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      06-16-2009, 07:05 PM   #1
eclipsisNA
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Euro (Matte Black) Side Mirror Swap

I always liked the matte black side mirrors that came on the E93 M3 in the US and the E9* M3 lineup in Europe. I felt the gloss black housings that came on the American E92 M3 picked up water spots and scratches too easily, so I went ahead and ordered the left and right European housings from ecstuning.com: part numbers 51168041911 and 51168041912. They cost a little more than $600, but I sold my old gloss black housings to an E90Post member for $450, so I'm not losing too much. The following is a DIY to swap out your current mirrors for the Euro versions.

New matte black housing as it came from the factory:



My door trim is already removed in this picture. You need to position a flat head screwdriver behind the outer end of the trim, gently ply up w/ the screwdriver, then pull the rest of the trim off with your hand. The white parts shown are anchors that hold the trim in place. It's a wise idea to put a towel or business card underneath the screwdriver so you don't damage your door panel.



There are 4 hex head screws that help hold the door panel in place that you need to remove w/ a screwdriver.



With a towel or business card behind your screwdriver, insert a flat head screwdriver between the door panel and the door itself. You should insert the screwdriver near the outer bottom part of the door as there are white door plugs there that need to pop out. Once you hear one plug pop out, put both your hands behind the door panel and pull the entire panel off the door. The door panel has wires connecting it to the door, so make sure you don't pull the door panel too far away from the door, because your wires will rip.



In the next picture, the speaker column has already been removed by gently lifting it upward, NOT OUTWARD. If you pull it outward, it will snap the holding joints. Once its removed, unplug the wiring harness from the mirror housing, which is the black circle in the picture below. There are 3 hex head screws that need to be removed in order to take out the mirror housing. Be careful: when removing the last of the 3 screws, make sure you're holding the mirror housing on the outside, or it will fall and break. Remove the old mirror housing and replace it with the new one.



Reverse the previous steps:

1. Screw in the mirror housing's 3 hex head screws
2. Secure the speaker column back into place
3. Put the door panel back in place by punching the white plugs back into their respective holes
4. Screw in the door panel's 4 hex head screws
5. Punch door trim back into anchors

Now you need to remove the glass from your old mirror housings. Take a flat head screwdriver and put the head behind the glass, gently prying it off one side at a time. Be very careful or the glass may crack. Once its off, remove the two black wires attached to its backside, connect those wires to the new mirror housing, and then simply snap the glass onto the new mirror housings.

Wallah! Enjoy your new Euro housings:



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      06-16-2009, 07:41 PM   #2
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Good write-up. But have a question for you: Don't the matte mirror housings look kind of odd around the rest of the glossy shadowline trim?
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      06-16-2009, 07:41 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elp_jc View Post
Good write-up. But have a question for you: Don't the matte mirror housings look kind of odd around the rest of the glossy shadowline trim?
It does look odd, which is why I'm having EAS wrap the window trim in matte black vinyl.
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      06-16-2009, 08:11 PM   #4
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Eric,

Did you get the euro split mirrors too or just the housing? If you got the euro split mirrors/heated/auto-dim, please take pics. I'm considering getting them, but would like to see them first. Thanks.

Kevin
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      06-16-2009, 10:10 PM   #5
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Who made the carbon mirror covers on your car? Are they the ones from EAS?
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      06-19-2009, 11:52 AM   #6
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Looks great. I am doing this immediately. I can't stand the gloss finish.

Thanks.

P.S. I also sold by OEM mirrors in a single day to a regular 3 series guy. Got $450 just like you did. Based on how fast they seem to be selling it looks like $475-$500 for a used set might be the market price.
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      07-18-2009, 08:31 PM   #7
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BIG CAVEAT:

The part numbers supplied here are absolutely matte black and fit perfect. However, they are NOT motorized and are NOT auto dimming. I'm really surprised the OP failed to mention this. The connector inside the mirror from the body to the glass is not even compatible with the one from the glass. Perhaps the two black wires that are now loose can somehow be hooked up to the glass for auto dimming? I probably would not have bothered with this mod if I knew that before hand.

So the big question is my opinion is the following: Are there matte black, auto dimming motorized housings available, what are the part numbers and who sells them?

Anyway, if you are willing to live without motors and auto dimming this is a great write up, I would have screwed this up without it. Getting stuff apart in modern automobiles is often so darn tricky. My added comments/corrections:
  1. Screws attaching door are torx (star), not phillips, T20. T30 are the ones holding the mirrors on. Don't bother starting this job without the right bits.
  2. You have to pop the cover on the passengers side door handle and remove the torx screw underneath it at the top of the handle to remove the door panel.
  3. I had to pull quite a but more than "gently" on the speaker housing to remove it. But yes, pull up as described, not out.
  4. The third torx screw attaching the mirror to the door is hidden under the rubber seal.
  5. The mirror glass literally pops right off as described, just use a small screw driver and some cardboard, you can force the mirrors motor into a better position for prying on the left and then on the right.
  6. To swap mirror covers start by prying/popping the bottom of the cover off first then the top. You will almost for sure break a couple of the really small guide tabs but they are not a big deal. They don't actually hold the cover on. If you remove the mirror glass first you may be able to release the four serrated clamps from the glass side instead of prying.
  7. The green speaker wires fit in the rear most slot. They can be easily confused with the blue wires (and the connector fits) that go in the slot right next to it. You'll know what I mean when you see it.
  8. The alignment between the base and top post/wing of the mirror body is substantially better (looks pretty much perfect) than the OEM unit. This was a complaint quite a few of us noted about our mirrors.

Hope these things help.
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Last edited by swamp2; 07-19-2009 at 03:04 AM..
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      07-20-2009, 05:52 PM   #8
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OK here is the deal. As I mentioned the part numbers in the OP are matte, non power folding and non auto dimming. The matte, power folding and auto dimming part numbers are:

51168041921
51168041922

and the OEM (US E92, gloss, power folding, auto dimming) are:

51168044795
51168044796

Hope this prevents confusion for anyone else.
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Last edited by swamp2; 10-25-2010 at 06:21 PM..
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      07-28-2009, 09:06 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post

The part numbers supplied here are absolutely matte black and fit perfect. However, they are NOT motorized and are NOT auto dimming. I'm really surprised the OP failed to mention this.
They are motorized. On my 6MT, when I put the car in reverse, the mirrors automatically tilt to show the ground.

Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
The connector inside the mirror from the body to the glass is not even compatible with the one from the glass.
When you said "two black wires," I only have one and it fits perfectly into the glass from the mirror housing. I don't have auto dimming so maybe that's the only thing that's missing? Otherwise the one black wire fits into the rear of the glass perfectly and provides motor movements.
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      07-28-2009, 11:51 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eclipse Motors View Post
They are motorized. On my 6MT, when I put the car in reverse, the mirrors automatically tilt to show the ground.

When you said "two black wires," I only have one and it fits perfectly into the glass from the mirror housing. I don't have auto dimming so maybe that's the only thing that's missing? Otherwise the one black wire fits into the rear of the glass perfectly and provides motor movements.
My language was not quite accurate enough. They are power mirrors, meaning you can adjust the angles of the mirror. They are also auto tilting since that just uses the power adjustment feature. They are not, however, power folding (using the small button near the adjustment buttons) and are not auto dimming.

The wires that are not used are the ones you can clearly see in your very first picture - the one with the blade/socket connection.
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      07-28-2009, 11:59 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
They are not, however, power folding (using the small button near the adjustment buttons) and are not auto dimming.
I didn't mention this in my OP because I do not have the power folding mirror option on my car, thus it wasn't apparent to me that the part numbers I listed didn't include the power folding option.
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      07-29-2009, 01:20 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eclipse Motors View Post
I didn't mention this in my OP because I do not have the power folding mirror option on my car, thus it wasn't apparent to me that the part numbers I listed didn't include the power folding option.
Ahhh ha, I thought power folding was standard in the US! This explains everything. This option is part of ZPP, the Premium Package. Thanks.
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      09-16-2009, 10:11 PM   #13
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Hmmm, so are there Matte mirrors with "Power Folding"???

D
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      09-16-2009, 11:06 PM   #14
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Gotta see some better pics before I can tell if they look odd or not.
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      09-30-2009, 02:08 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Definitive View Post
Hmmm, so are there Matte mirrors with "Power Folding"???

D
Hmmm, can you read (or perhaps more friendly - did you read)? See my post #8 just above.
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      09-30-2009, 12:10 PM   #16
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Thanks for the nicer version swamp. I must be blind cause I missed it.

D
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      09-30-2009, 12:15 PM   #17
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Ive always loved that my E93 came with the matte black mirrors. the only thing that sucked was it also came with aluminum/chrome trim around the windows (unlike the E90 and E92). But I had that painted matte black to match the oem matte black mirrors.
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