Looking to add a reversing camera to my 2017 ND, looking online you can get a kit from MX5 things for around £100 but you can get kits from AliExpress for about £25 they look almost identical, wondering what your thoughts are on this, don’t they all come from china anyway? or is the Mx5 things a better quality item?
I don’t know what the Mazda ND reverse cameras are like quality wise from AliExpress, my Skoda fit one was great. Mine cost around £35 for the kit including delivery/tax etc fitted and works perfectly, it’s one that’s integrated into the hatch release.
If you don’t like it for quality etc on your first order they just issue a refund when you send it back.
Silly me ordered the wrong one first off, no quibble returns and they sent me the correct one later.
The kit needs to connect with a multi-pin adapter on the back of the MZD head unit.
I haven’t seen any kits on AliExpress that do this. A universal type kit that shows a connection to the reversing light won’t work.
If you add a link to the AliExpress kit I can tell you if it will work or not.
I previously manufactured a kit for this but when the MX5Parts / ILMotorsport kit became readily available at a reasonable price I couldn’t sell enough to be worth making them.
I have seen your old posts, would buy yours if available 
The ones on aliExpress appear to be identical apart from the live from the camera being unterminated so will need to be joined, soldered and heat shrunk etc, a link below
Option A looks spot on. Looks perfect.
Rather than soldering and shrinking down the power connection I’d use a pair of these.
Don’t know if you have seen my instruction sheet, I’d guess they will be more helpful than anything from China.
I fitted the mx5 parts one when I got the car a couple of years ago and it is still working fine. I have since changed the delaminated screen to an aliexpress one and that has been fine too. I like aliexpress and have been using them for a few years with any problems with items all being sorted out. They have recently got better as they now include vat in the price and delivery seems to take about a week.
Had I had the option when I got mine, I would definitely have gone for the aliexpress one as I personally doubt that there is much/any difference in the item.
thanks mate, appreciated
I get a lot of parts from AliExpress for the products I produce. As with any marketplace there are good and bad sellers so worth checking the feedback for the products you are buying.
I do try to buy from UK suppliers but have found I can get better quality at a lower price directly from China. Once I’ve found a trusted supplier I stick with them.
Worth noting this from a BBC news article this week, quotes from Rachel Reeves -
“I do understand the concerns the US has about countries around the world that run large and persistent trade surpluses with the US.”
She said the UK “is not one of those countries” so “there is a deal there to be done between the UK and the US”.
She added that she understood “the need to rebalance the global economy”.
This, in part, is why the UK announced on Wednesday a review of low-value imports coming into the UK which are “undercutting the British High Street and British retailers” she said.
This mirrors a US action, with the White House set to clamp down on deliveries under $800 - specifically those sent from China and Hong Kong - on 2 May.
It is set to close a loophole allowing low-value packages to enter the US without incurring any duties.
Could well be that we will end up paying duties in the future. That’s why I’ve decided to stock up on parts now and have just over £600 quids worth of kit on the way from China at the moment.
Looking at the price of the camera kit being talked about here It’s roughly the same price as the parts I used to produce my kit. That was several years ago so no way I could compete now.
I’ve pressed the button on the aliexpress kit, i will advise on the quality and how i get on, thanks for the replies guys
Hi there, so the kit has arrived, all looks good apart from there is a short blue un terminated wire coming from the yellow video plug, doesn’t seem to be any reference to this in the photos, any ideas? My guess is that the cable can be used with different kits and it’s not used, but only a guess, any help appreciated
Just spotted this post. I bought an Aliexpress one some time ago but only fitted it recently - I did a brief post about it. Good value for money, easy instal and works perfectly. On mine the wire you refer to was red and connected to the red wire of the twin core cable.
The extra wire is indeed used as a power wire in some kits. As your kit already has red and black leads on the adapter and the front to back cable just connect these together. Ignore the wire on the video plugs. No need to connect anything to ground (chassis).
If the system doesn’t recognise the camera after installation reboot the MZD. With the ignition on hold down the mute, nav and back arrow buttons on the centre console for around ten seconds until the screen goes blank. Wait for it to reboot and then select reverse. Image should then come up. No need to have the engine running for this, just ignition on.
thanks guys, probably install this next week, ill let you how i get on 
Hi guys,
So I went to fit this kit today, had an absolute mare tbh, bottom line is it doesn’t work, fortunately I tested it fully prior to drilling the hole for the camera, camparing my kit to Roadie instructions the harness had opposite plugs, which I don’t really see would effect things but who knows, anyway after connecting everything and resetting the infotainment system disconnecting the battery several time the cameras refused to function when reverse was selected. So I guess there’s a lesson learned😂
To insult to injury I dropped the bolt that lives under the screen behind the dash and had to removed the h shaped trim to retreve the bolt, whilst removing this I have managed to snap one of the retaining clips🙄 so that’s drying with super glue as I type, probably won’t work tbh
So all in all a bit of a disaster 
Not 100% sure what you mean by the harness having opposite plugs. Comparing your adapter with the ones I used everything looks the same, just looks like the pictures of the plug and sockets are the other way up.
The camera connector is different from the ones I used.
Either it’s a faulty lead or faulty camera.
The output from the MZD is 6 volt so should be a 6 volt NTSC camera. Not very common, I used 12 volt cameras and built a step up converter into the adapter.
