DIY: Cleaning Contacts / Replacing Dip Mirror Motor

[gregg3gs]

DIY: Replacing Dip Mirror Motor

Problem: No Vertical operation of the Passenger Side Mirror.


Enjoy.

What you need:
- e70 x5 (my 2008 X5 E70 4.8i, N62), or a BMW X5
- basic tools to include: t-10 star socket, small ratchet, panel removal tool



Replacement Parts:
- possibly new passenger side mirror motor assembly



Disclaimer: in no way does reading this post authorize you to do this repair yourself. You should always service your BMW at an authorized BMW Service point. Death and injury may/will result if you undertake this repair.




Things to know / research:
- this project should take about 60 minutes.
- Dip mirror in reverse only works when slider switch (next to mirror control) is slid towards passenger door (for passenger mirror operation)
- http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...d-writeup.html
- 001 BMW X5 HCE-C500 TOPVIEW camera installation - YouTube
- http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...oken-tilt.html


Work To Be Performed:

- using a plastic pry tool remove the back of the mirror housing by separating it from the front part, pull apart manually (slowly work it around)





- bend the mirror housing towards the car, with mirror facing outwards



- push on mirror, closest to car, to reveal access to internal clips



NOTE: I could not get enough space and have used screwdriver from the back of the housing to slowly release clips, afterwards moving to front of the mirror and continuing until fully released



- release mirror clips, support mirror not to drop it



- disconnect electrical connector
- remove four t-10 star screws from the main part of mirror frame



- pull the frame off

- remove one star screw closest the car, and one at lower right



- remove small lower frame, followed by main lower frame


- remove mirror motor from mirror main support



- separate the mirror backing from the motor housing (there are four clips you need to push outwards on, and main center stud)



- remove protective rubber cover




- remove four t-10 star screws from the motor housing



- pry apart and separate top from bottom housing



- remove two control arms from the motor assembly



- notice grease covered contacts




- remove contact boards with needle nose pliers



- clean contacts with cotton swabs, and reinstall in the housing



- clean contacts on mirror control arms



- reinstall control arms, and secure with previously removed hardware (Don’t be like me a loose screws)



- reinstall remaining in reverse order
- test operation, if it still does not work you possibly will need a new motor assembly $280.00 at the dealer (or there abouts)

Drive It Like You Stole It!

[Mujahid]

gregg3gs, you are the man!!!

[mart_dev]

Old post I know but it came in handy last week. I was able to side step the laborious tear-down of the mirror housing by simply prying the mirror itself off the motor assembly with a plastic pry tool.
In my case the fault was actually down to a worn out motor (I pulled it apart to confirm the brushes were worn down beyond any usable length. I was able to get the motor to spin up by supplying an over-voltage but it spluttered, sparked, and farted as you would expect it to.
I was able to match it up almost apples for apples at a local electronic component store - the only exception being that the pole contacts were of the conventional type which required a little soldering to attach the motor to the rest of the circuit ( the OEM motors have what seem to be bespoke pole contacts - at any rate I've never come across anything like them before).

Bottom line; I was able to repair the auto dip function for the princely sum of R37.84 which equates to roughly $2.27 at current exchange rates. The whole job from start to finish took no longer than 30min.
Many thanks to the OP for giving me the visual guide to attempt this fix.

[Caelst]

Hi
I know this is an old thread.
I am interested in replacing my DC motor in the mirror mount. Do you have any info on this electric motor? The RPM of it or anything I could use in researching a replacement...?
I took my mirror mount apart and swapped the DC motors and found that the up & down motor had failed as well.

[Aquamania]

Great write up!! Thanks for this.

[mart_dev]

Sorry, no. I simply removed the motor from the mirror and took it to an electronic component distributor in the city and they matched it up for me.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[ard]

As I began reading the OP, I was thinking "I need to post congrats about being able to tackle car repairs without gloves.

Then I got to half way.


But hey, nice work.