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Ok so I bought an x3, before the first payment was even made the passenger side mirror just fell off on its own, then skip forward 1-2 months, the drivers side mirror fell off while folding in, I wouldn’t have thought there would be an issue related to this but apparently there is. I had the passenger replaced $800+, then when the drivers side fell off while the mirror was folding in, “have it on video btw”, I was like no way there hasn’t been an issue with someone else. So called the dealership, ask if they could check, of course it’s an immediate answer, we aren’t aware of this “ I’m sure someone has reported the same issue and you have fixed it” right after I just asked the question..... well is there a way you can check? They gave me the BMW Customer Relations number. Great service by the way! Told them what happened, the advisor said she hadn’t heard of anything either. She put in a request with a higher up to see what can be done. I mean I have owned a lot of cars in my day and worked on a whole lot more with my dad in a garage as a kid and have never once heard of this. Has anyone on here had this issue? I mean for both of them to just fall off a car that is practically brand new with only 36k, I wouldn’t expect parts to just randomly fall off without something to make it happen. Tell me what you have guys, we really might have a recall issue here and some funds coming back to our pockets from these $800 mirrors just randomly falling off without cause.
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I work at a dealership and have never seen or heard of that happening. Not a single one. They don't just "fall off". If yours did, then it must have been previously damaged. Unless you bought the car new, then you have no way of knowing how/what/when it happened.
There's not going to be a recall or anything for the mirrors. If it was common enough to issue a recall, I definitely would have heard of, or seen the issue. I work at a very high volume dealership.
Last edited by White94RX; 05-20-2020 at 07:33 AM.
ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician
Jbird
How is it falling off is it tangling by the wires? The pivot point is pretty robust
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That’s a very good question, the wires are not tangled, they are still inside the cast aluminum tube that is the so called “pivot point” in question. Yes they are designed to be robust but apparently not robust enough. The tube seems to be the issuing factor in both the mirrors. BMW has requested a service diagnostic to be able to see what can be done about the mirror. As for what kept the mirror from falling completely off the car was the wires themselves. I am going to try to attach a video of the mirror falling off. Not very good at technology so we shall see if I am able to get it uploaded on here.
Member
I completely understand your thought pattern on this, as I have grown up in the auto industry myself. Having my grandfather being a head exec. At Chrysler for many many years, my dad working for dealers and also being a body mechanic as well. The deal with mirrors is that anyone I have spoken to just goes to the insurance agency and it is covered under there insurance as comprehensive coverage, ie, mirrors getting damaged, defaced, what not while the vehicle is parked. If it’s rolling however is collision, which is a whole different story, which I’m assuming you already know given working at a high volume dealership. Most of the time it’s been broken by backing out of a garage, or someone has hit it while parked along a street. That being said, “it actually did just fall off”. I have seen a lot in my days of driving and owning automobiles. This one however I can agree I have never heard of with you. If I hadn’t seen the security camera footage I would have never believed it and came to the conclusion that someone was resentful of the car. However this footage proved the case as it shows clearly the mirror literally falling off the vehicle as the power mirrors were activated to fold in. I have done my research and it appears a few people on here have had issues with the whole mirror assembly being loose, as in where it is attached to the car. So either there are issues somewhere related to this aluminum tube that they have used to solely hold the mirror together to the two completely different parts that connect them together or something bigger is wrong as in a problem in the manufacturing of this in particular part “the tube “ in question. I am going to see if the video will post and you can see for yourself that it fell off the car.
Member
Funny drive my wife’s BMW X3 and folded the mirrors in manually while parking when return I carefully folded the mirror back and driver mirror just broke off. I repaired it thinking it was my fault when folding it back plus I did not want any issue with my wife that I broke her car, paid $1100 at Bmw dealership in Austin Texas to get it fixed in May. This evening I parked for an hour in a friend’s private drive way Passenger side mirror fell off dangling the same way as the driver mirror had in May , this time just closed the passenger door and was going to back out while starting to reverse and check mirror it was now hanging - it looks like material tiredness in the metal. It simply fell off just like described above .... very annoying abd definitely a defect so bizarre that BMW would never admit to it.
Member
Just had this mirror falling off issue with my 2014 BMW X3. I went into the store and when I came out when the passenger side door was closed the mirror fell backwards off the post and was just dangling by the wires. I thought someone had hit the mirror when I was away from the car. I took the car to the dealership and had the mirror replaced. The tech sent me a video of the repair, so I waited to be told to come and get the car. Several hours later, the customer service rep called me to say there was a problem....When the tech walked around the car he touched the drivers side rearview mirror, and it FELL OFF! He said he had never seen anything like it. It seems that this is a BMW parts problem. Anybody else have this problem??
Last edited by HartKar; 02-18-2021 at 02:52 PM.
Member
I've seen at least 10 different people on the internet where the metal shaft broke causing the mirror to dangle by the wires. I don't think it's too common, but does happen. There's a guy overseas that is making replacement stainless metal shafts in his machine shop and a place in Asia that makes cast metal shafts so there's a market for them and no need to replace the entire mirror.Originally Posted by HartKar
Curious if you fold the mirrors when parking since that may put extra stress on them causing the metal to fatigue over time, not that they shouldn't be able to handle repeatedly folding. I'd say it's a design flaw.
Member
I fold the mirrors when going through the car wash. This one car has a double garage to be parked in at home...so no dueling rearview mirrors.
Thanks for your input. I can’t believe only 11 people world-wide would have had this problem. BMW should look into their parts fabricator. Would like to hear from others who may have experienced this.
Member
I fold the mirrors when going through the car wash. This car has a double garage to be parked in ...so no dueling rearview mirrors at home, and I’m cautious about spacing when looking for a parking spot.
Thanks for your input. I can’t believe only 11 people world-wide would have had this problem. BMW should look into their parts fabricator. Would like to hear from others who may have experienced this.
Member
I never said there were only 10 people world wide with this problem, I only noticed ~10 in my travels on the web, never went searching for broken mirrors LOL. There could be hundreds to thousands that experienced this issue, who knows? Since an Asian company is manufacturing replacements, there's way more than 11 that have failed.
Member
Yup, I think that’s a good point. I’m just glad that the BMW tech got to see the other mirror fall off while the car was in the shop.
Member
Mine fell off a few months ago. I got the replacement axle (tube) but haven't tried replacing it yet since I don't have a press... I've seen a number of people online with this issue.
Member
Are you saying the shaft can not be installed without a press? I've never looked into it since mine have not failed, but I never heard of needing a press
Member
The passenger mirror just fell off my 2013 X3. I accidentally used the motor to fold them out and back yesterday for the first time in years, then went through the car wash today and the Passenger side mirror fell off in the wash. No noise or crack or indication of damage on the body, just the broken cast pivot shaft.
Member
Does anyone have a source in the US that sells the part needed for this fix? A step by step repair guide or video would also be helpful.
Member
I have had the same problem. My driver side mirror fell off without any provocation. I drove it for ab out an hour, then parked it. When I returned to the car and opened the door, the mirror was out of place and attached only by the wires. I watched a doorbell video and nothing happened. It just fell off. I had that one replaced. Just recently, I accidentally bumped into the other mirror while it was parked in the garage and the same thing happened. Obvious defect. Now, the body shop wants $1000 to replace it. I would like to try it myself but also need to find the part.
Member
2014 BMW X3...I replaced the passenger side mirror in August with a second hand part, only for the driver side mirror to fall off in September. I mean, this has to be a defect.
Member
Totally!
Post some pictures...
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