E46Fanatics - Side mirrors question

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angrywhopper (Post 13092125)

My father has a 2005 325ci with heated mirrors. He's looking into getting 2 new ones..both driver and passenger.

The question is..which ones does he get. Realoem shows 2 different types. One comes with heated and folded..the other is just heated without the folded. How do I know which ones he has?

The 2 part numbers are:
51167890467 (not folded)
51167890481 (folded)

Thanks

Push the mirror housing toward the back of the car - it will fold in toward the body if it is a folding mirror. Don't break it - it doesn't take too much to fold in the mirrors. If it's not budging they won't be folding. I don't think the housing with the fins folds -it has no hinge.

In the realoem diagram housing B has fins on top - this is the same as my non folding heated mirrors on my 325 cic (cabrio). You didn't say whether the car is a convertible??? My 330i sedan has folding heated mirrors and no fins on top.

If he's replacing them because the mirror glass has started to leak (goes brown like with streaks) you can just replace the glass. There are online places that sell replacement glass only that bonds over the existing mirror and also heats through conductivity. I've had them on my 89 325iX for about 5 years and they work great - they are cut exactly so you can't tell there not original and the power functions work fine.