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Outside Mirror "Rebuild" Photo Guide

E28 technical advice asked and given! Troubleshooting, modifications and more.
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ac4000
Posts: 73
Joined: Aug 16, 2010 9:44 PM
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Outside Mirror "Rebuild" Photo Guide

Post by ac4000 »

My RH mirror's motor assembly had failed and would not keep the mirror pointed anywhere it wouldn't just reflect asphalt. With the help of a generous junkyard donor car's mirror innards, I swapped clean, new-looking bits into my fancy-pants color-keyed mirror housing. It's a simple procedure, but since I couldn't find any good pictures online I'm posting some here in case anyone wants to do this.

Time required:
For someone like me who studies the parts and cleans everything: 30 minutes.
Someone just trying to get the job done: 5-10 minutes.
Professional: Look at it and it's done.

First, with the mirror centered, reach through the access hole at the bottom with a small flathead screwdriver and push the grips to the right (rotating the plastic lock plate counterclockwise as you face the mirror). It may take some force (more than I expected anyway).

Image

The mirror will come off and you will see four Phillips head screws holding the motor assembly to the mirror housing. Remove the screws, then carefully disconnect the four spade-connected wires. I marked the wires with a Sharpie for reassembly. I found no reason to disconnect the mirror itself, but it's also connected with spade connectors if you want to (or isn't connected at all if you don't have heated mirrors).

Image

Housing with motor assembly and mirror removed:

Image

Lock plate assembly in locked (normal) position:

Image

Lock plate assembly rotated to unlocked position:

Image

Old, failed bits:

Image

Happy "new" bits:

Image

Swap in the bits you need from the donor mirror assembly and reassemble.
davintosh
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Post by davintosh »

Sweet; nicely done, sir! :up:

Sticky?
slammin_e28
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Joined: Aug 05, 2007 4:57 PM
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Post by slammin_e28 »

Why wasn't this up two weeks ago before I bought all new mirrors for my e30? :x

Nicely done sir! :up:
ac4000
Posts: 73
Joined: Aug 16, 2010 9:44 PM
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Post by ac4000 »

Thanks! Glad to hear it might be (or would have been) helpful.
C.R. Krieger
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Post by C.R. Krieger »

slammin_e28 wrote:Why wasn't this up two weeks ago before I bought all new mirrors for my e30? :x
God gets even with people who own E30s ...
My E 28 533i
Posts: 257
Joined: Jun 14, 2009 4:23 PM
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Post by My E 28 533i »

nice write up!!!!!
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