My story of the mirror. ( lots of pics )
I did post previously but incorporating it into this thread.
https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=78241
So, bought the car with the right mirror broken off, so thought to myself, hey this can't be that much of a pain to sort out. Boy was I wrong, like with many of the other faults that came with the car :dunnoanymore:
So thats how the Mirror looked.
Initially in 2016 used a cable tie hack to keep the mirror on so I could drive the car safely.
So then started attempting to get the mirror repaired as replacement mirror from dealers was crazy prices. I mean crazy crazy. So i started hunting around all the scrapyards I could find. They all wanted around the same price R3500.00 but could not find the ribbon cable ones. Finally managed to get one from Ebay for around R1500 but cant remember the courier costs. Also no ribbon connector but thought that I could attempt to repair the cable on the ribbon connector and transfer the repaired motor into the replacement housing mirror.
Stripped the old mirror down and had the engineers bolt the parts together. Could no longer fold but done the job for temp situation.
Then the fun begins.
Below are all the pics of the replacement ebay mirror, When I stripped that mirror, there was rust and spiderwebs and whatnot inside. Spend many many many hours cleaning, sanding, boiling in vinegar, dipping in a acid solution, till I got the results I wanted. Shiny again. I know its only inside the mirror but wanted it clean. So then started on the old ribbon motor cable. Tried mutiple solution, copper tape, glue. Finally had a friend with a cellphone repair shop that soldered cable onto the ribbon cable and connectors. Small crack on the motor, had that fixed as well. Connected the motor to the car, and great news it worked. So began installing the motor in the ebay housing. Was not a 100% fit so modified the motor plastic housing to make it fit 100%. Tried to seal the soldered points with epoxy and I think thats where I messed up. No longer working. So i packed everything in a box out of frustration of spending so many hours and put the Ebay mirror back on with the ebay motor back on the car and sent the car to gizmo. No connections so manual adjustments till I try again with a new idea that I have in my head. Just waiting for the connectors to come from gearbest, which should sort out the joining of the ribbon cable. Hope it works, otherwise have to sell the ebay mirror as it should work 100% with other e46 coupe / vert vehicles that have the normal connectors and start my hunt again for a ribbon connector mirror.
Ebay Mirror Stripped. Had to use a dremel tool to remove the screws. Rusted shut.
Boiling in Vinegar solution.
Stages of Cleaning, grinding, sanding buffing, etching.
Ready to be assembled
