I dont think the camera is any more complicated to install than the sensors would be. I dont like that the sensors dont tell you how far you are or what it is. A steady beep means what? A foot? 2 feet? 6 inches? About to hit? Hit what? A bush? A child? garbage bag? run over a bicycle? Plus how do you know if the sensors are working? If the camera fails, you dont see anything. The sensors..... You hit it I guess? Sorry, not picking on you, I obviously feel strongly about the camera. Maybe as a supplement but I just cant see any advantages other than perhaps cost.
2012 Reverse camera instal with mirror monitor
- Thread starter Kludge
- Start date
dieseldriver
Member
For a minute there I thought you were 
I wasn't trying steer your strong belief into thinking anything otherwise, just pointing out that to me, a simple sensor will suffice for what I need. Simple sensor on my Odyssey helped out a lot, even though though it had the camera too when you shift into reverse. But, not all the cars I owned had reverse camera, some did, some did not. On my CX-9 it comes with it. But for my daily driver, I'd like to keep things simple, so to me, value add for a sensor is better than not having it, and camera is a little too much that's all.
I wasn't trying steer your strong belief into thinking anything otherwise, just pointing out that to me, a simple sensor will suffice for what I need. Simple sensor on my Odyssey helped out a lot, even though though it had the camera too when you shift into reverse. But, not all the cars I owned had reverse camera, some did, some did not. On my CX-9 it comes with it. But for my daily driver, I'd like to keep things simple, so to me, value add for a sensor is better than not having it, and camera is a little too much that's all.Im pretty stubborn, hard to point me in a different direction lol This is my first car with any sort of assist for parking. I did well without it before the 5 of course, because you learn your car after a while. That being said, the 5 is pretty hard to guess how close you are. I bumped it in the first week I owned it and that was enough for me. I will agree that anything is better than nothing and the sensors are a good choice based on budget. To each his own, there are thousands of 5's with no sensors or cameras and there are thousands with sensors and front and rear cameras in Japan. Let us know if you do sensors though!
dieseldriver
Member
Hey no worries -- I've been driving for a long time and it takes me while to get used to the "latest and greatest" technology such as backup camera -- about a decade to be exact.
This is why as soon as I picked up the M5GT, I installed the BumperDefender.com's 2" matching color bumper strips on the rear bumper. Take a look at my Avatar, it's that strip that wraps the entire rear bumper.
Wow, you had a LOT of cars!!! This is my 4th and I still own #2! I like those strips but the stormy blue metallic is hard to match, I'm a perfectionist with stuff like that. Besides that point, the first bump I got was at 3 weeks old, during the winter, when I probably wouldn't have put it on yet and the second hit was in a spot where I would not have put the strip due to the design of the bumper. I would have been cursing it didn't help lol. I wanted to get one of those full cover wrap around diapers but my wife had the car when it was hit and she would not have put it on. In fact, she got it hit twice in her possession, both times someone rubbed it while pulling out of the spot behind us. Not sure how she managed that honestly........ Its not terrible since its a dark color anyway but I live in Brooklyn, you can only worry so much about it, its inevitable.
dieseldriver
Member
Well, there were few cars that I am missing for sure, but a lot of them I bought when I was single and during the Dot.Bomb days!! It's funny how time changes things.. I keep saying to myself "I will keep this one for 10 years...." LOL but never happens. Still drooling when I see a Speed3 goes by but surely, I won't be completely happy that's for sure. I like the auto-box on the 5 and it's just so great when I'm in traffic on 287, but I do like to self-shift during those take offs and when I'm feeling a bit zealous on the open straight aways!
I gave up on trying to justify how slow this thing is, I have other vehicles if I want to go fast. When the warranty is up, I'm going to be seriously looking into a turbo kit. I really dont know why the 5 couldn't have had 180-200 HP with the new 2.5 engine, or 170-185 with the 2.3. I seriously doubt it would have affected MPG too much and it really does need it when its loaded up fully. Uh.... I think we are getting way off topic for this thread lol. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
dieseldriver
Member
Yup, me too, digressing way too much on this thread. Shh, I don't think anyone's reading this thread anyway... are they??
Turbo kit would be nice on the 5, but Mazda dropped the ball by not bringing over the same version of the 5 they sell in Europe. What I would really like to have seen is the 1.6L turbo diesel. You can have best of both of world: better fuel economy, and more torque. Plus, being that it's a turbo, it's relatively painless to remap the ECU to squeeze out another 20 to 30 ft/lb of torque out of it. But I've noticed that the Japanese are rather shy from bringing over the diesel to U.S. probably because of the liability issues with relatively small number of mechanics that understands diesel engines.
So, if I was in automotive Utopia, mainly in terms of Mazda's - I would like to have seen the current GT trim with MZR 2.3 / Skyactiv (??) that's in Speed 3, 6 speed manual tranny, power sliding doors, and the current GT trim... that would have me drool even more!
Turbo kit would be nice on the 5, but Mazda dropped the ball by not bringing over the same version of the 5 they sell in Europe. What I would really like to have seen is the 1.6L turbo diesel. You can have best of both of world: better fuel economy, and more torque. Plus, being that it's a turbo, it's relatively painless to remap the ECU to squeeze out another 20 to 30 ft/lb of torque out of it. But I've noticed that the Japanese are rather shy from bringing over the diesel to U.S. probably because of the liability issues with relatively small number of mechanics that understands diesel engines.
So, if I was in automotive Utopia, mainly in terms of Mazda's - I would like to have seen the current GT trim with MZR 2.3 / Skyactiv (??) that's in Speed 3, 6 speed manual tranny, power sliding doors, and the current GT trim... that would have me drool even more!
Lets go here anyway: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-5-wish-list-discussion&p=5836224#post5836224
Much cheaper on eBay. New 4.3 inch monitor is now available, but I wonder if the monitor is too big and blocks too much
https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
