[mudbug]

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.

 

[mudbug]

More picture

 

[sheefo2k]

Thank you
I might use this down the road.

 

[Georgia M5]

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?

 

[gsfent]

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?

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

 

[daeji5]

i may have to PM you (OP) in the future. My passenger mirror sometimes doesn't fold all the way up, but the pictures are a little fuzzy so i can't exactly see what/where to drill. Thank you so much for this post though!

 

[bimmerule]

Same boat here, my driver side is lazy. Have not looked into how to open this puppy up, one day.

 

[Strike]

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.

 

[Boost Infection]

Once you disassemble the mirror and see the motor housing

How hard is that? Just pry mirror off?

Thanks

 

[bimmerule]

I don't even know how to remove the mirror from the door. Tried removing inner door card, did not seem to help.

 

[sheefo2k]

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.

My mirrors both move, passenger side moves pretty good and normal (could use a grease repack) the driver side only moves half way up and obviously could use a grease repack. I wonder if this is the problem.

 

[Strike]

I don't even know how to remove the mirror from the door. Tried removing inner door card, did not seem to help.

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.

 

[Strike]

My mirrors both move, passenger side moves pretty good and normal (could use a grease repack) the driver side only moves half way up and obviously could use a grease repack. I wonder if this is the problem.

It sounds like one of the pegs is cracked and almost broken. I re-greased mine when I made the repair but there was still plenty of grease on there when I pulled it apart and the gears are small with a tight tolerance but they're metal and pretty solid, I'm sure they'd still work dry but they'd be noisy. When the pegs break all the way through they'll usually prevent the mirror from moving one direction, it will just click and shake. When they're cracked but not broken through yet they may hold enough tension to let it move a little until the gears move apart.

 

[sheefo2k]

It sounds like one of the pegs is cracked and almost broken. I re-greased mine when I made the repair but there was still plenty of grease on there when I pulled it apart and the gears are small with a tight tolerance but they're metal and pretty solid, I'm sure they'd still work dry but they'd be noisy. When the pegs break all the way through they'll usually prevent the mirror from moving one direction, it will just click and shake. When they're cracked but not broken through yet they may hold enough tension to let it move a little until the gears move apart.

Yea I assumed the same thing, I will take them apart maybe this weekend and fix them.
I ll make a nice DIY and added to this thread.

 

[Strike]

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.

 

[sheefo2k]

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.

Challenge accepted.

But, what if the driver side doesn't tilt up all the way?
I ll show you what I mean, let me go make a video:1:

 

[Strike]

Challenge accepted.

But, what if the driver side doesn't tilt up all the way?
I ll show you what I mean, let me go make a video:1:

Like I said earlier, I'm willing to bet one of the dowel pins is cracked but not broken all the way through yet. It's holding enough tension to let the mirror start moving, and then the torque of the electric motor becomes too much for it and it bends. This allows the gears to move apart to the point where the teeth no longer mesh and it stops. The other dowel pin is probably fine and holds enough tension when the motor is reversed to make it fold down. I could be wrong, but having made this repair myself and being familiar with the internals this is my best educated guess based on your symptoms.

 

[RedP85]

On mine, only the passenger moves up
I will add this work for my driver side mirror on my things to fix !

 

[Manny G.]

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.

 

[bibledriver]

I had mine out recently, and will add some pics soon as my experience differed a bit. If you don't mind me asking, about what price did you pay for the ebay part, out of curiosity?