[SteveAus]

I have just had ACE 2.0 front and rear dashcams fitted to my car.

After a multi hour electrical test on my car and all its various systems, I was advised by the Dealer to take out the BlackVue dashcams as they were causing numerous “wake up” moments when the car was parked for 2-3 weeks at a time. This, in turn, caused my battery to run down very low, resulting in my sunroof loosing its end point settings and failing to close or failing to open.

I will install the Blackvue dashcams in my Golf TDI…..perfect recycling!

Right. That’s the background story, now to my questions….
1. Does anyone else have ACE 2.0 dashcams installed?
2. Do you use a file viewer? If so, what do you use to view the .AVI files that are generated by ACE 2.0?

I can view each individual file in Windows Media Player, but cannot work out how to view multiple files in sequence.

BMW, in its infinite wisdom, has failed to supply a multi file viewer for its own dashcams…….It supplies a USB/SD card adapter to transfer the files to a PC, but doesn’t supply the viewer. Incredible!! What were they thinking?

By the way, the cameras are seriously “fugly”, and 2-3 times bigger than the Blackvue, but the video quality is very good (1920 x 1080).
Each camera is fitted with a G sensor and its own radar. These are particularly useful in parking mode. If someone or a car comes near your parked car, the cameras are activated and record a video starting 10 seconds before the event.
If the car will be parked for extensive periods, the cameras will progressively shut down the radar and then the G sensor depending on the state of charge of the battery. The SoC will always be sufficient to start the car.

[yaholez]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

I have just had ACE 2.0 front and rear dashcams fitted to my car.

After a multi hour electrical test on my car and all its various systems, I was advised by the Dealer to take out the BlackVue dashcams as they were causing numerous “wake up” moments when the car was parked for 2-3 weeks at a time. This, in turn, caused my battery to run down very low, resulting in my sunroof loosing its end point settings and failing to close or failing to open.

I will install the Blackvue dashcams in my Golf TDI…..perfect recycling!

Right. That’s the background story, now to my questions….
1. Does anyone else have ACE 2.0 dashcams installed?
2. Do you use a file viewer? If so, what do you use to view the .AVI files that are generated by ACE 2.0?

I can view each individual file in Windows Media Player, but cannot work out how to view multiple files in sequence.

BMW, in its infinite wisdom, has failed to supply a multi file viewer for its own dashcams…….It supplies a USB/SD card adapter to transfer the files to a PC, but doesn’t supply the viewer. Incredible!! What were they thinking?

By the way, the cameras are seriously “fugly”, and 2-3 times bigger than the Blackvue, but the video quality is very good (1920 x 1080).
Each camera is fitted with a G sensor and its own radar. These are particularly useful in parking mode. If someone or a car comes near your parked car, the cameras are activated and record a video starting 10 seconds before the event.
If the car will be parked for extensive periods, the cameras will progressively shut down the radar and then the G sensor depending on the state of charge of the battery. The SoC will always be sufficient to start the car.

You can use VLC Player to view the files.

I had an extremely bad experience with the ACE cameras. They are now extremely old technology and the quality of recording is atrocious.

I would strongly reconsider, if the BlackVue cameras are wired properly you shouldn't have any issues.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by yaholez

You can use VLC Player to view the files.

I had an extremely bad experience with the ACE cameras. They are now extremely old technology and the quality of recording is atrocious.

I would strongly reconsider, if the BlackVue cameras are wired properly you shouldn't have any issues.

What problems did you have with ACE 2.0?

I had my Blackvue wired to a Neo battery so the car was only charging the battery (from the 12v supply fuse). How would you suggest wiring the BlackVue to negate any issues?

[achk]

I second using a separate battery for parking mode in cars with complex electronics - and looks like you are. So I can't see that would cause a battery drainage. Whilst I didn't install a dashcam in the 3 series (the built in drive recorder serves my purpose) - I have a blackvue wired up with the the blackvue battery in the Audi Q7. No issues so far.

[achk]

I looked into the spec of the BMW dashcam (ACE 2.0) at the time of my car purchase in 2019 and thought then that the tech was outdated and not worth what they are charging for.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by achk

I looked into the spec of the BMW dashcam (ACE 2.0) at the time of my car purchase in 2019 and thought then that the tech was outdated and not worth what they are charging for.

Yep, I agree….yesterday’s technology, tomorrow.

The only reason I put in ACE 2.0 was to future proof problems with my sunroof that I envisage will reoccur after the warranty period of the car runs out.
Even though I was not convinced with BMW’s conclusions that the BlackVue dashcams were causing the battery discharge while parked for a couple of weeks, I have done everything that BMW has suggested and they have agreed with me to honour any future problems with the sunroof.

[NoSUV4Me]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Yep, I agree….yesterday's technology, tomorrow.

The only reason I put in ACE 2.0 was to future proof problems with my sunroof that I envisage will reoccur after the warranty period of the car runs out.
Even though I was not convinced with BMW's conclusions that the BlackVue dashcams were causing the battery discharge while parked for a couple of weeks, I have done everything that BMW has suggested and they have agreed with me to honour any future problems with the sunroof.

How r u finding the ACE 2

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by NoSUV4Me

How r u finding the ACE 2

I haven’t had the ACE 2.0 for very long (only a couple of weeks), but it seems to be doing it’s job. The camera is predominantly hidden from the drivers view, but is somewhat in your face for the passenger. Let’s face it, the ACE is a big “fugly” unit.
Video quality is OK, but not as good as the BlackVue 900S-2CH. Of note, recognition of number plates is not as crisp.

The ACE App is pretty quirky and ease of use is no where close to the BlackVue App. It is much more complicated to view and download video to your phone.

The BlackVue viewer for PC is very good. The BMW Viewer for ACE is rubbish in comparison. It was an absolute pain in the ass to download and install. I had to download the file from three sources and the only way to get it running was to install the programme on top of a prior installation as a “repair”. Really BMW??? Come on, get your collective act together!
Once running, the BMW Viewer shows both front and rear cams individually or both together on the same computer screen, but there is no way to zoom in. Also, the GPS map is total rubbish and incredibly slow to update while playing the video.
It appears that many other ACE users are running VLC Player. This works kind of ok, but each file has to be viewed individually and you have to make a few additional mouse clicks to open the rear camera. No GPS map available, obviously. Definitely, a long way from the BlackVue Viewer.

On the car battery front, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ASS was still working after the car had been parked for a week, given the electrical complexity of the G20 M340. This was not the case when I had the BlackVue and Neo battery installed in the car. Also, parking mode recording only occurs when the radar or G-sensor are activated. This has to save battery life, especially when parked in a garage .

I had a 128 GB micro SD card in the BlackVue which provides ample time for driving and parking recordings, but the 32 GB micro SD card in the ACE allows a recording time of only a few hours while driving. Ideally, I would like to install a 128 GB SD card, but I cannot find out if the ACE could use a card of this size, or even if it could format the card.
I have been trawling the “InterWeb” for information on what brand of MLC V10 30 M-SD I can put in the ACE, but have come up with Zip at the moment. I might have to experiment with the 128 GB BlackVue card, which is also a MLC V10 30 card.

On the plus side, I’ve installed the BlackVue dashcams in the VW Golf, and they work perfectly, and the App is soooo easy to use! And the ASS still works perfectly, unlike the Beemer.

Apologies for the length of this post, hope you read it just before you wanted to go to sleep.

[Chilled]

SteveAus

Did you find out what the blackvue was doing to wake up the car? To me it sounds like someone f-ed up the install. When i got my X, it previously had some el-chepo autobarn special and the numpties electric taped the power/rear channel cables to the side aribags.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by Chilled

SteveAus

Did you find out what the blackvue was doing to wake up the car? To me it sounds like someone f-ed up the install. When i got my X, it previously had some el-chepo autobarn special and the numpties electric taped the power/rear channel cables to the side aribags.

Oooh! That’s a nasty install you had. Not very safe at all. What were they thinking???? Good job you found out about it.

I’m still not entirely sure why the BlackVue was causing the car to wake up, but you have to understand that the car is parked for 2 weeks at a time every month (I’m sure different to the way most people use their cars), and these cars are so electrically complex that they check various systems so often when parked that one of the system checks may have been the 12v accessory circuit, which would have started to add electrical power to the Neo battery until the circuit shuts down again. Should the car be used as a daily drive, this problem would not have occurred, and the car battery would not have drained.

[Chilled]

Interesting, I have to figure out how to log with ISTA and see what mine is doing. More so out of curiosity. I also have a Neo, mine is tapped onto the rear cig or heated seats. Cant remember.

Mines in the same boat, it gets driven once a fortnight or even once a month. I didn't have any issues with it but, after a couple of months did decide to put in on a charger whilst she's parked.

I ended up going with the Thinkware's U1000 because it fits nicely next to the mirror housing and looks kind of factory/stelf. Plus when I was originally looking for a dashcam, the DR900s where known for overheating and the X/gen2s weren't out.

[sjb993]

OP - are you still looking for an ACE 2.0 viewer?

If so, here's a YouTube clip showing how to download the purpose-built viewer - although it only runs on Windows PCs. I used it to view ACE 2.0 clips from the cameras I had in my 2 previous BMWs. In my opinion, it is much better than VLC for ACE 2.0 clips.

I used to have a direct link to the download, but I lost that when I moved from Windows to Mac (and therefore had to switch to VLC). The method shown in the video clip seems long-winded, but it looks as though it works.

Just had ACE 3.0 front and back cameras fitted to my M340i. That produces MP4 files, so no problems viewing them.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by sjb993

OP - are you still looking for an ACE 2.0 viewer?

If so, here's a YouTube clip showing how to download the purpose-built viewer - although it only runs on Windows PCs. I used it to view ACE 2.0 clips from the cameras I had in my 2 previous BMWs. In my opinion, it is much better than VLC for ACE 2.0 clips.

I used to have a direct link to the download, but I lost that when I moved from Windows to Mac (and therefore had to switch to VLC). The method shown in the video clip seems long-winded, but it looks as though it works.

Just had ACE 3.0 front and back cameras fitted to my M340i. That produces MP4 files, so no problems viewing them.

Yes, I have downloaded the BMW Viewer. It was quite a chore and the only way I could get it to install properly was to “repair” an installation. I agree with you that this viewer is much easier to use than the VLC Player.
I had wanted to install ACE 3.0, but two dealers told me that this would not be available in Australia for another year or two. WTF?
I fail to understand why it takes so long for BMW to service our part of the world.

How do you find ACE 3.0 compared with ACE 2.0? Is it much better?
What viewer do you use with ACE 3.0?

[sjb993]

I have the basic 3.0, not the Pro version which has a built in viewing screen. In terms of functionality it is very similar to the 2.0 version - which is fine by me. Video quality is fine also.

In terms of viewing, the videos are stored as MP4 files (separate files for front and rear), not like the multi-layer AVI files that 2.0 used, and which were a pain to playback unless you had the custom viewer. Just about any video player will handle the MP4s.

The 2.0 was made by a German company for BMW, I was therefore surprised to see on a label on the 3.0 that it was made by Thinkware. I was using VLC to view the files, and it occurred to me that perhaps Thinkware had their own viewer, and if so maybe it would handle the 3.0 files. They do have a custom viewer and it’s happy with the 3.0 files. It’s very like the 2.0 custom viewer, which I think is very good - it shows front and rear camera views simultaneously, it has a map with car location overlay, etc., etc.

Here’s hoping it arrives in Oz soon.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by sjb993

I have the basic 3.0, not the Pro version which has a built in viewing screen. In terms of functionality it is very similar to the 2.0 version - which is fine by me. Video quality is fine also.

In terms of viewing, the videos are stored as MP4 files (separate files for front and rear), not like the multi-layer AVI files that 2.0 used, and which were a pain to playback unless you had the custom viewer. Just about any video player will handle the MP4s.

The 2.0 was made by a German company for BMW, I was therefore surprised to see on a label on the 3.0 that it was made by Thinkware. I was using VLC to view the files, and it occurred to me that perhaps Thinkware had their own viewer, and if so maybe it would handle the 3.0 files. They do have a custom viewer and it’s happy with the 3.0 files. It’s very like the 2.0 custom viewer, which I think is very good - it shows front and rear camera views simultaneously, it has a map with car location overlay, etc., etc.

Here’s hoping it arrives in Oz soon.

Many thanks for the run down on the 3.0.
It looks like it’s easier to view and share files than it’s predecessor.
I would have liked to have had the 3.0 installed but in the “BMW backwater of Oz”, we will all have to wait a while.