Rear view camera vs a couple of quids worth of mirrors

[randombloke]

I have a rearview camera on the r8 and had one on the a5 I had before the x6, but in all honesty the most useful thing for me has proved to be a couple of pocket-money level stick on blind-spot mirrors set to let me see the rear wheels for lateral placement combined with the acoustic parking sensor for rear/front distance.

If I had to make a choice between the camera and mirrors even without cost being an option I'd go for the mirrors.

They may not look the best, but in terms of utility - they're way up there.

[akraptor]

I don't plan to put tiny or panoramic mirrors, plenty of them, around the windshield. It makes me feel like an arrogant Daewoo taxi driver. (with a/c) The camera may look like youtube, but at least I am not driving a home decoration showroom.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by randombloke

. . .couple of pocket-money level stick on blind-spot mirrors set to let me see the rear wheels for lateral placement combined with the acoustic parking sensor for rear/front distance.

My wife's Navigator has back up sensors and great mirrors, but I can also see through the rear windows while I'm parking, so no camera is necessary.

I wouldn't trust parking the X6 w/o the rear camera.

Originally Posted by akraptor

. . .Daewoo taxi driver. (with a/c) The camera may look like youtube, but at least I am not driving a home decoration showroom.

Funny

[randombloke]

I don't plan to put tiny or panoramic mirrors, plenty of them, around the windshield. It makes me feel like an arrogant Daewoo taxi driver. (with a/c) The camera may look like youtube, but at least I am not driving a home decoration showroom.

not quite sure what you thought I was talking about with that, but here's a pic. I can't quite wrap my head around the idea that you'd be happy driving around in something as big and obvious as an x6 but a 4cm round mirror is a step too far for you!

I wouldn't rely on just these mirrors - it's the combo of them and the acoustic park sensors that work better for me.

[teagueAMX]

If that works for you, go for it. It certainly doesn't look excessive.

[BaNaNaBoy69]

I have both the blind spot mirrors, PDC and back up camera.

The blind spot mirrors are more useful for switching lanes in traffic than backing up or parking. The regular sideview mirrors work fine for that purpose, especially when you use the automatic passenger side mirror tilt function next to a curb.

Backing up or parking with PDC is great, even better with the camera. I think it's better to have it than not, if you can afford it. The one thing that PDC and any amount of mirrors can't do that the camera can is see if you car about to run over a small child behind your vehicle of which you have zero visibility or sight lines. The camera can see more directly behind your vehicle than if you turned your head 180 degrees. Especially with such a high, small rear window in the X6.

[dmlgc]

when I first read this I thought I paid $85k so I can paste some small mirrors on it. After seeing the pic from randombloke ( thanks) I have to agree they don't look bad at all. I am trying to image what extra view this will give me, guess I would have to see what else I can see using them. but "the camera can is see if you car is about to run over a small child behind your vehicle" is really true. So both might be a good idea. Since the mirrors look like they are stick on I may try one just to see what other visibility it gives me, if I don't like taking it off should be hard.

[randombloke]

the way I have them set is so I can physically see the base of the rear tyres in the round mirrors with the normal main mirrors giving me wide lane-change visibility. The main advantage is for lateral placement, especially in very tight locations and the acoustic parking used for forward/rear distance.

I have a rear camera on my other car, but I've added these to that too and find them far more useful than the camera - but it's very much a personal thing.

for me, utility is king - lateral visual information combined with acoustic front+rear is the setup I find most natural and useful but if you are reversing a lot where there is potential for kids to run behind then I can see the benefit of putting the camera ahead and perhaps adding these as an extra rather than replacement.

not trying to be evangelical about it, but just wanted to share a solution that works well for me.