M5 Folding Mirrors

[Kens540i]

I bought some M5 mirrors from E-Bay for my 2002 e39. These are BMW original equipment, with part numbers and bmw logos cast right into the metal frames. (There basically plug and play except the passenger door doesn't have the wiring for the electrochromatic mirrors.)

They came with a new door switch to activate the fold feature and a new module for the passenger door.

The thing is that when I activate the mirror fold option one will fold up and one will fold down. (The only way to rectify this is to manually fold one of the mirrors down.) The wiring to the mirrors doesn't look likes its been altered. I took it to my dealer who said they can't help as my car originally didn't come with the folding mirrors, they can't even run diagnostics. ????

There is a independent mechanic in the area who has a plug in unit that says the driver door is doing the opposite of the command issued. (Basically if you say down, the mirror goes up. If you punch in up, it goes down.) The passenger door works fine on this little diagnostic tool.

Any ideas of how I can fix?

I do have some questions on making the mirrors dim but I would like to deal with this problem first. Besides, in your forums I saw a post on checking the fuse, that is where I'm off to now.

Thanks!

[applecran]

probably need to swap a couple of wires.

How much was the setup?

I don't know about the diming feature, but probably just need to get the right voltage to the right wires...

[azaytsev]

I bought some M5 mirrors from E-Bay for my 2002 e39. These are BMW original equipment, with part numbers and bmw logos cast right into the metal frames. (There basically plug and play except the passenger door doesn't have the wiring for the electrochromatic mirrors.)

They came with a new door switch to activate the fold feature and a new module for the passenger door.

The thing is that when I activate the mirror fold option one will fold up and one will fold down. (The only way to rectify this is to manually fold one of the mirrors down.) The wiring to the mirrors doesn't look likes its been altered. I took it to my dealer who said they can't help as my car originally didn't come with the folding mirrors, they can't even run diagnostics. ????

There is a independent mechanic in the area who has a plug in unit that says the driver door is doing the opposite of the command issued. (Basically if you say down, the mirror goes up. If you punch in up, it goes down.) The passenger door works fine on this little diagnostic tool.

Any ideas of how I can fix?

I do have some questions on making the mirrors dim but I would like to deal with this problem first. Besides, in your forums I saw a post on checking the fuse, that is where I'm off to now.

Thanks!

I remember somebody had this problem before and if I'm not mistaken the problem was the wiring, you need to reverse wires on the mirror.

[Kens540i]

Thanks for the idea on the wiring. Any idea which wires (color) control the mirrors and how I can disengage them from the wiring connector once I unplug it from the module?

[azaytsev]

Are there blue and white wires? Normally blue and white go to the flip motor.

[Kens540i]

As a matter of fact there is a baby blue (lets call it blue) and a white.

There are five other colors, Brown, Orange, Pink, Red, Green.

I'll start with the the white and blue. Any idea how to get them out of the connector shell, once I pull it from the door module?

Thanks for the help. ( Have those BMW disks you get on the net, can't match one color to anything (even with the translations from english to German.))

[JimLev]

The Blue should be at pin 1 in the connector and the White should be at pin 2.
These two wires go to the motor and changing them will make the motor run in the proper direction.
If you can't figure out how to open up the connector and get the pins out, you could always cut the 2 wires and cross connect them external to the connector.

[WagOnBagz]

how much did the setup run you??

[JimLev]

M5 modules for both doors were about $300. I almost did the $5 toggle switch that I posted on Roadfly, but it in end I bit the bullet and sprung for the real M5 door modules.

[Kens540i]

Thank you for the help Jim! Unbelieveable what you guys know. I pulled the door switch and there was a blue and white wire in Pins 1 & 2. These didn't show when I pulled the mirror glass. They must terminate inside the motor housing, which makes sense as they run the motor.I pulled the connector, opened it up, very carefully, and switch pins 1 & 2. Put it all back together and low and behold they work perfectly.For guys wanting to know how much I paid. It was a lot. $600 US which at the time equated to $900 Cdn. I was told by the dealer in Canada that buying BMW parts would set be back north of $2500 Cdn so I thought I had a buy. I was after the dimming, folding was nice but dimming is where I'm headed.So one problem down, one to go. I will post a new thread.Again,Thanks Jim !!

[JimLev]

the problem. As far as the mirrors dimming, I think you need the special glass for that to happen. When you pulled the glass out did you have 2 or 4 wires connected to it? If it was only 2, they are for the heater. If you have 4, then you should be all set. I only have 2 wires. I've seen one guy run wires into the cabin and connect them to the center rearview mirror dimming circuit.

[Bstone]

Was the Folding mirrors standard in 00-2003 M5's or just 2001-2003 ?

[Kens540i]

Sorry, I can't answer the question on standard equipment of the M5's. The guy I bought the stuff from on e-bay ordered the stuff so I we can guess that the answer is no, they were not standard. I know he ordered them as a number of the parts showed up in the original boxes. Neat thing is the fit is exactly the same. I used one of the gaskets from my original mirrors.

[legendary]

very nice. Post pics of the install (inside and out)

[nightkrawler]

hey jim, i started on getting the fold up function to work with the toggle switch. you quoted 3hrs to wrap the job up, lol, i'd advise setting aside a day. i started around 12 and and just got done with the drivers side. it's a complete pita to route the wires from the mirror to the center console(where im gonna put the switch cause you have 12v and ground right there). by the time you r&i the door panel/vapor seal the other kick panels, and the console, then try and fish the wire through the rubber covering betwen the door and the body... pita! anyway, 1 side is basically done. i got a switch that looks like the larger black one you have in your thread, except the switch part looks like the smaller one, basically a combo of the two and cost $10. im gonna mount the switch in the storage area in the center console. the little bin that has the slide up door on it. pretty simple how the motors actually work, just switching from 12v/ground to ground/12v to fold up and down. great diy you made.

[Palantirion]

Glad you got it worked out. For a minute there I thought maybe you had accidentally picked up the right-hand-drive mirrors A friend of mine did that once and was not happy! Got any pics of your car with the new mirrors on?

[sidneyj]

The infamous blue-white screw up from the factory. Happened to me to. Thank goodness for these forums.

[JimLev]

take to do the wiring. Yup, it always is a PITA to run wires. Did you get a toggle switch that springs back to the center position when you let go of it?
I have some switches for my nitrous mounted in the storage compartment, it's not much good for anything else, it's too small to store anything else in.

[nightkrawler]

no, these are lhd mirrors, all of the functions(except fold up) worked as soon as i plugged them in. didn't take any pics yesterday, i'll take some today when i do the right side. yeah, a few hrs is probably right to just do the wiring for the switch. i used quick connects and all the right crimp on ends etc. i used the oe bmw silver crimp connectors and shrink tubing for the connections to the blue/white wires from the mirrors.

[WagOnBagz]

can you also post pix of ur switches?? thanks

[nightkrawler]

install is done, they work great. will post pics later..

[nightkrawler]

the switch... tried to upload more but this asshole setup keeps telling me they exceed 150k even though they are all less than 100k. i'll fix em later..

[nightkrawler]

hell with this, still wont accept the pics. so i started a new thread at the fest, http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...74#post2463274 uploaded with no problem over there. here you will find all the pics, enjoy.

[Kens540i]

Tried to send picture of my install as requested however I can't seem to insert pictures in an email. Must not be doing something correctly. There is an insert image icon on this page but it won't select anything. Is there a trick to inserting pictures in email?

[JimLev]

Look at the lower left corner, you will see [IMG} is turned off. I think you need 20 posts before you can do pics.
Anybody know how many you need before you and put html links in messages?