I fitted the Parking Dynamics kit
Ok, To begin with I purchased the PD kit with the vision sensor from Parking Dynamics e bay site which made the kit a little cheaper in full knowledge that it came without any retailing packaging or frills.
The item was delivered promply in a strong padded envelope which when opened contained a kit with 3 pages of instructions within a plastic bag.
I will admit at this point to being a little concerned as the antenna tape appeared to be little more than a small role of silvertape of about 10mm in width.
Yesterday being good weather I went for fitting, reading the instructions indicated a short length of 2 core cable to be placed between the control unit (ECU) and the antenna although this had to be fitted to 1 small spade terminal, since placing two separate wires together seemed incorrect I telephoned the manufacturer & got an answerphone; I left no message yet within minutes a very helpful person returned my call asking if he could assist me ( he must have used 1471), he assured me that it was correct to screw the two wires together & fit into the spade terminal.
Great so out to the car (W203 Sports Coupe) where I removed the rear bumper infill strips by unscrewing a single screw to the rear of the wheel arch and carefully removed the plastic clip retained panels easy & took only a few minutes.
I mounted the ECU in the o/s back arch just 6" away fro a good earthing point & fed the short length of cable through a grommet & existing hole in the bumper. Then I cleaned the rear of the infill panel strip & applied the tape to the o/s panel & centre rear panel leaving a reasonable amount of tape for the n/s panel. I then covered the narrow silver tape with 2" black gaffer tape for added security before refitting & insulating the single spade terminal with insulating tape. I refitted all infill panels & connected the ECU to the nearby earth point & o/s reversing light cable, placed the display unit on the parcel shelf & tried it out. At this point it didn't work & I checked all the connections again I telephoned the help line & again spoke the friendly fellow whose name I learn to be Ian, it transpired to be my simple fault in that the long cable that fits between the ECU & display unit was still wound up in bundle & once unwound & straighten out it worked well.
This part of the job turned out to the be simple & took roughly an hour.
It took almost as long to thread the cable under the carpets into the front car, the instructions recommend fitting the display unit above the rear view mirror ( MB int light prevents this) so I decided to fit the display in the cubby hole beneath the radio and it took almost an hour to remove the centre dashboard panel & drill a small hole for the cable to the display.
At this point a can of Boddingtons assisted in easing my frayed nerves & the dashboard went back easily & the display unit stuck with the cubby hole.
On testing the unit worked well with clear lights & fairly loud bleep, I tested by reversing towards my neighbours wrought iron driveway gates success! I reversed towards my neighbours car again success! & finally it picked up a stone statue placed on my driveway.
In conclusion,
My need to telephone the help line was entirely down to my easily made mistake & not due the product or manufacturer.
The Parking Dynamics electromagnetic system works well without the need to drill the bumper. The kit arrived quickly including instructions and an additional roll of tape should you need it, Ian who answered my enquires on the help line was very pleasant & extremely helpful, & the kit was easy & quick to fit.
Without doubt the most time consuming part was threading the cable to the display unit to the dash board, if I were to buy another unit from Parking Dynamics I would most likely opt for the cheaper option of having just a warning bleeper which could be fitted quickly in the back of the car without the need to lift carpets & remove dashboard panels.
Yes I would buy another kit & attached are some photos taken of the unit & method used to fit.
Dave
Last edited by Dave Richardson : Today at 12:55 PM.
Ok, To begin with I purchased the PD kit with the vision sensor from Parking Dynamics e bay site which made the kit a little cheaper in full knowledge that it came without any retailing packaging or frills.
The item was delivered promply in a strong padded envelope which when opened contained a kit with 3 pages of instructions within a plastic bag.
I will admit at this point to being a little concerned as the antenna tape appeared to be little more than a small role of silvertape of about 10mm in width.
Yesterday being good weather I went for fitting, reading the instructions indicated a short length of 2 core cable to be placed between the control unit (ECU) and the antenna although this had to be fitted to 1 small spade terminal, since placing two separate wires together seemed incorrect I telephoned the manufacturer & got an answerphone; I left no message yet within minutes a very helpful person returned my call asking if he could assist me ( he must have used 1471), he assured me that it was correct to screw the two wires together & fit into the spade terminal.
Great so out to the car (W203 Sports Coupe) where I removed the rear bumper infill strips by unscrewing a single screw to the rear of the wheel arch and carefully removed the plastic clip retained panels easy & took only a few minutes.
I mounted the ECU in the o/s back arch just 6" away fro a good earthing point & fed the short length of cable through a grommet & existing hole in the bumper. Then I cleaned the rear of the infill panel strip & applied the tape to the o/s panel & centre rear panel leaving a reasonable amount of tape for the n/s panel. I then covered the narrow silver tape with 2" black gaffer tape for added security before refitting & insulating the single spade terminal with insulating tape. I refitted all infill panels & connected the ECU to the nearby earth point & o/s reversing light cable, placed the display unit on the parcel shelf & tried it out. At this point it didn't work & I checked all the connections again I telephoned the help line & again spoke the friendly fellow whose name I learn to be Ian, it transpired to be my simple fault in that the long cable that fits between the ECU & display unit was still wound up in bundle & once unwound & straighten out it worked well.
This part of the job turned out to the be simple & took roughly an hour.
It took almost as long to thread the cable under the carpets into the front car, the instructions recommend fitting the display unit above the rear view mirror ( MB int light prevents this) so I decided to fit the display in the cubby hole beneath the radio and it took almost an hour to remove the centre dashboard panel & drill a small hole for the cable to the display.
At this point a can of Boddingtons assisted in easing my frayed nerves & the dashboard went back easily & the display unit stuck with the cubby hole.
On testing the unit worked well with clear lights & fairly loud bleep, I tested by reversing towards my neighbours wrought iron driveway gates success! I reversed towards my neighbours car again success! & finally it picked up a stone statue placed on my driveway.
In conclusion,
My need to telephone the help line was entirely down to my easily made mistake & not due the product or manufacturer.
The Parking Dynamics electromagnetic system works well without the need to drill the bumper. The kit arrived quickly including instructions and an additional roll of tape should you need it, Ian who answered my enquires on the help line was very pleasant & extremely helpful, & the kit was easy & quick to fit.
Without doubt the most time consuming part was threading the cable to the display unit to the dash board, if I were to buy another unit from Parking Dynamics I would most likely opt for the cheaper option of having just a warning bleeper which could be fitted quickly in the back of the car without the need to lift carpets & remove dashboard panels.
Yes I would buy another kit & attached are some photos taken of the unit & method used to fit.
Dave
Last edited by Dave Richardson : Today at 12:55 PM.
Last edited:
