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FIX: Auto folding M5 mirrors.

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33K views 28 replies 14 participants last post by  RunGMc  
M
#1 ·
History: I bought this M5 mirrors form USA . BMW M5 E39 MIRROR REAL FOLD UP DOWN OEM OEM SET 97-03 - eBay (item 230560941802 end time Dec-12-10 08:56:33 PST)

This guy cheated me. He said the mirrors worked 100 %. I tested when I received the motor was not working. No problem to fold down. It fold up just half way. I claimed to Paypal which want a confirmation from workshop. But there are no workshop want to confirm that. The time run out and the case close. This is just sh* that they said they protected the buyer.
I decided to take the motor apart. I saw one of the pin was broken.

1. Drill a hole on the motor where the pin stand. The hole size is equal the pin's size.
2. Drill through the hole which holds the pin in place.
3. Screw a screw in to the hole in the motor

After tested a few time. It work complete on the way fold in. I save me 650 $ for a new motor (without glass). It is expensive in Norway. Hope this help some body.
 

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#4 ·
Mudbug,
I'm sorry to hear you has a bad experience with Paypal. Did the seller not have a return policy for the mirrors?

The one or two times I've filled a claim with Paypal I've had a good experience. In one case I did have to call their call center and speak with someone in person, not email, to get the desired outcome.

Did you trying calling Paypal?

For the benefit of the rest of us ordeing parts on eBay, what could have been done differently to prevent this?
 
G
#5 ·
Paypal rarely works. Always, always tie your paypal account to a credit card. If it is a big transaction, or one you have any concerns with (and still take the risk of going forward), use Amex. They are the best for the customer. I have won every credit card dispute even after paypal denied my claim.

Regards,
Jerry
 
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B
#7 ·
Same boat here, my driver side is lazy. Have not looked into how to open this puppy up, one day.
 
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S
#8 ·
I've repaired mine using this and another post as a guide. Once you disassemble the mirror and see the motor housing it will be quite obvious where to drill. The clarity of the pictures won't be an issue. Basically the motor is fixed into a sleeve and when it activates the gears cause the whole mirror housing to rotate. When the dowel pins for the sleeve cap break they allow the motor to move slightly inside of the sleeve and the gears move apart causing them not to mesh. Trust me, once you get it apart that will all make more sense and it will be quite obvious where to drill and insert the screws.
 
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B
#10 ·
I don't even know how to remove the mirror from the door. Tried removing inner door card, did not seem to help.
 
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S
#12 ·
It does require removing the door card but if I recall correctly you also have to pull away the window frame trim piece from the leading edge to get to all the bolts. There are 3 torx bolts holding the mirror assembly to the door.
 
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S
#15 ·
Sounds good. Before you disconnect the mirror from the module, tilt it all the way up. That way if you have to remove the glass during the repair you can access the lock ring. You don't want to manually move the actuator to get to it. It's at the bottom edge of the mirror glass on the back side, with the glass tilted all the way up you'll be able to get a slotted screwdriver in the gap and slide the lock ring over to release the glass. When you're trying to remove the base from the mirror housing there is a small plate on it held in place by a tab on one side and two screws on the other. It's also well sealed with some water-repellant silicone that you'll have to scrape away to get it off.
 
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M
#19 ·
My passenger side mirror had this issue. It stopped folding up automatically, but if manually put in the up position, it would automatically flip down. Flipping it back up would cause it to make a buzzing cracking noise.

I found that one of the dowel pins mentioned in the OP had broken off exactly as in the pictures. I ended up finding a used mirror on ebay with just the shell and motor for a decent price and used that as a replacement, now I have my old broken one to try and fix. Also, i noticed one of the gears starting to shear a little... this must have been helping it slip and make the buzzing sound.
 
R
#22 ·
Manny G. said:
My passenger side mirror had this issue. It stopped folding up automatically, but if manually put in the up position, it would automatically flip down. Flipping it back up would cause it to make a buzzing cracking noise.

I found that one of the dowel pins mentioned in the OP had broken off exactly as in the pictures. I ended up finding a used mirror on ebay with just the shell and motor for a decent price and used that as a replacement, now I have my old broken one to try and fix. Also, i noticed one of the gears starting to shear a little... this must have been helping it slip and make the buzzing sound.
Click to expand...
New owner here: My drivers side is fine up/down but my passenger side doesn't move at all. I didn't know our mirrors could be moved manually. I thought about it when troubleshooting but didn't want to force it. Can anyone confirm this for me?
 
H
#25 ·
Attempted new motor and gears to no avail, a total waste of time. The whole mechanism can be bought from bmw with unpainted plastic cowling for far less then I'd imagined and that is the route I took. I just wished I knew it before wasting many hours at the repair.
The mechanism is swapped easily whilst retaining / swapping your already painted plastic cowling.
 
B
#26 ·
Hakon said:
The whole mechanism can be bought from bmw with unpainted plastic cowling for far less then I'd imagined and that is the route I took. I just wished I knew it before wasting many hours at the repair.
The mechanism is swapped easily whilst retaining / swapping your already painted plastic cowling.
Click to expand...
Care to share a link or PN from RealOEM as I hadn't thought of that as an option
 
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