Auto-dimming side view mirrors?

[EYEHAVEYOU]

With so many modern cars running LEDs or laser lights (not to mention modern SUVs having insane ride heights - pretty sure the headlights on the new Escalade are 1+ft above my roofline), driving the E46 at night and looking in my side view mirrors results in me being nearly blinded. Has anyone managed to install auto-dimming side view mirrors? Would love to do this resto-mod, but before winging it myself, wanted to see if anyone else has gone down this path.

[bmwfnatic]

Can’t find the thread but I remember reading (on this forum I think) that someone did this successfully. By using the glass from another model and running wires from the interior mirror to the doors.

[Pklauser]

I know E82 1 Series have them, which makes me thing E90s do as well. Could make for a good donor.

[thegenius46m]

E39 M5 comes with them iirc

[ChapterM3]

I'm guessing that you have the stock blue mirrors and are still being blinded - or do you have the less expensive regular glass on your mirrors? I ask because my driver-side blue mirror was starting to corrode as they typically do, and long story, I ended up having a clear glass replacement mirror installed instead of the blue glass. I still cannot stand how much this clear glass blinds me compared to the blue glass that came stock on the car. I thought to mention this in case you don't have blue glass; it might be worth giving that a try before going all out

[nextelbuddy]

I did it on mine.

You need pre LCI e9x mirror glass. It's same exact shape as E46 M3 glass and has heat and electro chromatic

I made 2 independent wiring harnesses for the left and the right side and I ran new wiring through the door harness connector and then from the door harness connector when it up to a pillar to the headliner and wired it into the auto dimming module of the mirror.

The electrochromatic wiring is the same as E39 and e53 and e9x purple and black.

[old///MFanatic]

I did it on mine.
You need pre LCI e9x mirror glass. It's same exact shape as E46 M3 glass and has heat and electro chromatic
I made 2 independent wiring harnesses for the left and the right side and I ran new wiring through the door harness connector and then from the door harness connector when it up to a pillar to the headliner and wired it into the auto dimming module of the mirror.
The electrochromatic wiring is the same as E39 and e53 and e9x purple and black.

Interesting. I considered this several times over the years but got lazy. Doesn’t sound too difficult. Any DIYs documented about it and where exactly to connect to the auto dimming module of the RVM?

[Lee_Enfield]

I did it on mine.

You need pre LCI e9x mirror glass. It's same exact shape as E46 M3 glass and has heat and electro chromatic

I made 2 independent wiring harnesses for the left and the right side and I ran new wiring through the door harness connector and then from the door harness connector when it up to a pillar to the headliner and wired it into the auto dimming module of the mirror.

The electrochromatic wiring is the same as E39 and e53 and e9x purple and black.

Do you have part numbers? Could be a neat part of the build.

[tlow98]

This is driving me crazy, as well. One of the features that dates the car the most from a night time perspective.

[I M Legend]

I did it on mine.

You need pre LCI e9x mirror glass. It's same exact shape as E46 M3 glass and has heat and electro chromatic

I made 2 independent wiring harnesses for the left and the right side and I ran new wiring through the door harness connector and then from the door harness connector when it up to a pillar to the headliner and wired it into the auto dimming module of the mirror.

The electrochromatic wiring is the same as E39 and e53 and e9x purple and black.

Please provide part#s and any pics if you got them!

[EYEHAVEYOU]

I'm guessing that you have the stock blue mirrors and are still being blinded - or do you have the less expensive regular glass on your mirrors? I ask because my driver-side blue mirror was starting to corrode as they typically do, and long story, I ended up having a clear glass replacement mirror installed instead of the blue glass. I still cannot stand how much this clear glass blinds me compared to the blue glass that came stock on the car. I thought to mention this in case you don't have blue glass; it might be worth giving that a try before going all out

Yes, have the stock blue mirrors, they are like-new but still blinding at night - can't even imagine how bad the clear glass is.

I did it on mine.

You need pre LCI e9x mirror glass. It's same exact shape as E46 M3 glass and has heat and electro chromatic

I made 2 independent wiring harnesses for the left and the right side and I ran new wiring through the door harness connector and then from the door harness connector when it up to a pillar to the headliner and wired it into the auto dimming module of the mirror.

The electrochromatic wiring is the same as E39 and e53 and e9x purple and black.

That is amazing the LCI e9x mirrors fit! I'll echo what everyone else is saying - if you're able to confirm part #s and wiring specifics, it's greatly appreciated. No worries if not though, knowing someone else has accomplished this is fantastic news.

[ChapterM3]

Yeah the clear glass is pretty bad. I need to get a drivers side replacement with the blue glass, on my list of things to do

[robgill]

This is a cool conversion, I'm going to give it a try as a winter project on Rosso. Looks like these would be the mirror part #'s:

US Version:
Left 51167144309
Right 51167144306

Euro Version with Blind Spot:
Left 51167144303
Right 51167144304

Will probably go with the Euro version. Still researching the wiring harness but went ahead and picked up a used one off eBay with the correct mirror plugs. Will figure out the rest when I get it apart... Ultimetly I'll create my own harness with only the required wires and needed plugs for final install.

More good info in this thread.