E46 - Made non-folding, OEM M3 mirrors auto fold DIY. Warning, lots of pics!

[TKC]

DIY: Made non-folding, OEM M3 mirrors auto fold.

A brief background:

I had a set of replica M3 mirrors on my car. Everyone said they’re hideous and they have the nickname “Elephant Balls”…… so I had the chance to pick up a set of OEM M3 mirrors for a great deal, so I bought them. Unfortunatly, these OEM M3 mirrors did not autofold, a feature that I really liked about my replicas.

Well it just so happened that I had an extra set of replicas lying around that I bought because the glass on one of my mirrors was broken when I bought it.

So what I did was swap out the internals from the replicas to the OEM. Here’s how.

Getting started:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/1.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/2.jpg

Remove the foam liner:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/3.jpg

Go to the plug…..
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/4.jpg

Lift the tab out…
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/5.jpg

And slide the wires out of the casing.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/6.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/7.jpg

Make note of these set of wires, as this is the side the 2 wires that add the autofold will connect to:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/8.jpg


Remove the glass by Tilting the mirror all the way up, look inside along the bottom. You’ll find a little prong you can slide a thin screwdriver into. Slide it in and push to the right to unlock the ring holding the mirror in….
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/9.jpg

Once off, pull off the 2 wires that are for the heated mirror function:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/10.jpg

Undo the 3 screws holding the glass mount and remove it:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/11.jpg

Unplug it and remove it
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/12.jpg

Undo the 5 screws holding the base inside the housing:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/13.jpg

Once it’s removed, there’s one last screw holding the folding arm in place. Remove it as well:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/14.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/16.jpg

In the base, you’ll find 2 screws holding the folding arm to the base. Remove them.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/17.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/18.jpg

You’ll find 4 screws holding the arm mount to the arm. Remove them:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/19.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/20.jpg

On the top of the elbow, LOOSEN, but don’t remove the 3 screws that hold the arm to the elbow.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/21.jpg

[TKC]

Ok, here’s the space mirror I had lying around. Basically, repeat all the above steps for this mirror as well.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/22.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/23.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/24.jpg

Once you get to the same point you were at with the OEM one, remove those final 3 screws at each elbow and swap that motor from the AUTOFOLDING elbow into the OEM M3 one. This is the mechanism/motor that does the autofolding function. It is accompanied with a Blue and White wire. Thread these 2 wires along with the rest of the wires.

When you start re-installing everything, I suggest using some loctite cause I’ve experienced mirrors loosening up over time and becoming wobbly.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/25.jpg

Notice now, the Blue and White wires now included:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/26.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/27.jpg

Put things back together in the reverse order you took them apart:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/28.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/29.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/30.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/31.jpg

I used the help of a little screwdriver to help thread the new blue and white wires through the rubber grommet.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/32.jpg

Ok, so from the old mirror, I cut off the old wire ends that go into the harness. I tapped them to the blue and white wires and plugged them into harness. If you recall from one of the earlier pics that shows the wire order, the colors should go in this sequence:

Green
Black
Grey
Red
White (the new one you just wired in)
Blue (the other new one you just wired in)

(I apologize, but I broke the connector that was on my blue wire, so I used a grey one, so in this picture the last wire isn’t the correct color like yours should be) :

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/33.jpg

The finished product:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/35.jpg



Put the mirrors back on the car!!!


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/RepvsOEM.jpg


A quick video of them in action! :D


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/th_OEMM3AutofoldVideo.jpg (http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/djtk12345/120408_M3%20autofold%20mirrors/?action=view&current=OEMM3AutofoldVideo.flv)

I’ll update this with a nice new pic of my car soon!

Hope this was useful, if not for the same purpose I did, at least to help with some mirror questions some may have.

Thanks!

[ZeroG]

Wow, nice write up. I am interested in the replicas as the internals looked pretty much OEM. I did the same thing as you except I used OEM Auto Folding Mirrors, and the Non-Folding Mirrors that came on my M3. The reason I did it though was to avoid the cost of painting.

It was a similar process except pretty much plug and play. I did not have to modify the wiring in anyway.

[TKC]

Wow, nice write up. I am interested in the replicas as the internals looked pretty much OEM. I did the same thing as you except I used OEM Auto Folding Mirrors, and the Non-Folding Mirrors that came on my M3. The reason I did it though was to avoid the cost of painting.

It was a similar process except pretty much plug and play. I did not have to modify the wiring in anyway.

Yea, I was just going to swap the whole internals from one to the other, but found out the based was different and the screw holes didn't line up.

At that point, I knew the only way to do it was to swap in only the motor, and luckily for me, it worked! :D

I'm happy! :D

[Arrows]

Good work Toby.

[mbox]

great build thread! thanks for posting!

[Laidback]

TKC FTW! your one handy dude and thank for posting the build thread:hail:

[Bimmerlifestyle]

nice i want that on my e46 soon

[AGENT31]

Nice write up. Thanks for sharing

[Paul46rider]

wow amazing right up, i was always told it couldn't be done, this is next on the list for sure

[Paul46rider]

does anyone know where i can buy some motors?

[Paul46rider]

got my motors, gonna do the install this week

[Laidback]

Nice , keep us updated Paul:clap:got my motors, gonna do the install this week

[casper3t]

how do you control the auto fold? is there a switch?

[Laidback]

Iirc the control will be on ignition and or on locking and unlocking the car...how do you control the auto fold? is there a switch?

[Paul46rider]

mine is done via the mirror adjust switch you have to buy one with the fold button on it, just done the install, very simple and very quick thanks again