Replacing a failed Auto-Dimming rear view mirror, E85
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:44 pm
Hi all,
I hope this is useful to someone. This is fairly similar to Sloth's post for a Z4M-mirror glass replacement http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... 30#p750478, but it's a bit different for a few points so bear with me...
Background - on the day of the MOT, I get into the car to find this:
You can see the fluid used to dim the mirror has 'leaked' out of the glass sandwich it's usually trapped in. I was lucky - it's leaked out of the casing and the only additional damage it has done is 'melt' the alarm indicator lens where it's run down the outside. There have been horror stories of the stuff dripping out onto the gearshift/centre console and doing all sorts of surface damage there.
Apparently this happens often when the car is left in sunlight (what, a convertible, in the sun?!) and the seal around the glass sandwich fails - leaking all the alien blood out.
So what now? As you can see in the pic, I've removed the cover from where the mirror arm attaches to the screen - it's in 2 halves and separates easily - just gently pull them apart. Then remove the mirror - it is attached to the windscreen at the top of the arm, it locates onto a metal stud bonded/integrated into the glass. Rotate the arm 'clockwise' about that top pivot point (move the whole assembly to the left and then up) and the whole thing will be released from the screen. There will be a cable that you need to unclip to totally separate the mirror from the car - be gentle and unclip the cable.
Next step: buy a mirror from ebay. I bought one for a 1 series after having no joy finding one for an E85. I would have bought the glass only from http://www.mirrorjohn.com/ but I have a lowly 3.0 and not an M, so I don't have the M mirror... at this point I should credit MirrorJohn as his website was great for helping me formulate a plan. If I had an M, I'd have bought my glass from him.
'New' on the left, 'old' on the right
Ok - so I did try the new mirror in the car to see if it'd be ok - I mean, it looks almost identical, right? Nope - there is a radio receiver in the Z4 mirror that is used for the central locking/alarm, which meant I had to transplant the glass or the receiver. I chose to swap the glass and the alarm indicator lens.
Using a flat-bladed screwdriver, I gently prised the bezel off - easy to do without breaking anything if you are patient. A photo so you can see the locating lug points.
And the back of the glass looks like this. The glass is made by Magna Donnelly, which apparently are the makers of the ones that often fail in the E46 M3 - apparently BMW changed to use another manufacturer in 2007.
Detach the cable and the glass is free of the housing. Notice the sticker on the back of the housing - it says the radio receiver (the board at the bottom) operates at 433 MHz.
I did the same to the 'new' mirror, same method. The plastic housing has the same part numbers/moulding markings. Looking at the inside, the board at the bottom is different and there is no sticker on the back.
The back of the 'new' mirror glass is also very different. Looks like it's a different manufacturer and it has a completely different control board. The mirror glass appears to have been made in 2009.
The pins to connect the glass to the mirror housing look identical, the cables in the mirror housing are the same colours and sequence. I decided to chance it. I popped the 'new' glass into the 'old' housing, put it all back together and tried it in the car. It works!
It's a fair bit cheaper than buying a brand new mirror from a dealer, the 1 series mirrors seem to be a bit more common on ebay so to get one to sacrifice the glass should be just as easy.
Hope this helps!
I hope this is useful to someone. This is fairly similar to Sloth's post for a Z4M-mirror glass replacement http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... 30#p750478, but it's a bit different for a few points so bear with me...
Background - on the day of the MOT, I get into the car to find this:
You can see the fluid used to dim the mirror has 'leaked' out of the glass sandwich it's usually trapped in. I was lucky - it's leaked out of the casing and the only additional damage it has done is 'melt' the alarm indicator lens where it's run down the outside. There have been horror stories of the stuff dripping out onto the gearshift/centre console and doing all sorts of surface damage there.
Apparently this happens often when the car is left in sunlight (what, a convertible, in the sun?!) and the seal around the glass sandwich fails - leaking all the alien blood out.
So what now? As you can see in the pic, I've removed the cover from where the mirror arm attaches to the screen - it's in 2 halves and separates easily - just gently pull them apart. Then remove the mirror - it is attached to the windscreen at the top of the arm, it locates onto a metal stud bonded/integrated into the glass. Rotate the arm 'clockwise' about that top pivot point (move the whole assembly to the left and then up) and the whole thing will be released from the screen. There will be a cable that you need to unclip to totally separate the mirror from the car - be gentle and unclip the cable.
Next step: buy a mirror from ebay. I bought one for a 1 series after having no joy finding one for an E85. I would have bought the glass only from http://www.mirrorjohn.com/ but I have a lowly 3.0 and not an M, so I don't have the M mirror... at this point I should credit MirrorJohn as his website was great for helping me formulate a plan. If I had an M, I'd have bought my glass from him.
'New' on the left, 'old' on the right
Ok - so I did try the new mirror in the car to see if it'd be ok - I mean, it looks almost identical, right? Nope - there is a radio receiver in the Z4 mirror that is used for the central locking/alarm, which meant I had to transplant the glass or the receiver. I chose to swap the glass and the alarm indicator lens.
Using a flat-bladed screwdriver, I gently prised the bezel off - easy to do without breaking anything if you are patient. A photo so you can see the locating lug points.
And the back of the glass looks like this. The glass is made by Magna Donnelly, which apparently are the makers of the ones that often fail in the E46 M3 - apparently BMW changed to use another manufacturer in 2007.
Detach the cable and the glass is free of the housing. Notice the sticker on the back of the housing - it says the radio receiver (the board at the bottom) operates at 433 MHz.
I did the same to the 'new' mirror, same method. The plastic housing has the same part numbers/moulding markings. Looking at the inside, the board at the bottom is different and there is no sticker on the back.
The back of the 'new' mirror glass is also very different. Looks like it's a different manufacturer and it has a completely different control board. The mirror glass appears to have been made in 2009.
The pins to connect the glass to the mirror housing look identical, the cables in the mirror housing are the same colours and sequence. I decided to chance it. I popped the 'new' glass into the 'old' housing, put it all back together and tried it in the car. It works!
It's a fair bit cheaper than buying a brand new mirror from a dealer, the 1 series mirrors seem to be a bit more common on ebay so to get one to sacrifice the glass should be just as easy.
Hope this helps!