arsie

Last week I had a night-time close encounter on an unlit narrow country lane with a line of four cars coming the other way. There is room to go past but the last of the four was probably impatient and hanging out a bit ... bang - and bust off my driver's wing mirror cap and shattered the mirror. No big deal lucky really could easily have been worse I thought. No dashcam (yet) but hard to prove fault in any case.

The cost for BMW to replace is slightly over my £500 excess. The plastic cover is £44 + VAT. Bad enough but the mirror itself is £281 + VAT and fitting £70 + VAT. Their painting charge is £55 + VAT. Oo er. The mirror is heated and also made in a layer with oil filling so that it will auto dim. They changed to a nice sexy wing mirror housing with the LCI uplift but thank goodness they were constrained by the electrical loom and didn't fit direction indicators in there or it would be more expensive still ...

Bugger the auto dim after market here we come?

Well yes but the after market mirrors only come with two electrical connectors. The OEM mirror has a thin plastic connector strip with wider black (negative return), red (heating power I assume) and then lilac and orange. These last two must be control in some way. I have learned from a thread in the E90post forum (see post #11) that there is a complicated logic as to how much to heat the mirror, depending on ambient temperature and whether the wipers are going! In any case when we get mist in the UK at quite warm temperatures it is of no use whatsoever.

The after market supplier has kindly refunded my £10 and let me keep the mirror. I am thinking that for a max power of 18w so a current drain at 12v of 1.5 amps if I can just rig a switch and separate circuit that would be ok or better just run it permanently on when the engine is running. I collect the plastic part from my local dealer tomorrow and there is some minor paint work needed elsewhere from my local body shop so I can bundle the painting work in.

Thoughts welcome from the knowledgeable modern car electrical gurus on here before I visit my BMW Indy.

TIA

p.s. sorry no photos I seem to be over my limit here even after deleting some

lower

I had a similar issue with my Z4. I was able to peel the backing off the smashed mirror that contained the heating element and the fixing, did the same with the new aftermarket mirror, and then glued the aftermarket mirror onto the original backing. It works perfectly and there is minimal visible difference between the two sides.

arsie

Good idea Rich. One problem is that the flimsy flat computer connector plastic lead has snapped off, leaving a stub in the M/F connector pair that remains in the mirror housing wiring connection point and about 15mm sticking out of the busted mirror's backing. This almost becomes a job for home build computer circuit repair techies!

lovegroova

It's a nice car. I'd keep it that and pony up the cash for a proper item, especially with the complicated software on BMWs these days.

Fitting an incorrect mirror will probably cause significant engine damage, or something

martin j

Is it possible that because of the auto dim facility the heating element needs complex control? So if you use the aftermarketmirror glass that has no autOdin you could simply use the red/black leads to heat the element?

arsie

That is one side of my mind on this LG. But it won't be software most likely sensors and linear resistance values. The other side is that north of £300 is ridiculous money and just plain ridiculous. My ubderstanding is that the auto dim is pure static chemo optical work and the rumour that I have of controlled heating - over complication if ever I heard it - is just typical thinking in the German world of gratuitous over complication. At the moment I am minded to just have the mirror heated full wack while the engine is running, end of story.

Will see what the Indy boy says later this week.

Nottm_S2

Torch it and claim insurance

this has one which specifically excludes your car and another which fits

for 300 dollars!

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/BMW...77-bmw-mirrors

fit what you have, don't wire it and forget

It looks like they are electric and hooked to your rear view where the sensor is. It's a FRED, refer to my first answer

unclefester

A pair used for £200 for when some clown hits the other side?

BMW M3 M4 F80 F82 F83 OEM Mirror glass SET LH RH Heating & Dimming | eBay

Or you just bite the bullet, accept it's part of the cost of ownership and move on.

FWIW i always fold in the mirrors on the Jazz when i know it's a narrow bit of road, they stick out like something you'd find on Dumbo and are asking to be smacked off.

arsie

Thanks for the FRED info Nottm. As it lives in the garage the heating function is rarely needed I suppose.
Good thinking UF re Dumbo
but those mirrors are for the new M3/M4 not the E90 E92 E93. A subtly different shape slightly less pointy.

unclefester

BMW E90/ E91/ E92/ E93 OEM Genuine Mirror Glass Heating & Dimming 2005-2008 year | eBay

Can't work out if a pair or ..... i guess this would be classed as handling stolen goods as they probably came off a UK car stolen and then 'exported' .....