When I was looking for a reverse camera I bought from suppliers who either described the cameras as NTSC or NTSC / PAL.
I got exactly the same symptoms as you describe on each camera, sent them all back. From my experience you need an NTSC only camera . I eventually found a supplier who was able to test the output of the various cameras and bought a dedicated NTSC camera. Worked straight off.

Thanks.
Can you remember who your supplier was as most of those cameras advertised show PAL/NTSC ?
Can you not alter the settings in the SatNav screen to a different format ?
Thanks
David

These are the people I got my camera from, worth having a word with.

https://www.vtstore.co.uk/

As far as I am aware the BMW based system will only take NTSC cameras, I couldn't find anything to change in the monitor settings.

Thanks. I've contacted them and await their reply......a tad frustrating that their cameras are up to 4 times as much as ones on Fleabay but if they work first time it's money well spent....
David

^^ Wot he said
Sorry forgot to say NTSC only  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

This is a reasonable camera, had it on my Shogun

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproof-170-A...566ddcf422 Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

I took the plunge and got a wireless kit and camera. I hooked it up to a power supply to test it and was pleasantly surprised so I hooked it up to the car. I fixed the camera to the tow bracket next to the 13 pin socket and angled it towards the tow hook. I shoved the wireless unit up bahind the bumper for now and ran the wires under the tailgate and rigged a temp supply of the 12v socket.

Now I know it works I'm going to seal the unit and secure it then get another 13 pin plug and wire that so I can just plug in for power without anything going inside the car. Once I'm towing I'll just swap plugs as I won't need it while the van is on the back.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371279300593?_tr...EBIDX%3AIT


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181362627247?_tr...EBIDX%3AIT

This is the view taken on my iphone via the free app. I'm not sure about the mirrored image but it works great, you can just see my towball cover on the right edge of the shot.

I've now wired this to a 13pin plug and it's plug in to the tow socket and runs on a switched live so it's always on when driving if I want it and everything is outside the car.

The free app for viewing also lets you take stills and video.

The replacement camera arrived today and it works !!! So it's now installed in the same position as the incorrectly supplied PAL camera, in the bumper directly behind the towball.
The camera is very discrete and the image shows the top of my tow ball (with chrome cover fitted at present).

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

That looks good, did you drill it into the trim on the bottom of the bumper? I looked at similar cameras but didn't want to have to cut into anything in case I messed it up.

Yes. It comes with a drill mounted hole cutter but the hole needed enlarging very slightly. That part of the trim is actually double skinned and so was a bit fiddly to drill through. If it had been unsuccessful, I was going to fill the hole with a rubber grommet.

The working camera that's now fitted was easier to fit than the first one as the wiring (on the working one) includes a very slim connector which was much easier to pass through the bumper and then the rectangular (with rounded corners) grommet that has the wiring for the towball socket.

Thought I'd add my experience to this post. I wanted a camera that would help line up the tow bar, and would also be of use when reversing up to walls etc.

I bought this camera from eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171914258279?_tr...EBIDX%3AIT

I looked at the number plate lamp replacement camera's and had one delivered, but it wasn't working and I really didn't like the blue light colour (which was significantly dimmer than the standard bulb), so it went back.

I decided to fit the more universal camera to the right of the number plate lamp/handle unit:

I used the feed from the reversing lamps to power the camera, as I only wanted it on when going backwards plus you need a feed from the lamps to opperate the relay to switch the nav screen... I just sent the + light feed to the relay and the camera at the same time, I haven't had a problem with this arrangement in the 2 years that I have been running it  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Is the power from reverse lamps enough to power the camera? I tested by connecting the camera power wire to the white yellow wire going into lower hatch and the earth to the brown wire but Eonon unit doesn't switch to camera when I select the reverse gear. The Eonon unit knows the reverse gear is selected because of the Canbus decoder and doesn't have to be triggered from the reverse lamps as far I know.

is there a back up / reverse lamp wire in the connector at the head unit?

And have you got the right wire? I seam to remember it was white with a yellow stripe..... did you test it with a multi meter or light bulb??

And there is more than enough power for the camera.. in fact enough to power an LCD screen too  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!