the rear bumper. My question to those in the know:

-Given my package, is the new C-class modular in design that a rear-view camera can be added onto the car? And is it super expensive after the fact (the option when ordering was only $500)?
-Are there any other options that would be simple to retrofit similar to the nav system?

Thanks for the help in advance.

vic viper

Rear view as well as the two different navigation systems are pretty easy to retrofit, however it doesnt come cheap, I havnt looked into it in detail, but the camera alone will most likely cost $500, plus wiring harness and labour.

npa201

Thanks for your reply. Maybe I'll call the dealership. Is the rule of thumb to double the part cost to get to the total cost (So $1000)?.

vic viper

Depends on the equipment being retrofitted, if you wanted to retrofit Airmatic for instance it would cost almost 8-10x the factory option cost.

npa201

Wow. I'm gonna keep it simple. Do you recommend getting this detailed in its first week ahead of the winter? I know its just a stock model and not some souped up order like some others on here but I do intend to keep this for at least 10 years. Thanks for the help!

Capt Slo

I'm having my dealer install one, we're just waiting for the parts to arrive.

They're doing it free of charge since the car they located for me was supposed to have the camera but when it arrived it did not have the option.

npa201

Weird. I spoke to the sales guy and he spoke to the service dept and they said that at this point in time they couldn't do it. I wonder if I should give them another call (and speak directly with service) or call another dealership. The sales guy was actually saying that there is an auto body place they use that does after market install of 3rd party kits but typically that is for an older car as this could create warranty issues (as it would be sharing the same power as other components). Not sure if this guy is just giving me the runaround.

Capt Slo

Yeah, this is coming form a third party vendor that the dealer knows and trusts to do the work. I'll update your thread once it's been installed.

vic viper

You mean that you are retrofitting an aftermarket rear view camera system?

Capt Slo

Yes, that's what they tell me. I've used the company they're trusting to do the work for some car audio work in the past so I'm not too woried.

vic viper

I wouldnt accept nothong other then a OE retrofit.


Remember that with OE parts you will get parts carfully selected for the vehicle, no risk of interference and incompability issues


The OE camera folds out when reverse gear is engaged and then retracts.


OE camera system will give you "position lines" on the screen of the cars predicted path while turning the wheel.

npa201

Hi Vic Viper,

The dealership that I bought it said told me they are unable to do those types of retrofits at the time. I should have inquired further if they literally meant they have no parts right now or there are no plans to do those types of jobs. Are there some dealership service centers that would be able to do those jobs? How would I even go about figuring out who can do this?

ZE_PDX

How did this turn out? I'm in the same situation and trying to figure out how to get the camera installed.

LAC300

If they can't do an OE retrofit I'd just deal with missing the option. Mine doesn't have it and its frustrating as it has things I don't need (like a rear spoiler and wheel locks) which cost the same as the camera, but when you buy from inventory to get a great deal it happens. Eventually the US will likely mandate cameras for all cars so it shouldn't be a problem in the future, but it's certainly something I miss from previous cars (especially since the nanny car slams into park if you try and open the door while driving slow (which I how I backup without a camera when parking))

Royce118

I'm on the same dilemma as well only difference being me on the w212. One of the safest way which crossed my mind is to install the Blackvue DG750 or something like that. Since it comes with a dual view camera and taking into consideration that the screen is built onto the front camera, I can always use the rear camera to act as a reversing camera. Of course, this option doesn't give you the fancy parking lines guidance but I think this is the best option I can think of. Can anyone chime in on whether this option would work?