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  #1  
Old 12-29-2012, 11:16 PM
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Talking I CAN FINALLY SEE! Installed Aspherical Mirrors

Well, my auto dim/heated/wide angle (aspherical) side view mirrors arrived from Riga, Latvia (thank you eBay & Volodja Borovik) the day after Christmas...and I finally got a chance to install them. It was really easy to remove the mirror glass once you find the sweet spot that allows you room to lift upward on the glass.



I wanted to get some good side by side comparison shots...but it snowed over night and recovered the parking lots & drives that I was using to give some visual markers & perspective of the increased visibility the aspherical mirrors give.

The original "convex" mirror on the passenger side, has the same reflective ratio as the aspherical mirrors...until you get to the line on either the far left (driver's side) or the far right (passenger's side) of the glass which "bends" the reflection out a little further. Plus there's no warning to tell you that the "objects in mirror are closer than they appear".

Since they are so expensive...one could really just replace the one mirror for the driver's side...it is what really made me cough up the dough for the wide angle mirror...the increased visibility is awesome. I can now see straight down both sides and across 3-5 lanes of traffic easily. I took the pics sitting straight in the driver's seat with the camera in front of my face as to emulate looking into the mirrors from the driver's point of view.
Side mirror site line:
  • plain mirror (driver's side) = approx 12° viewing angle
  • convex mirror (pass side) = approx 20° viewing angle
  • aspherical wide angle mirror (driver/passenger side) = approx 45° viewing angle


(driver's side - can see from the front door handles back)

(passenger's side - can see from the front door handles back)




(original driver's side mirror has 1:1 reflective ratio)



(wide angle driver's side - the black line in the snow (the curb) is actually straight all the way across...it just looks curved due to the "bent" mirror section on the right side of the dotted line in the glass)




(original passenger side "convex" mirror)



(wide angle mirror passenger's side - it snowed overnight & covered the drive...but you can use the telephone poles/street lights/trees for comparative perspective)






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Last edited by Qsilver7; 12-04-2015 at 10:55 PM.
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Old 12-30-2012, 02:23 AM
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Wow that is one hell of an improvement.
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Old 12-30-2012, 03:17 AM
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Totally awsome. I can't wait to get a set.
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Old 12-30-2012, 03:19 AM
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I loved them on my E34 and E39... the only that stopped me from getting them for the 4.6 was the price - $354 just for the left one...

how much was yours? I dealt with Balstic sellers before, it is possible to get very rare items for the BMW from them...
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Old 12-30-2012, 08:34 AM
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Hello that looks nice, from were did you by them ?
Happy New Year to you
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Old 12-30-2012, 10:47 AM
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Wow now you can cut over two lanes of traffic instead of just one and can see that jerk driving in your blind spot.

I brought a mirror from this eBay seller before for my Audi. I notice that he has mirrors for the E53. The mirror quality is not OEM, but it just a mirror and the heating element worked on my Audi and that was the reason for replacing the mirror.

00 06 BMW x5 Series E53 Heated Left Driver Door Mirror Glass | eBay

Last edited by upallnight; 12-30-2012 at 11:01 AM.
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Old 12-30-2012, 11:35 AM
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Would love to do the mod but isn't the cost something like $400 per side?
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Old 12-30-2012, 12:23 PM
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Hopefully I answer everyone's questions.

These were used oe BMW mirrors purchased off eBay from a seller in Riga, Latvia (bmwelshoplv - Volodja Borovik ). I paid a handsome some of $268 (incl S&H & after the monetary conversion from GBP $168) for the L/R set...whereas the cheapest I could find for new was approx $359 for a single mirror.

Upallnight, yes...now I can cut thru traffic (being the stereotypical BMW "prick") with impunity...actually "seeing" all the people I'm cutting off...on purpose.

IMHO: if anyone is really considering or interested in this mod but the cost of the mirrors is hard to swallow...don't feel bad if you just do the driver's side only. The original "convex" passenger side isn't that much different than the "aspherical" mirror...in fact, the reflective ratio appears to be the same with only the smaller "bent" portion at the far left or far right of the aspherical mirrors being the major difference between the two. Swapping the passenger convex mirror out could easily be done at a later time...or not even swapped at all if a good deal can't be found.

And if your X5 doesn't have the Electrochromatic (EC -auto dim) side view mirrors...then the cost of just the heated/wide angle mirrors is much less. BMW exacts a king's ransom for the auto dim feature.
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Last edited by Qsilver7; 12-30-2012 at 12:47 PM.
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Old 12-30-2012, 12:42 PM
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Nice mod Q ! It looks like quite an improvement in line of sight. And great price on OE also. I seem to remember the aspherical lenses coming to my attention when you did a retrofit on your e38 or touring in the past.

Def. Added to my list of future projects

Thanks for the informative post and awesome pics man!
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Old 12-30-2012, 12:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lexicon740iL View Post
... I seem to remember the aspherical lenses coming to my attention when you did a retrofit on your e38 or touring in the past. ...
Thanks...and yes, having become accustomed to aspherical mirrors on the e38 & e39...I was skittish about changing lanes in the e53...I always felt like I might be getting to side-swipe somebody.
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