Hey old skool, you have helped me out soooo much with all the DIY stuff on my car.. i really appreciate it!!
I'll add two cents to an otherwise great write-up.
Mirror Glass - The glass on the E36 mirrors is held in place by four little clips on the back of the glass. It is really easy to get out. I used a paint stir-stick and inserted it into the gap between the glass and the mirror shell on the bottom and gently pried it out. If you have heated mirrors there are two little wires that will keep the mirror from falling out. If not, be prepared to catch the glass.
Interior Trim - This is in regards to the three tabs that hold the interior trim in place (the cover for the three 10mm bolts that hold the mirror on the car). The upper two tabs are snap-in-place tabs. The bottom tab is a key-hole style tab and needs to go in first. Line up the bottom tab with the larger part of the hole on top, push it in, then slide it down. When it is all the way down, the upper two tabs will line up - you can push them straight in. They'll snap in place.
Thanks,
EJT
Last edited by morzada; 08-13-2011 at 04:35 PM. Reason: spell check
Bumping an old topic, thanks for this tutorial. Got my mirror off cleanly.
My only issue with your tutorial is the use of a screw driver, rather than plastic trim removal tools.
Some loser vandalised my car and broke off my mirror, so i decided to upgrade to a pair of M3 mirrors.
Last edited by Bacender; 02-24-2012 at 10:17 PM.
Hello, My car's [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]passenger [COLOR=blue !important]side[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]mirror[/COLOR][/COLOR] assembly (it is now hanging on wire connection) was broken by somebody when I parked on road in front of my house.
From my research so far, it seems I needed to buy only the mirror assembly and can re-use the (black) dome and the mirror itself.
Can you confirm this and share a link where i can buy the parts.
Appreciate your help and Thank you very much in advance.
Thanks brother.
I brushed against the driver's side mirror and it became dislodged. I see three knobby plugs, but it's too dark to see exactly how they fit inside the slots, if they do? Is glue required, and, if so, what kind?
I thought it was a "slide-it-in-until-it-locks" procedure, but it doesn't do that. Curious. Perhaps the cold temp. in the garage (barely above zero Fahrenheit) makes the metal and/or plastic shrink? I can place/hold the mirror housing flush against the holder/frame (the part that's attached to the door), and the knobby plugs fit into the slots, no problem, but they won't stay in.
Great writeup, just one small addition.
To get the inside cover off, you put the screwdriver in at the top to pop the top snap, but the other two are not snaps, they fit into "keyholes." You release them by sliding the whole cover up about 3-4mm and it just comes out. No need to "pop" the lower two, at least on my 1997 M3 sedan.
To install, put the lower two tabs into the large part of the keyholes, slide down, then snap the top snap into the hole.
97 Estoril/Black M3/4/5
"Although we've experienced an M3 sedan with an automatic, our test car came fitted as God intended, with a 5-speed manual ..."
Road & Track May 1997, testing the M3 Sedan
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