Greetings everyone!
Some of you may be familiar with a common issue with our M5s where the side mirrors fold/unfold but do not stop in the proper position during their sweep. Sometimes the mirror will choose a random spot to stop, other times the mirror completely rotates upward or downward, only stopping once it reaches its mechanical limit. The temporary fix is to simply grab the mirror and manually snap it back into its detent when the other mirror is a full bottom sweep. I promise you this is only a temporary fix...ask me how I know.
Here are a couple example videos of what i'm talking about: (Video credit goes to their respective creators.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6foYm-6v0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uUNISa5yZM
This issue is also common with non ///M e6x and e9x with Magna mirrors.
The solution:
Thanks to our friend Troy Jeup for sending me some "R&D parts"
I was able to take a look into the root cause of this.
1. The mirror needs to be completely removed from the car to take it apart down to the level we need to. Pull the tweeter cover back above the door panel, and you will see 3 T30 bolts that hold the mirror to the door. Take them out, unplug the mirror and put the mirror on a bench.
2. Tilt the mirror glass all the way inward, grab it by the outside edge and pull it off the mirror motor. Do this carefully....there is a ribbon cable attached to the mirror glass you have to unplug.
3. Look for 4 small T15 black screws, these hold the front half to the back cover of the mirror shell. Take them out, and split the mirror case open.
4. Now look for 4x silver T15 screws, these hold the mirror motor clamshell to the rear mirror shell.
5. Now, you should have this:
Carefully remove xirclip circled in green off of the mirror spindle. You will need to reuse this so be careful not to break the tabs off! If you do break it, you can get a new one form your local home improvement store in hardware. Once this is off, you can access the internals of the mirror pivot spindle.
6. Separate the spindle pieces, but keep them in the order they were stacked!!
7. The black flat piece you see is a protective cover for the motor assembly. There are 4 tiny torx screws holding it on; take them out and remove the cover. Look for a little silver pin. (see the tip of the pry tool.)
See how the pin is stuck and sitting flush with the surface? This is BAD. This pin sits freely inside of a machined socket, along with a spring under it to make it spring loaded. What happens is, small debris gets into the socked and causes the pin to stick. The pin should be moving freely in its socket, and should be sticking out ~5-8mm in its natural position.
This is how it SHOULD look:
This little guy needs to move freely. You should be able to push him down, and he should spring back up with NO STICKING!
If your mirror isnt stopping, it is because this pin is stuck down. Flip the assembly over, and you will see a small in hold behind the pin on the assembly. You need to poke a small drift into the hole to pop the pin out from the back if you cant get it out from the front. Once you get it out, clean it really good and lube it up.
Function:
Unlike the e53 & e46, these mirrors do not use a micro switch to stop the motor.
Look at the above pictures closely. You can see that there are 3 little "ramps" and "divots" in the disc. The spring loaded pin rides on these "ramps" as the mirror is spinning. When the pin is stuck down, these ramps simply ride over the pin, so the mirror keeps spinning. When the pin sticks up, under spring pressure, it will catch one of the divots which are keyed with the disc as the mirror spins. The the pin catches the divot, it creates a mechanical stop for the motor, current spikes, and the mirror sees this as the mirror reaching its stopping point and cuts off the motor.
Clean everything up real nice and reassemble. The parts are keyed so they cannot be installed off-axis. Use plenty of lube on the swash plates too; it will quieten the mirror operation significantly!
Reinstall your mirror at it will work properly again.
Some of you may be familiar with a common issue with our M5s where the side mirrors fold/unfold but do not stop in the proper position during their sweep. Sometimes the mirror will choose a random spot to stop, other times the mirror completely rotates upward or downward, only stopping once it reaches its mechanical limit. The temporary fix is to simply grab the mirror and manually snap it back into its detent when the other mirror is a full bottom sweep. I promise you this is only a temporary fix...ask me how I know.
Here are a couple example videos of what i'm talking about: (Video credit goes to their respective creators.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6foYm-6v0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uUNISa5yZM
This issue is also common with non ///M e6x and e9x with Magna mirrors.
The solution:
Thanks to our friend Troy Jeup for sending me some "R&D parts"
I was able to take a look into the root cause of this.1. The mirror needs to be completely removed from the car to take it apart down to the level we need to. Pull the tweeter cover back above the door panel, and you will see 3 T30 bolts that hold the mirror to the door. Take them out, unplug the mirror and put the mirror on a bench.
2. Tilt the mirror glass all the way inward, grab it by the outside edge and pull it off the mirror motor. Do this carefully....there is a ribbon cable attached to the mirror glass you have to unplug.
3. Look for 4 small T15 black screws, these hold the front half to the back cover of the mirror shell. Take them out, and split the mirror case open.
4. Now look for 4x silver T15 screws, these hold the mirror motor clamshell to the rear mirror shell.
5. Now, you should have this:
Carefully remove xirclip circled in green off of the mirror spindle. You will need to reuse this so be careful not to break the tabs off! If you do break it, you can get a new one form your local home improvement store in hardware. Once this is off, you can access the internals of the mirror pivot spindle.
6. Separate the spindle pieces, but keep them in the order they were stacked!!
7. The black flat piece you see is a protective cover for the motor assembly. There are 4 tiny torx screws holding it on; take them out and remove the cover. Look for a little silver pin. (see the tip of the pry tool.)
See how the pin is stuck and sitting flush with the surface? This is BAD. This pin sits freely inside of a machined socket, along with a spring under it to make it spring loaded. What happens is, small debris gets into the socked and causes the pin to stick. The pin should be moving freely in its socket, and should be sticking out ~5-8mm in its natural position.
This is how it SHOULD look:
This little guy needs to move freely. You should be able to push him down, and he should spring back up with NO STICKING!
If your mirror isnt stopping, it is because this pin is stuck down. Flip the assembly over, and you will see a small in hold behind the pin on the assembly. You need to poke a small drift into the hole to pop the pin out from the back if you cant get it out from the front. Once you get it out, clean it really good and lube it up.
Function:
Unlike the e53 & e46, these mirrors do not use a micro switch to stop the motor.
Look at the above pictures closely. You can see that there are 3 little "ramps" and "divots" in the disc. The spring loaded pin rides on these "ramps" as the mirror is spinning. When the pin is stuck down, these ramps simply ride over the pin, so the mirror keeps spinning. When the pin sticks up, under spring pressure, it will catch one of the divots which are keyed with the disc as the mirror spins. The the pin catches the divot, it creates a mechanical stop for the motor, current spikes, and the mirror sees this as the mirror reaching its stopping point and cuts off the motor.
Clean everything up real nice and reassemble. The parts are keyed so they cannot be installed off-axis. Use plenty of lube on the swash plates too; it will quieten the mirror operation significantly!
Reinstall your mirror at it will work properly again.
