#05 - MINI Cooper R58 Digital Rearview Mirror Retrofit

Unlike most MINIs produced under BMW, the MINI Coupé (R58) and Roadster (R59) have much more steeply raked A- and C-pillars. The view through the windshield is manageable, but rear visibility through the back window is especially poor.

Rear visibility through the original mirror is really limited. At night, the headlights of a car behind can sometimes disappear completely from view, which can make things a little unsettling. So I decided to install a digital rearview mirror with a wide-angle camera mounted on the rear window.

The installation is pretty much the same as on any other car. Remove some of the interior trim, hide the wiring neatly, connect the power to the fuse box, and that’s about it. After everything was installed, though, the image looked strangely dark, and I wondered if that was just how the camera was. Turns out I had left the protective film on the rear camera lens. I didn’t notice it until a month later while washing the car. Had a good laugh at myself. 😂