Auto dimming mirrors

[Z4good]

My auto dimming mirrors seem to be inoperable. At night when a car pulls up behind me the mirrors do not dim. All I can find in the owners manual is to make sure the photocells in the mirror are kept clean and unobstructed. Anybody have this problem, or any ideas on were I can check? It really suxs when a car pulls up and the lights are blinding me!

 

[Ski]

Dealer.. :wink:

 

[Justinitus]

Are you using the wind deflector? I find it takes my rear view mirror ages to dim if I have the deflector fitted as it seems to fool the sensor somewhat

 

[epbrown]

The dim feature doesn't work worth a damn in the Z4. IIRC, the cell is in the top of the mirror so the lights that are blinding you often aren't hitting the photocell if you're in a coupe or in a roadster with the hood up.

 

[RCNet]

I had to have the mirror replaced in my Z4M Coupe because of a remote problem. The replacement mirror was the same mirror used in the roadster. With the mirror swap, the sensor moved from the bottom of the mirror in the original mirror, to the top with the replacement mirror. The auto-dimming quit working at that point because, as has been mentioned, with the rear roofline of the coupe, the sensor never "saw" the headlights behind me. After working with my dealer to try and find a replacement M Coupe mirror with no luck, I finally decided I was going to have to solve the problem myself.

There is plenty of free space in the mirror body to relocate the sensor from the upper frame of the mirror to the clown nose. In doing such you will also have to relocate the LED slightly. All in all, it's less than an hour job and requires a little extra wire and a soldering iron. I now have the auto-dimming feature working again.

Here's my write-up on doing the modification http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2770728&postcount=37 Sorry, I didn't think of pictures until I was finished.

RCNet

 

[Wondermike]

Mmmm why would they not swap it again for the correct mirror?

 

[Hawkeye]

That's odd. I don't have any problems with mine... I guess I should just consider myself lucky

 

[Z4good]

Thanks for all the replies. I may have to check into relocating that photocell!

 

[RCNet]

Mmmm why would they not swap it again for the correct mirror?

There wasn't anything available. I have a May 06 production car and they changed the internals of the M coupe mirror in July 06. My only recourse was the mirror out of the roadster which solved the remote problem, but moved the sensor to the top of the mirror. While the oval M coupe mirror was stylish, I actually like the shape of the replacement because it better aligns my view with the shape of the rear window.

 

[Wondermike]

Ah I see cheers.