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Outside Mirror "Rebuild" Photo Guide

Posted: Jun 26, 2011 10:42 PM
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).

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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).

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Housing with motor assembly and mirror removed:

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Lock plate assembly in locked (normal) position:

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Lock plate assembly rotated to unlocked position:

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Old, failed bits:

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Happy "new" bits:

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Swap in the bits you need from the donor mirror assembly and reassemble.

Posted: Jun 27, 2011 8:24 AM
by davintosh
Sweet; nicely done, sir! :up:

Sticky?

Posted: Jun 27, 2011 8:46 AM
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:

Posted: Jun 28, 2011 1:29 PM
by ac4000
Thanks! Glad to hear it might be (or would have been) helpful.

Posted: Jun 28, 2011 5:59 PM
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 ...

Posted: Jun 28, 2011 11:45 PM
by My E 28 533i
nice write up!!!!!