Rear View Mirror AEM Gauge Integration for HPF M3's

RACEMX-M3 · 05-26-2009, 04:20 PM

I have never been crazy about having the gauges mounted on the steering column and I have yet to see another gauge setup I liked. I'm sure most have seen the Valentine radar detectors installed in the rear view mirror. I decided to try to figure out a way to get my A/F and Boost Gauges installed in my mirror. I've been working on this almost every day for the last couple of months, getting the gauges to fit inside the mirror housing, power on properly, automatically adjust brightness for day/night and achieve a factory appearance was not easy.

Then there was the issue of the SES light staring at me since the pods no longer hide it from view. I disabled the light so it no longer illuminates, this was a lot easier than I thought and will post a DIY if anyone else wants to do it.

I am very happy with the outcome. Here's a few pics and a video.

With the gauges shut off they are not visible through the mirror.

Once the led's are illuminated the only thing you see are the lights moving. This looks a lot better than the Valentine mirrors I've seen.

m5er · 05-26-2009, 04:25 PM

Thats real sick..... can i send you my porsche mirror and have you do it?? lol.

m5er · 05-26-2009, 04:25 PM

weird double post....

RACEMX-M3 · 05-26-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m5er

weird double post....

I'm sure it can be done. Mostly depends on having enough room inside the mirror. Shoot some pics of your mirror and I can take a look.

funkboy316 · 05-26-2009, 04:29 PM

pretty freakin cool!

docwyte · 05-26-2009, 04:29 PM

Wow, that's amazing Scott. Did you gut the gauges and install?

Rene325ci · 05-26-2009, 04:31 PM

I want to know how to do that, I am always looking for any new way to do things to my car and keep it clean inside

HPF Chris · 05-26-2009, 04:34 PM

Amazing Scott. Great ingenuity. You might want to tell how you disabled the service engine soon light too.

Chris.

Safar · 05-26-2009, 04:34 PM

That must be the coolest thing I've ever seen!

Custom3 · 05-26-2009, 04:37 PM

nice man...i a lot nicer up there then on the steering column

m5er · 05-26-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RACEMX-M3

I'm sure it can be done. Mostly depends on having enough room inside the mirror. Shoot some pics of your mirror and I can take a look.

Are you just putting the display in there??
I'll snap a pic and email it to you. Whats your email?

Lemonsqr · 05-26-2009, 04:43 PM

very creative!

Saintly · 05-26-2009, 05:11 PM

Very creative, very clean

M5chas · 05-26-2009, 05:18 PM

That is frickin awesome!!! Super impressive. Also can't go wrong with a little Maynard doing his thing in the background.

Greg Ogden · 05-26-2009, 05:48 PM

Very cool scott! Nice work!

mtran850 · 05-26-2009, 05:52 PM

KamPow3r · 05-26-2009, 05:58 PM

Subscribed! I can't wait to see the DIY for the gauges and service light.

BillyJoelR · 05-26-2009, 06:01 PM

Really Cool!

Estoril-E46 · 05-26-2009, 07:05 PM

Awesome, any pics of the process? I assume that is a non dimming mirror, what was the PN on it? I'm going to get one of the ones with the compass and home link integrated to replace the normal one. Doubt that would leave room for this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HPF Chris

Amazing Scott. Great ingenuity. You might want to tell how you disabled the service engine soon light too.

Chris.

I'm guessing he just disabled the light itself based on what he was doing.

RACEMX-M3 · 05-26-2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estoril-E46

Awesome, any pics of the process? I assume that is a non dimming mirror, what was the PN on it? I'm going to get one of the ones with the compass and home link integrated to replace the normal one. Doubt that would leave room for this.

I'm guessing he just disabled the light itself based on what he was doing.

I will post a DIY for hiding the ses light shortly. The mirror was originally an auto dimming mirror but I messed the glass up in the process of learning how to etch off the silvering on the back of the mirror. I went through 5 mirrors getting it to look perfect and then decided I didn't like the appearance with a traditional mirror. A friend of mine owns a glass business and he fabricated a new mirror for me from a sheet of (very expensive) one way glass. This is the only way to make the gauges fully disappear when they are off. My car is tinted and the new mirror is just slightly less relective than the oem mirror and so far I haven't noticed anyone's headlights bothering me at all. I was also able to preserve the auto brightness function, which is very important.. it dims the led's at night and turns them up bright in daylight so you can see them.

Here's a picture of the gauge behind an oem mirror. The cutout for the gauges is always there and imo looks bad this way.

You can see here the new glass completely hides the gauges when they are off. I have considered adding a switch to turn the led's off when they aren't needed. When the gauges are on the only thing visible is the led's and 7 segment displays that are illuminated. Everything else is still a mirror.

05-26-2009, 04:20 PM	#1
RACEMX-M3 Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Location: Dallas Posts: 1,165 My Ride: M3 View My Garage	Rear View Mirror AEM Gauge Integration for HPF M3's I have never been crazy about having the gauges mounted on the steering column and I have yet to see another gauge setup I liked. I'm sure most have seen the Valentine radar detectors installed in the rear view mirror. I decided to try to figure out a way to get my A/F and Boost Gauges installed in my mirror. I've been working on this almost every day for the last couple of months, getting the gauges to fit inside the mirror housing, power on properly, automatically adjust brightness for day/night and achieve a factory appearance was not easy. Then there was the issue of the SES light staring at me since the pods no longer hide it from view. I disabled the light so it no longer illuminates, this was a lot easier than I thought and will post a DIY if anyone else wants to do it. I am very happy with the outcome. Here's a few pics and a video. With the gauges shut off they are not visible through the mirror. Once the led's are illuminated the only thing you see are the lights moving. This looks a lot better than the Valentine mirrors I've seen. __________________

05-26-2009, 04:29 PM	#5
funkboy316 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: san antonio texas Posts: 1,269 My Ride: 2003 M3 vert View My Garage	pretty freakin cool! __________________ 2003 TiAg HPF stage 2.5 SMG M3 vert

05-26-2009, 04:29 PM	#6
docwyte Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Denver Posts: 1,082 My Ride: '89 944 Turbo View My Garage	Wow, that's amazing Scott. Did you gut the gauges and install? __________________ '89 Porsche 944 Turbo LS1 475hp track beast '04 Audi A4 Avant 275awhp daily driver

05-26-2009, 04:34 PM	#8
HPF Chris Sponsor Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 3,687 My Ride: 2002 M3, 2006 530i View My Garage	Amazing Scott. Great ingenuity. You might want to tell how you disabled the service engine soon light too. Chris. __________________ HorsepowerFreaks.com 12905 NE Airport Way Portland, OR 97230 (503) 256-5600 BMW Performance Parts Product questions or to purchase - sales@horsepowerfreaks.com

05-26-2009, 04:34 PM	#9
Safar Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The Hague, Netherlands Posts: 822 My Ride: comes with blow View My Garage	That must be the coolest thing I've ever seen! __________________ Vehicle history 1999 BMW E46 328Ci TS2 1992 BMW E36 316i Sold 1987 Suzuki VS1400 1996 Suzuki LS650 Sold 1984 Kawasaki 305CSR RIP Went from 305cc > 650cc > 1400cc > 2800cc No prizes for guessing what my next engine will be...

05-26-2009, 04:25 PM	#2
m5er Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: worldwide Posts: 279 My Ride: 08 M3 G55 TT69Camaro View My Garage	Thats real sick..... can i send you my porsche mirror and have you do it?? lol.

05-26-2009, 04:37 PM	#10
Custom3 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Dirty Jersey Posts: 5,327 My Ride: HellRot 330CI View My Garage	nice man...i a lot nicer up there then on the steering column __________________

05-26-2009, 04:43 PM	#12
Lemonsqr Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,115 My Ride: 2001 TiAg 330i View My Garage	very creative! __________________ Buy my oil catch-can!http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...2#post14304772

05-26-2009, 05:11 PM	#13
Saintly Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 597 My Ride: E46M3 Supercharged View My Garage	Very creative, very clean __________________ Fastest ET 11.41@126.09mph Highest MPH 129.49mph Highest HP 631rwhp Dynodynamics

05-26-2009, 05:18 PM	#14
M5chas Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: merryland Posts: 699 My Ride: cornfed gtr View My Garage	That is frickin awesome!!! Super impressive. Also can't go wrong with a little Maynard doing his thing in the background. __________________

05-26-2009, 05:48 PM	#15
Greg Ogden Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bellevue wa Posts: 369 My Ride: HPF 2.5 M3, E36 M3 View My Garage	Very cool scott! Nice work! __________________

05-26-2009, 05:52 PM	#16
mtran850 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: pensacola, fl Posts: 892 My Ride: C6 Z06 View My Garage

05-26-2009, 05:58 PM	#17
KamPow3r Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 828 My Ride: .... View My Garage	Subscribed! I can't wait to see the DIY for the gauges and service light. __________________ "Aerodynamics are for people who cannot build engines..." - Enzo Ferrari

05-26-2009, 06:01 PM	#18
BillyJoelR Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chestermere, Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,842 My Ride: Velvy B. View My Garage	Really Cool! __________________ \| There is no replacement for Displacement \| Go Big or Go Home \|

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"Aerodynamics are for people who cannot build engines..." - Enzo Ferrari

"Aerodynamics are for people who cannot build engines..."
- Enzo Ferrari