New M3 owner - Autopilot disappointment

[AndrewGR]

I wasn’t surprised when side cams were blinded by low sun but have recently had blinding with sun about 40 degrees above horizon in conditions where Mk1 eyeball would have no problem seeing.

 

[LukeT]

I see the side cams getting misted up very easily when it's cold. They should have allowed internal air past the area where they are or at least heated the glass like the windscreen cams. Sunlight easily blinds them as well. Hardly surprising I guess.

I wasn’t surprised when side cams were blinded by low sun but have recently had blinding with sun about 40 degrees above horizon in conditions where Mk1 eyeball would have no problem seeing.

These issues are very regular occurances in the winter. Add a bit of rain or spray on the road and the side cameras really struggle. Wet cold much worse than dry cold, so perhaps UK conditions are tough. Supposedly some improvement will come through software updates but I'm skeptical; hard to believe there aren't significant hardware issues.

 

[MrBadger]

Someone at Tesla told me that he 'expected a redesigned part at some point, possibly with a heater'. No info on whether this will be a retrofit. Not sure how important these cameras are to standard autopilot though other than an extra pair of eyes. When blinded, I've only noticed a loss in functionality when using NoA functionality.

 

[Durzel]

It strikes me, rather simplistically probably, that if there were a bank of cameras inside of the car, e.g. running along the top of the windscreen just below the headliner, then it wouldn't matter if one camera had condensation, or was blinded, as others could fill in the blanks?

Some of the cameras could have polarising filters as well maybe?

Just trying to make sense of why cameras are blinded so easily, whereas Mk1 eyeballs are not.

 

[AndrewGR]

Plenty of room for cameras on the front - although we have 3 already. Rather more difficult on the sides - which is where they seem to get ‘blocked or blinded’ most often. We manage to drive ok with 2 eyes. The M3 already has 8 cameras. I don’t think adding more is the answer. Condensation problems on the M3 are not limited to the cameras either.

 

[paralax]

I agree with your analysis.

I've done about 100 miles and love the car, but the adaptive cruise control is quite basic and lumpy.

It's weird given how amazing the accelerator pedal is!