Retrofitting folding mirrors

[Cracker]

I’m looking for a break down step by step guide to fitting these into my car. Seen a few old posts about it but most end in unanswered questions.
I know some people say what’s the point but I’ve a narrow garage & they really make a difference (I had them on my last Zed)
So I’ve got the mirrors, the switch & the module.
Does the module replace another somewhere?
Is all the wiring already there?
I’m not gonna attempt it, it’s going to the local Autospark but just want as much information as possible.
I’d love a “Haynes” style guide

 

[Z4MO]

It can be done and I had it done to my car by Peter Van Der Veer based in Marsden, west yorks
Give him a call he may point you in the right direction

 

[AngryZed]

I'm in the same boat, I have the parts but need the wiring diagram. If you have a European spec car, most likely the module connector behind the fuse board is there. I have US spec and don't think I have the connector and must make my own.

Let me know how you make out, would love to get more info on this.

 

[firebobby]

I'm sure Ducklakeview did this and did a write up about it

 

[JINGLE]

I'm sure Ducklakeview did this and did a write up about it

I was with Mike 2 days ago and we tried to retro fit my power fold mirrors.... 1st stumbling block..... my car doesn’t have the module connector wired in so we couldn’t do it

We were hoping we could just plug it in and then mike to make the looms up there and then. I’m gutted as I really wanted to get them working but there’s hardly any information out there for retro fitting which is annoying. (Although we did get LOADS of other jobs done as was there all day lol)

Does anybody know of anywhere that has done the retrofit to a car that DIDNT have the module connector?

 

[AngryZed]

JINGLE - I checked my car and don't have the connector like you, the only hope was to replicate what Ron Stygar did from Bimmerfest but looks like he past on last year. He put the module above the speaker on LHD and wired it into the loom, believe it was 3 wires on driver side and sending two wires to passenger side for the mirror motor power. I have the pictures from his car if you don't already have it.

I'm looking for wiring diagrams to make my own module cabling/loom at this point.

 

[Cracker]

Brilliant to get the information of you all, like you Jingle I’ve been told I’ve no module connector.
Very interested in what your saying AngryZed, it would be great to get the pictures you have to replicate that.

 

[AngryZed]

Cracker

I don't have much unfortunately, as Ron never did a complete write up. But at least we know that it can be done with cars that don't have the connector. I believe facelift cars past 2004 didn't come with the connector (at least in the USA).

I'm looking at couple of ways on approach ;
1) power folding only with minimum wiring, like Ron did in the US. (look at the attachment, which has the pin out numbers for x257 connector, this is the connector that runs from the door to chassis.)
2) Second option is to add all of the wires to the module to gain the heated mirror, reverse tilt, dimming, key memory, speed fold etc....This would also require coding which is not a problem, you just have to add SA430, SA313 option to your VO/FA. (I have the code parameters for the mirror option settings) Again, I need the wiring diagram to verify all of these.

I have the door looms from the donor car, which was a RHD UK 2005/6 Zed, I will compare the connector wires to my car and let you know the differences.

It would be great if we can all collectively get this project rolling and complete it.

 

[Cracker]

AngryZed

Great to see these pictures & to read about a possible solution, thank you.

I agree, lets get as much information as possible to help each other out. :driving:

 

[AngryZed]

Cracker,
I just got some drawings on the module/mirror section and it seems relatively easy to integrate.
8 out of 12 wires are used from the module, 2 being power, 1 to DSC if you want speed xKph folding option and rest goes to door modules which are the window/mirror switches.

Question; I'm new in Europe and don't have much resources, do you know where we can score the connector/harness ? Not sure if this is a dealer item or not ?

 

[paulc_bkk]

Great post - I’m also interested in this as I sourced a pair of mirrors and the module during a recent trip to the UK

Mine is an October 03 build so I’m hoping most of the loom is in place, but from what I’ve read most early cars don’t have all of the wiring loom in the doors. Any tips or things to look out for?

I’ve not been able to find wire diagrams to compare yet.

 

[rally-chris]

Paul, have you ready looked at an online BMW TIS to search for the wiring diagrams?

E.g.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e85-z4-3.0i-roa/wiring-functional-info/

 

[paulc_bkk]

Hi rally-Chris, thanks for the link

I already viewed the TIS pages a while back. The diagrams didn’t seem as intuitive to follow as some that I used to follow for older cars, such as the Bentley diagrams for my old E36.

It’s going to take some piecing together to figure out, but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually.

One of my major hurdles so far has been figuring out where the module should be positioned inside the car. I think I finally figured that out, and need to examine the loom in my car to see exactly what I have and what is missing.

I’ll definitely take steps to document the process as this is one modification that doesn’t seem well documented in English

 

[paulc_bkk]

A quick update

I’ve done more research and I’m starting to piece together the next steps

I found the position that the module should be located, and I’ve test fitted it. Unfortunately I don’t have any of the wiring required so I have to create my own loom for this - I’m waiting for the plug connector from my local dealer.

Anyway, there are mount points in the bulkhead, behind the airbag, above the main body control module



I lowered the main body control module and was able to mount the mirror module as shown



Hopefully these images can help someone else visualise where this goes?

 

[9designs]

I was one of the people who was looking to retro fir them, but as I have a face lift car....... err I gave up. Just been clearing up my garage so all the parts will be in the for sale section very soon. Think I have everything, except a compatible car or time to hot wire it.

 

[AngryZed]

A quick update

I’ve done more research and I’m starting to piece together the next steps

I found the position that the module should be located, and I’ve test fitted it. Unfortunately I don’t have any of the wiring required so I have to create my own loom for this - I’m waiting for the plug connector from my local dealer.

Anyway, there are mount points in the bulkhead, behind the airbag, above the main body control module

11852902-B75A-408E-999F-772451630FE1.jpeg

I lowered the main body control module and was able to mount the mirror module as shown

06E0E18D-0168-4BC0-AB07-594292603185.jpeg

Hopefully these images can help someone else visualise where this goes?

Paulc_bkk,

I have all the parts and this has been on my to do list for a year now. The part that is holding me back is the plug connector which you refer to, that goes to the mirror module to create your own wiring. If you can tell me how you scored this plug connector from the dealer, that would be great. I believe most post 2004 cars no longer included the mirror connector for the module with the wiring harness located behind the fuse board.

 

[paulc_bkk]

Paulc_bkk,

I have all the parts and this has been on my to do list for a year now. The part that is holding me back is the plug connector which you refer to, that goes to the mirror module to create your own wiring. If you can tell me how you scored this plug connector from the dealer, that would be great. I believe most post 2004 cars no longer included the mirror connector for the module with the wiring harness located behind the fuse board.

Hi Angryzed

I’ve been in a similar position - I assembled parts and it’s been almost a year-long process.

I made notes and a loom, but that’s as far as I got until a water leak flooded my house which damaged some car stuff and my notes.

I found a photo and recreated notes just yesterday and as I have a day off work today I’m considering taking another look

Anyway, here’s a few things that I hope may help you













As well as figuring out all the wiring I needed to figure out how to make connections through the body to the door, but I recently found the following post that tackled this subject:
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12153#p49617

I created my wiring loom by breaking up a complete loom I had leftover from an E36 project, but realised I also needed some ‘male pin connectors’ to feed through the body to the door. Unfortunately I don’t remember where I got the part number for this, but it may be Rod Stygers post.



And I think that is as far as I’ve got up to now... I’ve removed interior panels and hope to have chance to look at it again either this afternoon or over the weekend.

I’m conscious of the fact this is a retrofit that isn’t very well documented so I’m trying to record as much as possible along the way so that I can price together a ‘how to guide’ that can be published in pdf so that images do not disappear like many of the photos in old posts.

Anyway, I hope this is of some help

 

[AngryZed]

Hi PaulC_Bkk,

Thank you so much for the valuable information, I agree with you on your comments and in getting this mod completed/written up. I always see posts here and on other forums looking for this information but it quickly dies out.

I have some drawings/information on the vehicle wiring, that I'm attaching along with FA/SA numbers should you wish to add to your VO. I'm going to the dealer sometime this week to see if I can purchase the plug connector. If the dealer is no go, then I will look for it in the UK or back home (US), as I'm not aware of any salvage yards here in FR.

Thanks again,

I got these SA numbers from bimmerfest, just can't remember the link
S430A Interior/outside mirror with auto dip
S313A Fold in outside mirror

E85 Vehicle electrical drawings - mirrors.
I know the attachments are hard to view, if you need pdf let me know.

 

[paulc_bkk]

That looks like the TIS diagrams and description....

My setup is for a RHD car and I don’t know what extent the LHD cars may be different, but I’m sure the TIS reference will clear things up

I made some progress this afternoon with what was the most daunting part for me - pulling the body/door plugs...

Due to strange reflections and blurriness, some PU ctures aren’t the best quality, but I’ll try to get some better ones with a proper camera tomorrow





Then I had to figure how to pull it plug back inside to make it more accessible for adding the wires - I had to remove the speaker eventually and that gave easier access - that’s a part of the process I’ve never seen documented so it was trial & error



With the plug more accessible I could see where pins 13, 14 and 15 need to go - the 3 unpopulated holes on the middle row, at the left



Blurry pic, I know but the phone camera had a hard time focusing

I fed the three wires in, and labelled them up so I can attach them to the other half of the loom - they’re the three black wires in the middle



Then I began to lose light outside and mosquitoes were circling so I called it a night....



I’ll see if I can pick up where I left off tomorrow

 

[bazza190]

I love projects like these, working out wiring etc but you must really have a real need for these things, I have these on my car and I hardly use them as they look odd when folded. I call it bunny mode as they stick up like ears.
Fair play to you and I hope you get them working.