Pictorial DIY: BMW E90 HomeLink/Temp/Compass/Anti Dazzle Mirror Retrofit to E46

This is for an upgrade from the stock E46 AUTO DIM Mirror to the later model years AUTO DIM Mirrors with the enhanced features. My car also has RAIN SENSOR but during the DIY I realized the Rain Sensor module has no business with the mirror other than sharing the housing. So I will state here that this DIY is workable regardless of rain sensor or not.

This has to be the easiest DIY for the E46 provided you get your hands on a good mirror that has all the trimmings uncut and unspoiled. There is no tools required for this DIY other than opposable thumbs, a brain and a dental pick.

I lucked out and found this 2006 E90 Premium Package Mirror on eBay for under $200. It came in new condition with the connector still attached. Make sure your mirror also come with its connector harness attached or you will have to splice wires and possibly trek down to the dealership to buy a new mirror harness for the upgraded mirror you are installing.




From 2001 to now BMW has not really changed their mirrors. Once the mirror that is currently in your E46 has auto dim then the connector harness will be the same for all later year mirrors with auto dim as well as other mirrors with both auto dim and the other features. I believe this is regardless of what model car you get the mirror from (IE. a 2008 7 Series Sedan's mirror should fit in a 2001 E46 sedan)



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My new mirror came with the pigtails of the E90 connector cut from the car and not cut from the mirror. So I was able to un-clip the E90's in-car-connector's wire pigtail leaving just the mirror and it's connector. Which I was hoping would also connect up to the E46's in-car-connector.

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Start the DIY by removing the current mirror. The rain sensor housing un-couples from the center. Press your opposable thumbs against them and spread the shells apart. It should give you no trouble whatsoever.

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Underneath you will find the mirror's neck and, if you have it, the rain sensor module that sits against the glass and away from the mirror. So don't touch it.


Next up you will un-clip the old mirror's connector from the E46 in-car-connector and remove the mirror from the car. Swivel the neck on the top hinge towards the passenger side until it pops out. It may be stiff so give a slow firm pull. The Dealership's DIY Manual says turn it about 45 degrees to release it. Again it should give you no trouble.






Compare the connector clips of the new and old mirrors. They are the same.



Attach the new mirror. If your E46's in-car-connector is different than that of the new mirror's then you need to find a E90's (or E46 that came with Anti Dazzle) in-car-connector. The dealer sells a retrofit kit or harness connector just for this thing.



Screw the neck of the new mirror onto the car. This should be no problem.



Now you are almost done...


Here is where you can test the new mirror once the harness connectors are all connected. Turn the car on and make sure the compass lights up and when you press any homelink button a small yellow indicator lamp blinks.


Time to finish up by replacing the housing. I noticed the housing that came with the new mirror was the newer, bigger E90 style with vents and all. Not sure what the E90 was packing under all that plastic...



I tried to get cute, but it didn't look pretty. lol.

The E90 housing also fits onto the E46 but the E46 rain sensor footprint didn't match up properly...



Most of you buying mirrors may not get any E90 (or whatever) housings with the mirror so don't worry about getting this with the new mirrors since your old E46 housing will work and fit over any of the newer mirrors.


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Calibrating The Mirror (Part 2)



Once you see everything is working you can turn on your cabin lights to see how the mirror auto dims. Mine dimmed immediately and to my surprise it was
a Blue-ish tint dim and the not the same as the E46 original brownish dim.
Drive around for 30 minutes or so before doing anything. I found this got the mirror warmed up as the auto dim feature seemed to have a mind of its own during the first couple of minutes it was on and the compass was stuck on NW.


After find a empty parking lot where you can do a couple of tight circles (donuts) without drawing the attention of law enforcement. Get a dental pick or something similar where the pointed end is slightly "grippy" or "rubbery" or just rough. You will find the hole at the bottom of the mirror and fish around for what should be a small button inside the hole. My button was way in there and felt metallic and slippery. A pin and pen did not work for me even though the BMW Dealer's Manual said to use one or the other.




Once you find your button, push and hold for about 8 seconds or until a C appears. Now start doing donuts until the C becomes a direction. You can also turn on your GPS (Tom Tom Go 720 was what I have in my car) to double check. After about 3-5 minutes of circling my C became an S for south.


Now stick your dental pick in there again, find the button and hold for 3-4 seconds or until the number 8 appears. Use the BMW Dealership guide to locate your Zone Code. For New York and the Tri-State Area it is 11. Push the button to change the number and stop when it gets to your number. Mine went from 8 to 9 to 10 and to 11. After you find your number leave it alone and in about 10 seconds your direction will reappear and your mirror will be ready for use.



There is a main HOMELINK website specific for Homelink Calibration. Google for it and you should find it or I will try to post a link later on.




As you can see below my mirror also carry characters for Temperature Display. At the moment I have no idea on how to bring that feature up. But if anyone can add info I will be grateful. I will also try to update with info on this later.




Enjoy!

You now have the $3,350 E90 BMW Premium Package in your car!

you didn't have to post the DIY again, just the pictures.

also, as for the 3k package, it's not really that much. the mirror is like 450 bucks. the rest of the package cost is from the bt, lumbar, and power seats.

Originally Posted by sillieidiot

you didn't have to post the DIY again, just the pictures.

also, as for the 3k package, it's not really that much. the mirror is like 450 bucks. the rest of the package cost is from the bt, lumbar, and power seats.

The forum doesn't allow me to edit the first post. And photobucket just plain sucks so I used imageshack and I had no choice but to re script the DIY.

i see, did you try PMing Tim about it? that's what i usually do.

For anyone who wants to do this, but doesn't have the wiring already (i.e. not existing auto-dim), i wrote a DIY back in 2005...

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=238962
http://www.bigpatsfans.com/mirror/compass.htm

Delmarco, thanks for the great write up. I just noticed in another thread that you have double Homelink now, that's kinda funny.

I have an addition to this DIY that has both advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately I have no pics, sorry. Some of the mirrors on late 90's early 00's Land Rover Discovery's are exactly the same as in our cars with the exception of the mounting bracket. Even the wiring connector is the same. I bought one with Homelink, a compass, and NO CLOWNNOSE off ebay for $90 shipped. The one problem with this mirror is the compass is green. When shopping I paid careful attention to the markings on the back of the mirror, compared to the markings on my mirror, and made sure I had a picture of the wiring harness so I knew I was getting what I wanted.

To install, I followed this DIY for removal of my old mirror. I then placed the mirror facedown on a soft surface (carpet) and held the mirror with one hand while gently but firmly leaning on the mounting bracket until it popped out of the mirror. To get the wires out, you will have to remove them one by one from the wiring connector. The Disco mirror will be the same, although much fewer wires. Make sure you draw yourself a map of what wire goes to what pin placement in the connector. Once you have everything apart, assemble the Disco mirror to the BMW bracket, and install in the car per the rest of this thread.

Hopefully someone who does this can take some pics, sorry again about the lack of them on my part.

you are a genius, great diy

Delmarco you sir are awesome!

Has anyone ever tried to crack open the mirror and amplify the signal of the Homelink the way you can with the ceiling-mounted unit and some tin foil? I'd love to know if that works, as it'd be a good gift for someone I know with a new 750 and a long driveway. But I can't go taking his mirror apart unless I know I won't mess it up.

I head that this mod does not work with convertibles alarm, is this true?

Originally Posted by richyboycaldo

I head that this mod does not work with convertibles alarm, is this true?

I have no idea.
I've never even seen an e46 convertible up close to know what mirrors they use and how the mirror is mounted.

I assume the mirror alone must be different and/or mount different.

I also heard the Convertibles have the alarm module either inside the mirror or the mirror mounts onto the alarm sensor and cannot be swapped out.

Originally Posted by delmarco

I have no idea.
I've never even seen an e46 convertible up close to know what mirrors they use and how the mirror is mounted.

I assume the mirror alone must be different and/or mount different.

I also heard the Convertibles have the alarm module either inside the mirror or the mirror mounts onto the alarm sensor and cannot be swapped out.

I guess I my only option would be to find a mirror from a convertible e92, lol. I take my time looking for it on ebay.

Hi I have a E46 318i. I am interested to do this DIY. I just had a look on my existing mirror wiring and this is how it looks like.

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it has rain sensor but there are only two wires connected to the mail plug which goes into the alarm. with just two wires would all the functions work(compass, homelink and alarm) (Your plug has got six wires) Please let me know if there is any way around

Is your car "Premium Package"?
I'm assuming it is because it is a 318i with Rain Sensor.

If it is indeed then the mirror has auto dimming and power going to it so the compass and homelink will work.

I am not sure how to check if it is a premium package.

I had look and the mirror doesnt have sensor on it. I can turn the clown as well. So I suppose it doesn't have auto dim. There are only two wires goin to the harness and i suppose it is for the alarm led (clown). So i cant get the compass and home link to work hey..

Originally Posted by pramojev

I am not sure how to check if it is a premium package.

I had look and the mirror doesnt have sensor on it. I can turn the clown as well. So I suppose it doesn't have auto dim. There are only two wires goin to the harness and i suppose it is for the alarm led (clown). So i cant get the compass and home link to work hey..

mmmm...idk.
I would still invest in it because you can still modify those wires to power the compass homelink mirror.

see here:

http://www.bigpatsfans.com/mirror/compass.htm

Anyone who has tried this:

I have a 04xi. base package w/old fashioned manual mirror. popped it out and to my suprise, it has a fully wired 10 pin harness (with only two wires going into the mirror - for clown nose). I plugged in my new anti dazzle mirror w/ugdo and its doing nothing. Not even blinking the light- then again, its bright as hell out, so who knows. 2 questions - 1. are we sure wire for wire its the same harness (before I get out my tester.... and 2. is there a fuse that may have been left out for this or does this need to be retrofitted into the VO/ZCS?

Wow nice write up! So there isn't anything elses involved in having a worknig compass mirror retrofit? It's all internal in the mirror itself? Very cool. Might have to look into this...

Reading this thread and some others it seems that some/all of the oval mirror and ones with the sos feature may not be plug and play because there is an antenna built into the mirror. Can anyone confirm/deny this? Is there a work around? Please share your experiences/research. TIA