How do I know if I have heated mirrors?

[TerminatorX5]

Q7, does it mean, that on a cozy spring/summer/autumn day, with temperature about 23* c/75* F, the mirror is still heating??? at 5%? interesting... wonder, what was the reasoning...

[racingbmwm3]

prevent fogging in high humidity, rain...

[squidzilla]

This site is awesome. I learn so much.

I don't have the EC mirrors for sure so off to the 38.00 ebay mirror.

Thanks everyone.

[luvmy03E53]

Interesting information you've provided there Q7, as usual. I always thought the mirrors were heated when the seat heating was turned on. At least that's what I've noticed in my '03.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

Q7, does it mean, that on a cozy spring/summer/autumn day, with temperature about 23* c/75* F, the mirror is still heating??? at 5%? interesting... wonder, what was the reasoning...

Racingbmwm3 hit the nail on the head. Condensation & fog can build up on the mirror glass in that 5% on/off temp range. And in mountain regions...one can go from cold to warm and warm to cold climates within minutes...with the mirrors fogging over due to the quick climate change. It's nice not having to roll the window down to clean off the side mirrors. Some may have not even noticed that they've never had to do this...all because the heat turns on/off by itself.

Let me toss in that... I found the info posted above about 10 years ago...and I do wonder if BMW has tweaked the programming a little over the years. BMW has been putting heated mirrors on 5 & 7 series BMWs for decades as standard equipment...my 1991 735iL had heated mirrors. So if anyone finds any updated info as to the heated side mirror's on/off range...please chime in and update the info.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Let me toss in that... I found the info posted above about 10 years ago...and I do wonder if BMW has tweaked the programming a little over the years. BMW has been putting heated mirrors on 5 & 7 series BMWs for decades as standard equipment...my 1991 735iL had heated mirrors. So if anyone finds any updated info as to the heated side mirror's on/off range...please chime in and update the info.

OK, this is for the E70 from the training materials BMW published. 14 pages on the exterior mirrors alone. Probably more than anyone wanted to know. The clip is just on the heating ranges from that training module.

The update is that the ranges have been changed slightly, and depend on whether the wipers are on or not.

Full training module here:

http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/pdf/e7...%20Mirrors.pdf

or use the Online References tab on this site, PDF info, E70.

[Qsilver7]

Looks like I have some reading to do.

The only thing that makes me go hmmm (as to if the on/off ambient temp range changed for the e53)...is that the info above about the e70 mentions the LIN bus...which refers to the newer generation BMWs that have iDrive (e70/e65/e60/& the newer F body BMWs).

The e53 uses the old communication bus like the e38/e39/e46 (Can, Diagnostic, I, K, M, & P bus). And the older on/off ambient temp range was for that generation BMWs. But the newer scale is basically what I had in mind as to wondering if BMW tweaked the range a bit.

It really makes since to throw the wipers in the mix...because more than likely, it's probably raining or misting in warmer temps along with the excess humidity and condensation build up on the glass.