Is there an autodimming mirror option for the e39?

[demetk]

Car 2001 525it.

I simply assumed that all e39's got auto-dimming rear-view mirrors that I didn't give it a second thought until one night I got blinded by a big rig following behind me with his big lights. I looked all round the mirror for the dimming lever but found none. I had to adjust the mirror upwards for some relief. The mirror has this round button at the bottom that flashes when the doors are locked. Pushed it and pulled it and nothing. Then I twisted it and sure enough the mirror flipped up to dim mode.

So I have two questions. Is there an e39 mirror that is auto-dimming? And will the alarm be affected if I replace the existing mirror with an aftermarket auto-dimming mirror?

TIA

[TooEasyL2P]

There's small mirrors that has no auto dimm, and there's big mirrors, which has normal and auto dimm mirrors. M has both as well i think.

[bmchuckleyou]

Both of our e39's came with auto dimming mirrors from factory- and they're both early models..

My 540 also has the light you talk about, so you may be able to interchange with an auto dimming mirror.

Check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwleoeO-cA

If you have the same electrical connector, you may be in luck.

[BimmerBreaker]

Just installed an autodimming mirror from a 540 into my 525iT today. 100% plug and play, no modifications required, the harness is exactly the same, all functions still work as OEM.

[demetk]

Thanks. Anyone have one for sale? Where is the classifieds for the e39 anyway?

[Mike WW]

Autodimming to me is something of a misnomer, it does so at night and at night only regardless of how bright lights behind you are. If it's some a**hat in a pickup so far up in the air his aftermarket HIDs are at roof level and he runs them during the day, there's nothing you can do short of maladjusting the mirror if it's an auto one. Conversly, at night if the only vehicle behind you is half a mile off, I don't want the mirror dimmed, I want to see what's coming until I determine it's got out of headlights way out of adjustment. Then again I like 3 pedals in my cars too.

[1823alex]

My dad has the manual mirror that you twist the bottom of, my car however has the auto dimming one.

I've heard of people swapping in a mirror from older range rovers that has the compass or temperature light in the corner too.

Pretty sweet imo

[demetk]

Autodimming to me is something of a misnomer, it does so at night and at night only regardless of how bright lights behind you are. If it's some a**hat in a pickup so far up in the air his aftermarket HIDs are at roof level and he runs them during the day, there's nothing you can do short of maladjusting the mirror if it's an auto one. Conversly, at night if the only vehicle behind you is half a mile off, I don't want the mirror dimmed, I want to see what's coming until I determine it's got out of headlights way out of adjustment. Then again I like 3 pedals in my cars too.

The mirror only dims if the light sensor picks up a light beam of a certain intensity. It's clear otherwise. My autodimming mirrors don't normally dim a car that far off unless it's driving with high beams.

[BimmerBreaker]

Autodimming to me is something of a misnomer, it does so at night and at night only regardless of how bright lights behind you are. If it's some a**hat in a pickup so far up in the air his aftermarket HIDs are at roof level and he runs them during the day, there's nothing you can do short of maladjusting the mirror if it's an auto one. Conversly, at night if the only vehicle behind you is half a mile off, I don't want the mirror dimmed, I want to see what's coming until I determine it's got out of headlights way out of adjustment. Then again I like 3 pedals in my cars too.

Not true. Only autodims when the front light detector detects it is night and the sensor in the glass detects a lot of light. Then it dims

[1823alex]

Not true. Only autodims when the front light detector detects it is night and the sensor in the glass detects a lot of light. Then it dims

Can confirm, but, regardless it works fine for me. I'm never blinded by people behind me, just when they ride my ass with their high beams on & my side mirrors end up blinding me

[Mike WW]

Not true. Only autodims when the front light detector detects it is night and the sensor in the glass detects a lot of light. Then it dims

I wonder if they're not all the same. Our 00 528it dimmed all the time at night and never during the day. Aircraft landing light or pitch black, dim at night and no dimming during the day.

[geargrinder]

The proper auto-dimmers are supposed to compare light sense from front vs light sense from rear and dynamically adjust... its supposed to be "compare front to back". Meaning in theory they should work during the day too (and some do... at least the Audi ones work relatively well...) but if the front sensor is being overblasted by sunshine then it won't detect the light from some headlights from rear...

Or it could be that our old E39 auto-dim tech is just not that great. I have to say I haven't noticed a big problem but I woudln't be surprised if mine doesn't dim during full daylight. I'm pretty sure it works if it gets overcast and dark - like when it gets super dark during a rainstorm etc...

Re: mirror retrofits, thats usually possible, I've thought about trying for an E53 mirror w/ compass. I retrofitted an E38 (?IIRC?) mirror into my M3, which had the benefit of being a nice giant mirror vs the stupid M mini-mirror, as well as gaining homelink, however there was a hitch in that the 'vert uses the mirror for the remote open antenna so I had to do some franken-mirror work to combine the E38 homelink guts w/ the 'verts remote antenna guts. Worked out great actually.

I really should put compass mirror on my JY watchout list... After i went to all the trouble in the M3 i wished I'd gotten one w/ HL AND compass... which I kinda missed out on...

[BimmerBreaker]

... I've thought about trying for an E53 mirror w/ compass. I retrofitted an E38 (?IIRC?) mirror into my M3, which had the benefit of being a nice giant mirror vs the stupid M mini-mirror, as well as gaining homelink, however there was a hitch in that the 'vert uses the mirror for the remote open antenna so I had to do some franken-mirror work to combine the E38 homelink guts w/ the 'verts remote antenna guts. Worked out great actually.

Man thats a good idea, I heard about people retrofitting the Range Rover mirrors to get a compass but that would have green text. A BMW compass mirror would have the proper orange text... I'm gonna keep an eye out as well as I like having that feature. Think another wire needs to be run if adding a compass mirror though, but not 100%, some places indicate it is just a plug and play upgrade if you already have the harness coming from the headliner

[geargrinder]

Yeah I think it only needs power so as long as the mirror is already a power (not a 'dumb' manual mirror) I think it should be OK. When I dug into this a few years back I discovered broad compatibility across BMW model mirrors which is how I ended up w/ a 7er mirror in my M3.

You know as long as you don't go too new you might find a later mirror - say E60 - had better autodim function than the older E38/39 types? The autodim is all self contained in the mirror on these I think (isn't related to the auto headlight/wiper module...) so by swapping it, it might take care of that issue? You'd want to check if E60 owners (for example) are happy w/ their autodim functionality...

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I snagged a compass equipped mirror with the dimmer off of a 2015 or 2016 F30 3 series a couple years ago, it worked just fine in my 2001 530, It also had the garage door buttons but I never used them since my garage at the time had one of those one man power garage door opening systems. I did save that mirror, been meaning to install it in my wagon to see if it works. I’ll start snagging the mirrors off of the wrecks at work, I do have an M5 mirror that I need to send in for the typical repair, I do have a spare auto dimming mirror, the one with the compass, and one with auto dimming off of an I8, those interested, pm me and I’ll work out an awesome deal with you. Good buddies get a better deal.... As of now, the M5 mirror and the one with the compass are for me, but I can get a ton of them, as we total Bimmers and Audi’s like they’re going out of style.

[BimmerBreaker]

Yeah I think it only needs power so as long as the mirror is already a power (not a 'dumb' manual mirror) I think it should be OK. When I dug into this a few years back I discovered broad compatibility across BMW model mirrors which is how I ended up w/ a 7er mirror in my M3.

You know as long as you don't go too new you might find a later mirror - say E60 - had better autodim function than the older E38/39 types? The autodim is all self contained in the mirror on these I think (isn't related to the auto headlight/wiper module...) so by swapping it, it might take care of that issue? You'd want to check if E60 owners (for example) are happy w/ their autodim functionality...

Got my eye on an E90 or E60 mirror as those were the same cosmetic stye but with a compass. Don't know about any differences in autodim functionality with the newer ones but will report back once I have one installed - I'm not unhappy with the E39 one though it does turn a yellowish color, maybe due to age? Maybe old tech?

I snagged a compass equipped mirror with the dimmer off of a 2015 or 2016 F30 3 series a couple years ago, it worked just fine in my 2001 530, It also had the garage door buttons but I never used them since my garage at the time had one of those one man power garage door opening systems. I did save that mirror, been meaning to install it in my wagon to see if it works. I’ll start snagging the mirrors off of the wrecks at work, I do have an M5 mirror that I need to send in for the typical repair, I do have a spare auto dimming mirror, the one with the compass, and one with auto dimming off of an I8, those interested, pm me and I’ll work out an awesome deal with you. Good buddies get a better deal.... As of now, the M5 mirror and the one with the compass are for me, but I can get a ton of them, as we total Bimmers and Audi’s like they’re going out of style.

Interested if you have any autodimming compass mirrors without the garage door opener buttons on the bottom. I already have a homelink in the headliner I don't use.

[demetk]

So I had a couple of e34 auto dimming mirrors on the shelf and figured why not try one. The mirror fits perfectly and it even has exactly the same connector as the e39 mirror. It's activated with the parking light switch setting and needs power from the ignition in the run position. Even the backup position clears the dimmed mirror. The only thing missing is the clown nose led. I wonder if I can pry it off the manual mirror and duck tape it to the bottom of this mirror.




cheers

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Got my eye on an E90 or E60 mirror as those were the same cosmetic stye but with a compass. Don't know about any differences in autodim functionality with the newer ones but will report back once I have one installed - I'm not unhappy with the E39 one though it does turn a yellowish color, maybe due to age? Maybe old tech?


Interested if you have any autodimming compass mirrors without the garage door opener buttons on the bottom. I already have a homelink in the headliner I don't use.

The one I have has the three homelink buttons, never seen a compass equipped mirror without the buttons.
When I had it mounted in my 530, the buttons lit up, as did the indicator for the three built in E39 homelink buttons, does that then give you 6 different homelink frequencies? Cool! Lol

[dannyzabolotny]

The one I have has the three homelink buttons, never seen a compass equipped mirror without the buttons.
When I had it mounted in my 530, the buttons lit up, as did the indicator for the three built in E39 homelink buttons, does that then give you 6 different homelink frequencies? Cool! Lol

In theory it should, as the Homelink modules are entirely self-contained. That's why people can retrofit Homelink so easily, because all it really needs is a power source.