Originally Posted by Qsilver7

How about the touch method? Touch the mirror before starting to get an indication of how it feels...drive to where you are going and touch the mirror again. Is it warmer than before? Or roll the window down and check to see if it is warm.

The heated mirrors come on automatically based on ambient temps. The rear electric heater is not required. They remove fog and condensation...not just snow and ice..so they have been working when many BMW owners didn't even know it.

If you're in the USA & Canada...heated mirrors are standard equipment and has been for the last 20+ years on at least every 5/6/7/8/X3/X5/etc model...and probably most 1/3 series except for the very base model.

BTW...the washer nozzles are also heated.


Not to refute the info in the post above...can it be verified which generation BMW uses that mirror heating cycle? The info below is for the communication bus used during the e38/e39/e46/e52/e53 generation.. Thw new gen BMWs uuse the MOST-bus...and many things hve changed...and that could be how the new BMWs operate.