Is There a NON-Folding Mirror Option?

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

First impressions are that the gears in this unit are not stripped and that it will hold firm.

Welp. Turns out that 1st impressions are worth the time they take to birth. The eBay mirror showed up with a significant portion of the part broken. (see attached) That hole on the edge is where there oughta be a notch.

As for the gears, they were certainly not stripped. They were fused together from rust. Yet another Finally, the eBay micro switch appeared repairable until the brittle wires snapped right at the assembly. Ug. I had to solder and heat shrink wires for the OE micro switch, the junkyard gears and my OE folding mirror motor. UG-a-licious.

I used Permatex 'plastic/metal/your fingers' 5 minute curing weld stuff on the door panel- a bit of a side project. I discovered at the top of the panel plastic door mount along the base of the window had separated completely from the door panel. 'Janky' doesn't do justice to the feeling of leaving that shit falling apart and unglued while I awaited eBay mirror bits. But that Permatex weld appears pretty solid. We'll see how it goes when I remove the door panel next time.

So, I ended up using

• my OE mirror arm (with a notch, instead of a gaping hole),
• the eBay high gloss trim piece (one fewer rock chip than mine),
• my OE/blue mirror covers and gloss trim. (buy any color. Yours will transfer)
• the junkyard mirror gears,
• the eBay glass motor, glass mount and harness
  Oh- and I also used
• the eBay part's puddle light. (it's the little things) I only noticed that the body shop painted over the puddle light when they shot the mirror cover years ago. It's unfortunately not rare when a rookie move in the paint booth is over-looked by a really old fncker (me) who just wants his 16yr old car back.

Three mirrors into one.

I am Tha-RILLED to share that my Frankenstein homologation actually works! They dim... They don't wobble... and when I hit the little "I don't care that I parked too close to an F250" button, the mirrors stay folded in.

OK- Bonus material:

The OE mirror switch. I noticed while I was testing function along every possible silly step, that when I mounted the driver's door switch into its home flush with the door panel, suddenly the mirrors would stop working! W(in-T-*actual*)F!? So, diddling with the white plug would show me power by the lights under the switch buttons when moved a certain way. We have a physical problem, obviously. And where the plug is sat will affect it. Now, how do we make the plug sat where it will complete the circuit?

It's important to note that the white plug on the drivers door switch is back to the car- not the mirror- that's a black plug that we had to Humpty Dumpty so we could thread it through the tiny holes in the stupid mirror assembly.

Anyway, after a day of making mirrors do things they weren't designed to do with one another, and fiddling with what looked like a simple loose connection, I conjured up a fix:

About 1.25" of cut off zip tie. Yep.. Wedge that little bit-o-plastic between the head of the white plug, just inside the locking mechanism and you'll find yourself rewarded with a solid power connection. For how long? Who knows! But drivers side switches are left behind in most yards, so they're everywhere.

Since I now have a graduate degree in how these silly things work, I am set to repair the micro switch on my wife's 2004. Hopefully, a little pressure by cleaning and squeezing the metal bit and some sealant will do the trick.

Also, I think it's important to share:

I have concerns that if I DO get my other E53 working with functioning, non-wobbly mirrors that dim and do all the sh!t they're supposed to... If I *do* get this done.. I fear some sort of apocalyptic reckoning with a 25yr old German prophecy:

"And in the end days, a man will own 2 E53's with fully functioning mirrors."

All I'm sayin is.. If I crack that trim ring on the white one and find a repairable micro switch, the 4th Horseman might just be released. Hug your family. I'm just doing what feels necessary.

[andrewwynn]

I have the opposite problem I want to engage the dimming long before the car does and no manual override.

Fortunately it's only by a few seconds usually but it's annoying when driving freeway at night when it goes bright/dim dozens of times per hour

[tempest411]

The main problem with the folding function on mine is that they don't hold the mirror at any particular positions. The gear train is of very poor quality...I replaced it on one side with one of the repair kits available and it lasted five minutes before it stripped out again. So both sides fold in from the force of the wind. As a temporary solution I'm going to put a little bit of hot glue at the joint to fix them in place. Maybe I'll try resetting the seat memory to see if has any effect on the mirrors tilting about the way they do.

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by tempest411

The main problem with the folding function on mine is that they don't hold the mirror at any particular positions. The gear train is of very poor quality...I replaced it on one side with one of the repair kits available and it lasted five minutes before it stripped out again. So both sides fold in from the force of the wind. As a temporary solution I'm going to put a little bit of hot glue at the joint to fix them in place. Maybe I'll try resetting the seat memory to see if has any effect on the mirrors tilting about the way they do.

A short deck screw fits perfectly in the gap underneath and will stiffen it up, while allowing you to manually fold it back if necessary. (Acts as a roller)

Sent from Embassy network using Tapatalk

[Salty B.]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

I have the opposite problem I want to engage the dimming long before the car does and no manual override.

Fortunately it's only by a few seconds usually but it's annoying when driving freeway at night when it goes bright/dim dozens of times per hour

I hate auto-dim mirrors. They don't "dim" for shit. The crappy Malibu rental I had this week had a manual dim on the rearview. Haven't seen that in awhile.

[andrewwynn]

I have the opposite problem I want to engage the dimming long before the car does and no manual override.

Fortunately it's only by a few seconds usually but it's annoying when driving freeway at night when it goes bright/dim dozens of times per hour

[X5chemist]

RockAuto has a close out sale on manual fold mirrors.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

RockAuto has a close out sale on manual fold mirrors.

HOLY!!! Wow! They also have folding ones for $130! I ordered left and right and will report back on if they fit.

The description says no dimming, but I think that is just the glass they include. My very strong hope is that they are wired for dimming and will with the correct glass once I replace it. We'll see.

[andrewwynn]

If not your should be able to move over the wiring with the glass. I'm pretty sure when I looked up tis when I swapped my glass there was one set of directions with modifiers for if dimming etc.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

If not your should be able to move over the wiring with the glass. I'm pretty sure when I looked up tis when I swapped my glass there was one set of directions with modifiers for if dimming etc.

Having had some experience with my E39 and my daughter's E82 mirror replacement adventure, I am hopeful I can navigate the swap. But I have attached a pic of the mount and the new glass included with the new assembly- with no auto dimming plug. I am looking for help with the swap for the mirror mounts and connections while retaining the function of the OE mirrors.