BMW Advanced Car Eye 2.0 and ACE 2.0 App

[mfogarty]

My car came with the BMW Car Eye 2.0 camera system and I am having a nightmare getting the wifi name to appear. The camera just sits there with the white power light on and that's it. I've tried a software reset, hardware reset (pinhole) and reformatting the memory card.
There are various posts around the web confirming these are a real job to get set up.
Has anyone had any experience troubleshooting these things successfully?

 

[Fradie]

I've just finished setting up the 3.0 Pro in my i3s.. This may not be directly related, but there is a real issue with the ACE Wifi & phone connection (iPhone in my case) when the phone is also connected via CarPlay. I have to go into the drive menu under 'Manage Mobile Devices' & change it from CarPlay to BMW Bluetooth connected before it pics up the ACE Wifi... Oddly enough it is fine if I'm on my home Wifi while in the car, it will just drop that connection & pickup the ACE wifi.. see if this helps any...

 

[mfogarty]

I've just finished setting up the 3.0 Pro in my i3s.. This may not be directly related, but there is a real issue with the ACE Wifi & phone connection (iPhone in my case) when the phone is also connected via CarPlay. I have to go into the drive menu under 'Manage Mobile Devices' & change it from CarPlay to BMW Bluetooth connected before it pics up the ACE Wifi... Oddly enough it is fine if I'm on my home Wifi while in the car, it will just drop that connection & pickup the ACE wifi.. see if this helps any...

Thanks. I'll give it a whirl but I'm pretty sure I've tried this in the past. I've tried so many things to get this working over the past month.

 

[mfogarty]

No luck with turning off CarPlay. Shame if I need to remove it all as it's all wired in to the car and hidden behind trunking.

 

[Fradie]

Damn.. only other thing I can think of -that you’ve probably already tried… do a hard re-start of your phone?! And maybe before you unwire it all, disconnect the ACE from power for 10 min & reconnect. Good luck!

 

[mfogarty]

Thanks, first thing I did was a hard reset and that did nothing really. I found some other advice which was format the card and then wait a few days and it then starts recording. It has then created the file system on the card. I then have to copy a firmware file across to the card but not put it back in until it asks for the card, it should then update the firmware and then the WiFi activates. I'm current at the stage of waiting for it to ask for the card.

We'll see what happens and I'll report back if it works so it may helps others.

 

[Fradie]

Thanks, first thing I did was a hard reset and that did nothing really. I found some other advice which was format the card and then wait a few days and it then starts recording. It has then created the file system on the card. I then have to copy a firmware file across to the card but not put it back in until it asks for the card, it should then update the firmware and then the WiFi activates. I'm current at the stage of waiting for it to ask for the card.

We'll see what happens and I'll report back if it works so it may helps others.

Wow… that’s involved. You’re gone deep into it for sure. Have you tried the support email for ACE? I think it goes off to Thinkware maybe. They may have some ideas also. I emailed them about install instructions for the ACE 3.0 Pro - they did come back to me, if only to tell me they don’t provide this information & to go to my dealer. So not overly helpful, but it is their “support” email. You need support!!
([email protected])

 

[mfogarty]

Thanks for this, I will email them and report back.

 

[mfogarty]

No joy with Ace email support - they said they only support 3.0 not 2.0 - even though I told them about my experience with a local BMW dealer not wanting to help at all until I gave them some money for a service, they advised me to go to a local BMW dealer. The search continues..

 

[Fradie]

Ugh.. that’s frustrating.. you’d think they could at least suggest something to try. Do you service at BMW? Maybe make it their problem?! It is a BMW branded product.

 

[mfogarty]

Ugh.. that’s frustrating.. you’d think they could at least suggest something to try. Do you service at BMW? Maybe make it their problem?! It is a BMW branded product.

I don't, no. I use a local chap that I've used for a good few years on all my cars.

Until I get this sorted, I've now got another dashcam in place as I really need something sooner rather than later.

I do appreciate your replies on this.

 

[Joshua266]

Ugh.. that’s frustrating.. you’d think they could at least suggest something to try. Do you service at BMW? Maybe make it their problem?! It is a BMW branded product.

When you purchase a branded product like a BMW and you don't receive the assistance you expect, it can be very annoying. It could be a good idea to take it to a BMW service center; they should stand behind their products and may be able to provide a replacement or remedy. Worth trying!

 

[BL5]

When you use Apple CarPlay wireless connection it shuts down the WiFi radio on the iPhone. Therefore, you cannot activate a personal hotspot or use WiFi. Due to this limitation, I only use WIRED CarPlay on my aftermarket CarPlay setup in 2017 REx.

Good to know ACE 3.0 works on i3. I was under the impression the OEM BMW camera system would not work on i3. Might have to find one.

 

[mfogarty]

When you purchase a branded product like a BMW and you don't receive the assistance you expect, it can be very annoying. It could be a good idea to take it to a BMW service center; they should stand behind their products and may be able to provide a replacement or remedy. Worth trying!

Since my last post, I have popped in to a BMW service centre and they want to charge me to just investigate the issue. I walked away and since then I've bought a new dashcam which has been perfect. I'll leave the troublesome camera in place though in case a solution comes up in the future.

 

[yschimke]

I had similar problems when I tried swapping in a different SD card. The original SD card seems to have a lot of critical files on it, which the new one didn't. After switching back it works again.

I couldn't get the two reset options working

1) pressing and holding the reset button on the right of the bottom
2) pressing and holding the microphone and power buttons

 

[airman2482]

The ACE 3.0 works great compared to the 2.0.

I got frustrated with the older unit and “ripped it out”. I removed the fuse block, removed the wiring and noticed the ignition and battery lines were not installed properly.

The dealer owed me some favors and a newer tech installed the unit a couple of years ago.

The 2.0 was giving me intermittent problems, so I thought the 2.0 was the problem. It wasn’t, but it didn’t really work consistently anyway, so I bought a 3.0 front and back unit kit. No install instructions are included because it’s not meant to be installed by anyone other than a stealership for 3.0 hours flat rate on top of the cost of the kit.

I have the BMW install instructions for the 3.0 unit.

Even though Thinkware does manufacture the unit, they won’t help you since it’s made for BMW only.

If you’ll notice in the install instructions, the unit isn’t warranted by BMW unless it’s installed by the dealer (it’s a condition of sale - if you don’t agree then you have to return it within 30 days, otherwise you’re on your own)

I installed it anyway, it was a “breeze” (if you understand how to disassemble the fuse block and electrical harnesses and trim to make it look like a “factory install”)

If someone needs the ACE 3.0 factory install instructions, PM me and I’ll figure out how to get the PDF to you.

 

[mfogarty]

I had similar problems when I tried swapping in a different SD card. The original SD card seems to have a lot of critical files on it, which the new one didn't. After switching back it works again.

I couldn't get the two reset options working

1) pressing and holding the reset button on the right of the bottom
2) pressing and holding the microphone and power buttons

Yep, very frustrating. Mine never resets properly and does not give the reset beeps that I've seen on a YouTube video.

I have recently tried an 'MLC' 32GB micro SD card as apparent that is the type of card that comes with the unit originally and I have been getting better results but again, not consistent.

It formatted itself in the unit and all the usual system files are present. I just get the 'recording started' voice randomly and when I check the recordings, sometimes they are there but not always.