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      08-19-2019, 10:50 PM   #1
chadrandom
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Help? Retrofitting Euro Blind Spot Mirrors

My apologies up front if this has been covered already, but after searching for a while I'm unable to find the answers I'm looking for.

Clearly the Euro blind spot mirrors can be installed on my M235i because the size is the same, and all the clips will fit the housing. But, the Euro mirrors appear to only be available with heated and auto-dimming features. So, questions remain...

1. My M235i doesn't have the cold weather package (has heated seats, but no heated steering wheel), so are any other parts necessary for the heating and dimming features of the Euro mirrors to function properly?

2. Whether additional parts are needed or not, is coding required?

As I understand from the internet research I've done so far, the easiest way to tell if you have heated mirrors is to see if they begin to heat up at temperatures below 50f, however that's not going to happen anytime soon given that it's summer. So, is there any other way to tell? An option code?

Any help from those who know or have done this would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,


Chad
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      08-20-2019, 07:36 AM   #2
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EURO Blind Spot Mirrors

Was interested in your post. The one thing I wish my 16 M235 cabrio needs is blind spot monitoring. With the top up it has really poor visibility. I got spoiled with my A5 that has them and always wished BMW wasn't so cheap and would make them standard.
A few questions;
1. where did you or will you get them from;
2. how will you deal with the sensor issue or do they use the park distance
sensors
3. cost

thanks
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      08-20-2019, 01:05 PM   #3
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What I'm looking at doing is just installing the glass with the aspherical outer area...

https://ind-distribution.com/collect...rror-glass-set

I would also be interested in retrofitting proper blind spot detection, however my understanding is that neither the OEM parts nor the coding exists for this.
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      08-20-2019, 01:57 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
What I'm looking at doing is just installing the glass with the aspherical outer area...

https://ind-distribution.com/collect...rror-glass-set

I would also be interested in retrofitting proper blind spot detection, however my understanding is that neither the OEM parts nor the coding exists for this.

I ordered Aspherical glass for my Audi s4 for a fraction of that cost from the UK


If you have tinted windows like I do, the loss of auto-dimming will not be missed

Last edited by fmzip; 08-22-2019 at 07:04 PM..
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      08-20-2019, 02:01 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
My apologies up front if this has been covered already, but after searching for a while I'm unable to find the answers I'm looking for.

Clearly the Euro blind spot mirrors can be installed on my M235i because the size is the same, and all the clips will fit the housing. But, the Euro mirrors appear to only be available with heated and auto-dimming features. So, questions remain...

1. My M235i doesn't have the cold weather package (has heated seats, but no heated steering wheel), so are any other parts necessary for the heating and dimming features of the Euro mirrors to function properly?

2. Whether additional parts are needed or not, is coding required?

As I understand from the internet research I've done so far, the easiest way to tell if you have heated mirrors is to see if they begin to heat up at temperatures below 50f, however that's not going to happen anytime soon given that it's summer. So, is there any other way to tell? An option code?

Any help from those who know or have done this would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,


Chad

I believe the wires for the heating are already in your mirror housing, just pop off your glass to take a look in there. BMW pre-wires quite a bit of the usual options on every car.
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      08-21-2019, 03:42 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fmzip View Post
I believe the wires for the heating are already in your mirror housing, just pop off your glass to take a look in there. BMW pre-wires quite a bit of the usual options on every car.
Ya, I just swapped out my M-Sport steering wheel this evening for the M Performance wheel and found that despite my car not having the cold weather package, and thus no heated steering wheel button, the M-Sport wheel had the heating element built in. I was a bit confused and thought I might have ordered the wrong M Performance wheel for a minute because I didn't expect the heating element to be there.
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      08-21-2019, 03:47 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fmzip View Post
I ordered Aspherical glass for my Audi s4 for a fraction of that cost from the UK here, I went with Van Wezel as they make a lot of OEM German parts:

https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/spa...rd=51167284999

https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/spa...eyword=0633838

Total is $138! shipping is the bulk of that cost at $100


$395 for likely a non-BMW part is insane! Glass is glass, and it's heated You will get charged by your visa for an overseas transaction for $40, Maybe you can get a few people to go in on it to save the cost.

If you have tinted windows like I do, the loss of auto-dimming will not be missed
Thanks for the tips! I definitely wasn't planning on purchasing the mirrors from IND because that price is insane, but was planning on purchasing used on ebay where they sell for ~$150 for the BMW parts. I'll definitely check this out.
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      08-21-2019, 04:54 PM   #8
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Three years ago I had concerns my heated mirrors weren't working. After being confirmed by the dealer that everything was fine, they said that the exterior mirror heating kicks on 37F and below. They actually provided some documentation to that effect, but I can't find it now. I have no idea if that temperature can be modified via coding, but it sure would be nice if it could.
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      08-23-2019, 07:07 PM   #9
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I bought my driver side aspherical mirror and passenger convex mirror (more convex than the North American that has letters on it) from Schmiedmann, https://www.schmiedmann.com, shipping cost me about USD$30.

Left aspherical mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-284-999 (this is the standard Euro driver mirror)
Right convex mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-285-000 (this is the standard Euro passenger mirror)
Left convex mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-285-001 (this is the standard UK passenger mirror)
Right aspherical mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-285-002 (this is the standard UK driver mirror)

OEM part cost is about USD$95 for each mirror, but they have non-BMW ones for USD$15 or so.
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      08-24-2019, 08:56 PM   #10
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Anyone know if the auto dimming feature of BMW's side mirrors will work if I install them? Would additional hardware and/or coding be needed?
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      03-04-2020, 08:10 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
Anyone know if the auto dimming feature of BMW's side mirrors will work if I install them? Would additional hardware and/or coding be needed?
Did you ever end up installing the mirrors with auto-dimming? I just purchased the mirrors and realized the auto-dimming connector but didn't see any options for after market replacements with auto-dimming.

Anyway, I figured I could cut the auto-dimming wires from the OEM mirrors and just tuck them away without any issues. Curious if it requires a code out to disable AD, anyone know? Thanks!
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      03-04-2020, 03:45 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kegobass View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
Anyone know if the auto dimming feature of BMW's side mirrors will work if I install them? Would additional hardware and/or coding be needed?
Did you ever end up installing the mirrors with auto-dimming? I just purchased the mirrors and realized the auto-dimming connector but didn't see any options for after market replacements with auto-dimming.

Anyway, I figured I could cut the auto-dimming wires from the OEM mirrors and just tuck them away without any issues. Curious if it requires a code out to disable AD, anyone know? Thanks!
My understanding is that the auto-dimming feature is not electronic, but rather a feature of the glass itself. I could be wrong, but I read that somewhere (possibly in these forums) and it seems feasible. That would mean the wires are for the heating elements. I connected them and haven't had any frost on my mirrors, however I live in Seattle where the temperature never got very low this winter.
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      03-04-2020, 04:36 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by kegobass View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
Anyone know if the auto dimming feature of BMW's side mirrors will work if I install them? Would additional hardware and/or coding be needed?
Did you ever end up installing the mirrors with auto-dimming? I just purchased the mirrors and realized the auto-dimming connector but didn't see any options for after market replacements with auto-dimming.

Anyway, I figured I could cut the auto-dimming wires from the OEM mirrors and just tuck them away without any issues. Curious if it requires a code out to disable AD, anyone know? Thanks!
My understanding is that the auto-dimming feature is not electronic, but rather a feature of the glass itself. I could be wrong, but I read that somewhere (possibly in these forums) and it seems feasible. That would mean the wires are for the heating elements. I connected them and haven't had any frost on my mirrors, however I live in Seattle where the temperature never got very low this winter.
Curious, do you have 3 connectors on your oem glass or 2?
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      03-04-2020, 04:37 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kegobass View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by kegobass View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
Anyone know if the auto dimming feature of BMW's side mirrors will work if I install them? Would additional hardware and/or coding be needed?
Did you ever end up installing the mirrors with auto-dimming? I just purchased the mirrors and realized the auto-dimming connector but didn't see any options for after market replacements with auto-dimming.

Anyway, I figured I could cut the auto-dimming wires from the OEM mirrors and just tuck them away without any issues. Curious if it requires a code out to disable AD, anyone know? Thanks!
My understanding is that the auto-dimming feature is not electronic, but rather a feature of the glass itself. I could be wrong, but I read that somewhere (possibly in these forums) and it seems feasible. That would mean the wires are for the heating elements. I connected them and haven't had any frost on my mirrors, however I live in Seattle where the temperature never got very low this winter.
Curious, do you have 3 connectors on your oem glass or 2?
2 if memory serves
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      04-11-2020, 08:28 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerobod View Post
I bought my driver side aspherical mirror and passenger convex mirror (more convex than the North American that has letters on it) from Schmiedmann, https://www.schmiedmann.com, shipping cost me about USD$30.

Left aspherical mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-284-999 (this is the standard Euro driver mirror)
Right convex mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-285-000 (this is the standard Euro passenger mirror)
Left convex mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-285-001 (this is the standard UK passenger mirror)
Right aspherical mirror with heating is part number 51-16-7-285-002 (this is the standard UK driver mirror)

OEM part cost is about USD$95 for each mirror, but they have non-BMW ones for USD$15 or so.
I just added a driver side euro mirror. I've always preached proper mirror setup and use to mitigate blind spots and was a bit dismissive about the value of the euro mirrors, but I'm convinced of their value now.

While a standard planar mirror can be safely used with proper setup and technique, the euro mirrors do make for easier use. Yes, you do have to deal with distance distortion, but that's easy enough to get used to.
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      05-15-2020, 11:00 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chadrandom View Post
My understanding is that the auto-dimming feature is not electronic, but rather a feature of the glass itself. I could be wrong, but I read that somewhere (possibly in these forums) and it seems feasible. That would mean the wires are for the heating elements. I connected them and haven't had any frost on my mirrors, however I live in Seattle where the temperature never got very low this winter.
I have auto-dimming/heated mirrors and have swapped to the euro aspherical mirror (also heated/dimming). I can tell you that auto dimming is definitely an active system, and is controlled by the white connector on the mirror. The heater runs off the two spade connectors, and you can tell they're for the heater because you can see the heating traces running from the connectors. I don't think there's any issue leaving one or both unconnected should you have a car without those options.
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