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Mirror Motor Fix - gears and switch

E28 technical advice asked and given! Troubleshooting, modifications and more.
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Cupholder Zealot
Posts: 285
Joined: Jun 11, 2011 7:26 PM
Location: Bay Area, El Cerrito Ca

Mirror Motor Fix - gears and switch

Post by Cupholder Zealot »

Well I researched the threads on this about an hour ago

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=45 ... ror+motors

and decided I'd futz with my driver mirror to see if I could get it going again while relaxing this evening with a cold.

I went ahead and rebuilt the switch, and that got both mirrors working in either axis. No mystery there...when you take the back plate off the switch, be sure that the back plate is facing up, and those spring loaded contacts won't fly out. Release the 4 corners, then use a screwdriver to pry one of the little openings on one of the sides. I used a small wire brush conservatively to the clean up the board, and wiped down the ball contacts with solvent, then the wire brush. Assemble in the same position as above.

I still had a problem with the driver's mirror vertical axis being loose, like the gears were busted. It was just flopping around. So, I know this is a bit excessive, but I decided to figure out the problem and fix it. The alternative was going to be some clear silicon holding the mirror in place.... :oops:

Removing the mirror to expose the motor/gearbox assy. was also straightforward. I used a thin flathead screwdriver through the hole on the bottom of the mirror to manipulate the locking ring. The ring has a little pointer that was pointing straight down in the locked position, that was visible just behind the bottom of the mirror glass. The screwdriver is used to spin the locking ring, and I was able to spin it counter-clockwise, and the mirror came off.

The problem with the gear drive on these units is that the gear arm is held to the gear by metal tangs that provide some pressure to hold it in engagement. The metal tang on the vertical axis gear arm had snapped, allowing the gear arm to float past the gear, not engaging, and allowing the mirror to go up and down just by pushing. Code 7334.2 - driver mirror vertical axis gear arm floating error.

So I fashioned a replacement for the metal tang; I used a piece of a chopstick pinned in place with a small nail clipped down to about 4mm, give or take .007 :laugh:

Here is the motor assy. with the ring removed from the 2 horizontal pins, and the one vertical pin. You can see the offending vertical axis gear arm at the top of the white ring.

Image

This picture shows the horizontal gear arm, at the back of the assembly, which is held to engagement by the metal tang in the black housing.

Image

Here is the fix. Instead of a metal clip, I used a "solid gear arm slide" pinned in place.

Image

Now both mirrors are working again! Though they are slow and sometimes can't get through the whole range of motion. Sluggish, loud, catchy, suffering, but solid. For an hour and $0, I'm satisfied for now...

Now to do this:

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/27497[/url]
Brad D.
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Post by Brad D. »

Nice writeup. I have a mirror that could use this fix.
knowITall

Post by knowITall »

:D
Last edited by knowITall on Dec 06, 2012 8:14 AM, edited 1 time in total.
Cupholder Zealot
Posts: 285
Joined: Jun 11, 2011 7:26 PM
Location: Bay Area, El Cerrito Ca

Post by Cupholder Zealot »

Well just because they are worth $10 doesn't mean they are readily available for that cost. And now I have learned yet another thing for free using about an hour of sick time at home on a sunday night.

I've been searching Ebay for a week. Found a passenger side for $40, but it took him a week to get back to me to tell me that it actually works. That was this morning.

I emailed a couple guys here, noone had a working one.

I could drive around from wrecking yard to wrecking yard, and maybe pick ones up that didn't work, but the time wasted would be about $200-300 based on my income, plus whatever the yard was going to gouge me.

Why don't you buy 4 for $40, I'll pay you $40 for 2, and you'll have 2 mirrors for the cost of shipping.

Let me know when you are ready to ship, and I'll pay you.

:alright:
Brad D.
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Post by Brad D. »

25YearsOLDbimmerExperence wrote:I'm amazed at the lengths your going thru to fix this when you can get a used mirror for as little as 10 bucks.
:roll:
waynet1
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Location: Port Charlotte,FL-Newport,RI

Post by waynet1 »

25YearsOLDbimmerExperence wrote:I'm amazed at the lengths your going thru to fix this when you can get a used mirror for as little as 10 bucks.
Most likely have to fix one of those as well.

Nice clear pictures. :up:
mooseheadm5
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Post by mooseheadm5 »

If you consider your income, it isn't $0. Totally worth it for satisfaction of having repaired it yourself, though.
Cupholder Zealot
Posts: 285
Joined: Jun 11, 2011 7:26 PM
Location: Bay Area, El Cerrito Ca

Post by Cupholder Zealot »

Well, I can't really go to work on a Sunday night at 9pm...but I can go to work when those wrecking yards are open...but I agree with you. Time is always money. And satisfaction is priceless.

And just an addendum, removing those flexible clips and using a solid guide like I did, means that accidentally pushing on the mirror might break or strip the gear train. The clips are used so that if the mirror gets forced to move, the gears will just slide past each other with no damage.

Yes, those clear pictures. Somehow I'm sure Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave every time an Iphone picture is posted online!

Santa, I need a real digital camera for Christmas. :bawl:
knowITall

Post by knowITall »

:D
Last edited by knowITall on Dec 06, 2012 8:10 AM, edited 1 time in total.
tn535i
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Post by tn535i »

The pictures are clear enough that I can see toms control the horizontal motion and congas the vertical.
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