Offside Mirror

[x5chap]

Hi, I have 53 3.0d silver sport. Its a great car, very solid and well put together, unlike some other beemers I have owned in the past. Whilst driving hime on Christmas day up narrow road a van took off my drivers side door mirror, I thought it had been totally destroyed, however on getting home I found there were a few bits left working. Whats still there is the metal surround, the motor works that adjusts the mirror angle, and the glass is still there but smashed to bits. Ive lost the puddle light, the shiny black surround, the silver back plate and I need a new mirror.

My question is... Ive seen the prices from the dealer... gulp!!! has anyone managed to fix these themselves from used parts, is it something easy to do and if so where is the best place to get the bits from?... or should I just go to the dealer smile and take it...?...

Great forum by the way, helped me out quite a few times...

Cheers Bob

[x5dom]

Sorry to hear that Bob. Same happened to moi Christmas Day '08. Know narrow country lane, pull over and stationary as some numpty in his Freelander 2 coming in opposite direction at speed. You've guessed the rest Best bit, he continues to speed off! Managed to catch him up though

I assume you are looking to avoid going via your insurance... for which I don't blame you. It is possible to DIY. Your best bet would be to search eBay or indeed post here in the 'wanted' section. Maybe google BMW breakers. Complete mirrors occasionally come up from those breaking an E53 or indeed peeps that have retrofitted power fold units as do the three individual parts you need. Check if the puddle light is included with a rear casing.

All best with it and hope you manage to sort it quickly

[pvr]

This has all the parts at better prices:

http://www.c3bmw.co.uk/StockItem.asp?ca ... m=unassign

[x5chap]

Thanks, im trying to keep away from insurance claim, by the time ive paid the excess etc etc....

I could not turn round as the lane was so narrow, so i drove to the end turned round and gave chase but he was gone.... though I did find his mirror broken off completely, made me a feel a bit better.

Ill do some digging on the website, I've found the electrochromatic glass on ebay (I'm assuming thats what the green gel is coming from the broken glass). Does anyone know if the back shell came as a painted part or just unpainted?.

Thanks Bob

[pvr]

Unpainted, and the cost to paint by a dealer is about £70.

[AW8]

If saving money is the issue I would ideally source a complete mirror unit & ideally in same colour as your car assuming it's in a popular hue.

If current salvage availability an issue I would be tempted to improvise for time being with duct tape &/or a 3rd party stick on mirror glass if able to tolerate such a temporary imperfection to keep things legal in interim.

For parts try Quarry Motors, LK Spares, Fab Recycling, LK Spares, Ebay & Pistonheads, (if using the later 2 sites dont just search for a mirror or parts but 1st search for entire salvage cars as many breakers will only list/advertise the fact they are breaking a car & wont list all parts seperately). Be very careful with part finder service providers where you enter details that get circulated to varuious breakers nationwide - you could get lucky but potentially you invite a multitude of unknown folk to try to sell you any old junk.

If buying salvage do check to make sure that the mirror glass,( e.g. convex, heated, chromatic, martix blindspot zone etc), is identical to yours. For buyer protection pay by credit & try to get email in advance confirming accurate description of part being identical & all aspects, (motor, floodlight, heating, chromatic fluid integrity etc), are described as fine......that way you have some comeback if you get sold wrong or defective item.

If sourcing a whole unit you could offset cost by selling individual non damaged parts you may have remaining from old unit.

Finally dont reject a unit on colour alone. Spraying a cover is not a major task, however, a user frienly bodyshop or smart repairer should be able to do this for a small fee (I would aim for say £30-40 cash max).

Hope some of above ramblings of use...............Good luck

[X5Sport]

Incredibly useful ramblings. Ought to be in a future 'How to' or for the parts finder warning bit 'How not to' library you're developing..

[x5chap]

Fantastic info.... Thanks a lot, ive set an email alert up on ebay, just off to have a trawl through the other websites.... Cheers Bob

[x5chap]

Found the glass on ebay for £95 quid, and getting the dealership to do the rest, they ordered the cover including the puddle light in the right colour for £127. So i saved £100 quid on the glass... which is not bad. Must say that the dealer in Edinburgh was fantastic, came out to the car check everything was working,, wrote a list of parts down, went through the costs with me asked me if I wanted to try and get other bits on ebay and said he would fit. Big service also booked in with the, they have some cheaper service deal as its an E53..... Thanks for you help... and watch those damn transit drivers