As many of you experienced the rear view mirror failed on my car too. 2003 M3 Convertible with SMG and Premium Package which I have since new back 18 years ago. My rear view mirror had HomeLink, Service and SOS modules which none of them were of importance to me anymore. I just wanted to have auto dimming rear view mirror.
Here is what I learned and did to resolve my situation.
Background:
E46 rear view mirrors are like LEGO from BMW. With so many options on each car there is a mirror for each optioned variant and continent. And what I learned from various internet sources sometimes in 2005 or so BMW switched the supplier of the mirrors themselves as there were so many of them leaking. Inside of the mirror there are various circuit boards based on whether you have compass, dimming, cellphone, SOS, alarm etc. Point to take - whatever you do you need to keep your mirror harness (yes, there is one inside and it plugs in to a car harness on the windshield).
For convertibles the added complication is that there is an antenna inside of the mirror. In my configuration the antenna was printed on a circuit board common with the alarm module. (Here is the picture of that alarm/radio/antenna board already fitted in a mirror housing from E92 car.)
It looks like possible key combinations of BMW mirrors are:
- coupe/sedan
- without alarm
- with alarm (has that red bubble underneath)
- convertible
- without alarm (haven't seen one)
- with alarm (red bubble)
The additional packages like HomeLink and SOS if lost and/or disconnected do not produce any functionality limitation nor error codes.
What is important is that all US/EU versions include radio-wave remote control board and it's 315MHz for US and 434MHz for EU versions.
For my car (convertible, alarm package, US model) to gain functional mirror again I had three options:
- try ordering one from dealer at like $800 total cost and hope they still carry parts for 18years old US spec car somewhere in EU warehouse
- try to find exact replica configuration on junkyard or eBay in US and have it shipped (sci-fi really)
- get creative
I chose the third option ( in part thanks to the previous incarnation of this forum which helped me to fix SMG ambient temps related overheating problem).
I sourced a used mirror with an alarm bubble from a local BMW specialised junkyard. It was a EU spec E92 coupe. I couldn't use just the glass because the sizes were different and also the light sensors both for inside and out had different locations. The newer models have the inside light sensor in the mirror while the old ones from Donnely have them on the board and it sticks out at the bottom. So the whole frame is different.
After I pried the new mirror open I realized also the insides were different. As well as the windshield mount.
The original E46 and new E92 mirrors housings:
Fortunately the ball sizes are the same and therefore it was possible to swap the arms AND harnesses with that (remember 'save the harness').
The connections of the mirrors themselves were also different. My newly sourced mirror also had compass and temperature display but I wasn't going to use them.
The important part here was that it looked like the dimming part of both mirrors were using the same color coded wires. They were just in different positions. The connection labels on both mirrors boards were identical at their respective positions though (IGN, GRND, REV/AI) (I only took picture of the original, forgot to take picture of E92 one).
So I thought I'd swap the connectors and make sure these three wires would go to the right positions. The original and E92 connectors details
And when the original alarm/radio/antenna board seamlessly fit into the housing instead of the E92 one the rest was history.
So to sum it up:
- you can use any E9x mirror for your E46 sedan/coupe car
- you can use any E9x mirror with alarm bubble for your E46 convertible (remember the antenna on the picture above)
- use the ball-arm with harness from your E46 car
- use the mirror housing with mirror from E9x car
- change the connector - replug respective cables.
I did some research before doing this and couldn't find any info useful for my situation. The mirror john and other replacement services deal with only oval mirrors and in general it's PITA so send something out, especially overseas. This avenue though solves the issue using BMW factory parts and with the quantity of E92 donors the supply is virtually endless :-) . Cheers :-)
Here is what I learned and did to resolve my situation.
Background:
E46 rear view mirrors are like LEGO from BMW. With so many options on each car there is a mirror for each optioned variant and continent. And what I learned from various internet sources sometimes in 2005 or so BMW switched the supplier of the mirrors themselves as there were so many of them leaking. Inside of the mirror there are various circuit boards based on whether you have compass, dimming, cellphone, SOS, alarm etc. Point to take - whatever you do you need to keep your mirror harness (yes, there is one inside and it plugs in to a car harness on the windshield).
For convertibles the added complication is that there is an antenna inside of the mirror. In my configuration the antenna was printed on a circuit board common with the alarm module. (Here is the picture of that alarm/radio/antenna board already fitted in a mirror housing from E92 car.)
It looks like possible key combinations of BMW mirrors are:
- coupe/sedan
- without alarm
- with alarm (has that red bubble underneath)
- convertible
- without alarm (haven't seen one)
- with alarm (red bubble)
The additional packages like HomeLink and SOS if lost and/or disconnected do not produce any functionality limitation nor error codes.
What is important is that all US/EU versions include radio-wave remote control board and it's 315MHz for US and 434MHz for EU versions.
For my car (convertible, alarm package, US model) to gain functional mirror again I had three options:
- try ordering one from dealer at like $800 total cost and hope they still carry parts for 18years old US spec car somewhere in EU warehouse
- try to find exact replica configuration on junkyard or eBay in US and have it shipped (sci-fi really)
- get creative
I chose the third option ( in part thanks to the previous incarnation of this forum which helped me to fix SMG ambient temps related overheating problem).
I sourced a used mirror with an alarm bubble from a local BMW specialised junkyard. It was a EU spec E92 coupe. I couldn't use just the glass because the sizes were different and also the light sensors both for inside and out had different locations. The newer models have the inside light sensor in the mirror while the old ones from Donnely have them on the board and it sticks out at the bottom. So the whole frame is different.
After I pried the new mirror open I realized also the insides were different. As well as the windshield mount.
The original E46 and new E92 mirrors housings:
Fortunately the ball sizes are the same and therefore it was possible to swap the arms AND harnesses with that (remember 'save the harness').
The connections of the mirrors themselves were also different. My newly sourced mirror also had compass and temperature display but I wasn't going to use them.
The important part here was that it looked like the dimming part of both mirrors were using the same color coded wires. They were just in different positions. The connection labels on both mirrors boards were identical at their respective positions though (IGN, GRND, REV/AI) (I only took picture of the original, forgot to take picture of E92 one).
So I thought I'd swap the connectors and make sure these three wires would go to the right positions. The original and E92 connectors details
And when the original alarm/radio/antenna board seamlessly fit into the housing instead of the E92 one the rest was history.
So to sum it up:
- you can use any E9x mirror for your E46 sedan/coupe car
- you can use any E9x mirror with alarm bubble for your E46 convertible (remember the antenna on the picture above)
- use the ball-arm with harness from your E46 car
- use the mirror housing with mirror from E9x car
- change the connector - replug respective cables.
I did some research before doing this and couldn't find any info useful for my situation. The mirror john and other replacement services deal with only oval mirrors and in general it's PITA so send something out, especially overseas. This avenue though solves the issue using BMW factory parts and with the quantity of E92 donors the supply is virtually endless :-) . Cheers :-)
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