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      03-18-2015, 05:50 AM   #1
Efthreeoh
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Rear View Mirror

I apologize if this has been brought up before, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Per the owner's manual, the auto dimming mirror on the Roadster has the light sensor (rear-facing) on the top lip of the mirror housing and the Coupe has the light sensor on the bottom lip of the housing (near the clown nose). However, in my Coupe, the light sensor is on the top lip. I'm trying to figure out if my car was built with the wrong mirror, or if BMW planned on having different mirrors for the Coupe and Roadster, wrote the manual that way, but then ended up just using the same mirror for both the Coupe and Roadster.

I know, 1st world problem, but I'm thinking it affects the speed at which the Coupe switches to dim mode. Any insight is appreciated.
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      03-18-2015, 11:01 AM   #2
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Coupe mirrors are oval shaped. Roadster mirrors are rounded/trapezoidal.
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      03-18-2015, 11:35 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
I apologize if this has been brought up before, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Per the owner's manual, the auto dimming mirror on the Roadster has the light sensor (rear-facing) on the top lip of the mirror housing and the Coupe has the light sensor on the bottom lip of the housing (near the clown nose). However, in my Coupe, the light sensor is on the top lip. I'm trying to figure out if my car was built with the wrong mirror, or if BMW planned on having different mirrors for the Coupe and Roadster, wrote the manual that way, but then ended up just using the same mirror for both the Coupe and Roadster.

I know, 1st world problem, but I'm thinking it affects the speed at which the Coupe switches to dim mode. Any insight is appreciated.
Not sure what year your coupe is, but when I look mine up on RealOEM there seems to have been a few mirror options. I believe the auto-dimming mirror is #1 in that diagram (sensor on top lip). I actually have mirror #2 in my coupe, so I have to manually rotate the clown nose to dim mine.

Can you include a picture of your mirror for reference?
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      03-18-2015, 12:58 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by koruptor View Post
Not sure what year your coupe is, but when I look mine up on RealOEM there seems to have been a few mirror options. I believe the auto-dimming mirror is #1 in that diagram (sensor on top lip). I actually have mirror #2 in my coupe, so I have to manually rotate the clown nose to dim mine.

Can you include a picture of your mirror for reference?
So after I posted, I reliazed I could just answer my own question and check realOEM. I checked and the same auto-dimming mirror is used for the Coupe and Roadster. I guess BMW intended to use a different mirror, but ended up not doing so. The reason I asked was I think like all auto-dimming it takes too long to dim and I was thinking it is due to the placement of the sensor.

Anyway thanks for the replies.
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A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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      03-18-2015, 10:01 PM   #5
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Some coupes have the oval mirror, some have the trapezoidal mirror. My November '06 production '07 model has the oval.
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      03-19-2015, 04:41 AM   #6
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Just to close this up, my question was not about the shape of the mirror, but rather the location of the rear-facing light sensor. The excerpt from the owners manual below says the Coupe has the photocell on the bottom lip of the mirror and the Roadster on the top lip. I assume this has to do with folded position of the Roadster top, where it might block the photocell if it were on the bottom of the mirror like it (is said to be) for the Coupe. In reality, it appears BMW did not make a separate mirror design for the Coupe, as my 2008 (Oct 2007 build) car has the photocell on the top lip of the mirror. I was just checking to see if anyone with a Coupe had the mirror as depicted by the language in the owners manual.
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A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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      03-19-2015, 05:39 AM   #7
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I definitely have both oval and trapezoidal autodimming mirrors in my cars. I can't check the location of the photocell right now, but the mirrors are not identical.
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      03-19-2015, 06:57 PM   #8
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I have a 07 Z4MC w/ oval mirror and the sensor is on the bottom. I used a flashlight aimed at the sensor and watched the mirrors all dim, I then put my finger over the sensor and watched them un-dim. It's not too fast, maybe a couple seconds.
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      03-19-2015, 07:35 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pungo View Post
I have a 07 Z4MC w/ oval mirror and the sensor is on the bottom.
Same with mine.

Sounds like OP has wrong mirror, for whatever reason. Does it matter? Probably not much, if at all.
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      03-20-2015, 08:38 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinC View Post
Same with mine.

Sounds like OP has wrong mirror, for whatever reason. Does it matter? Probably not much, if at all.
Someone do a Homelink upgrade? Maybe?

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      03-20-2015, 08:56 AM   #11
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I've got the oval mirror in my coupe, but the red piece on the bottom won't twist at all. I'm afraid I'll break it if I try any harder.
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