[olfac87]

2011 E90 328ix. My rearview mirror has the red clown nose for manual dimming. Yesterday the clown nose would not click into place. I can turn it; it won't stay in position. I opened up the mirror and found a loose spring clip which I presume is the issue.

What I can't find (and pardon me if there is an excellent post on this) is how to reinstall the clip, assuming it can be reinstalled. Below are pictures of what I found.

I am hoping someone can save me from having to buy a new mirror. :-)

[olfac87]

I am going to answer my own post. It's nice to contribute for once. Taking a closer look, the clip goes around two posts. I tried both ways and figured out which way was correct. It took a little dexterity to hold the clip in place on the first picture while holding the clown nose all the way in one direction to install the other end of the clip slightly under load (second photo). The mirror went back together and it now works perfectly.

[jaffles]

Nice, good on you. Do you think the spring has spring from over dimming?

My clown nose doesn't spin or dim. I figure if it wasn't alarmed why have a nose then, but that's as far as I have got.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by jaffles

Nice, good on you. Do you think the spring has spring from over dimming?

My clown nose doesn't spin or dim. I figure if it wasn't alarmed why have a nose then, but that's as far as I have got.

At least in the NA market, they all have the "clown nose" if they have the auto-dimming mirror whether they have the alarm or not. The one for auto dimming isn't as tall since it isn't needed to change the mirror angle. It just will never blink if you don't have the alarm. Up to a point, the earlier cars were pre-wired for the alarm system, but after that they weren't. I think it more-or-less coincided with the LCI changes - a cost cutting measure. But the mirrors never changed AFAIK.

[olfac87]

I do not have an alarm and wondered why there was an electrical connector in the mirror. Krhodes1’s answer is very helpful.

While I thought I wouldn’t be able to fix the mirror I was researching swapping it out for an auto-dimming/Homelink/compass one. I thought that would be a nice upgrade. So I am sad and happy this one is fixed.

[POBEP]

Originally Posted by olfac87

I do not have an alarm and wondered why there was an electrical connector in the mirror. Krhodes1’s answer is very helpful.

While I thought I wouldn’t be able to fix the mirror I was researching swapping it out for an auto-dimming/Homelink/compass one. I thought that would be a nice upgrade. So I am sad and happy this one is fixed.

If ever going to swap it, go with auto-dimming/Homelink/compass/high beam assist (e.g. everything)

[jsunma]

FWIW, I don't think that on most cars or years the red "clown nose" has anything to do with auto-dimming. It's for the alarm system which you may or may not have installed and/or coded. On my car, turning the clown nose does nothing beyond removing the red plastic lens, should one be interested in doing that.

[olfac87]

Originally Posted by POBEP

If ever going to swap it, go with auto-dimming/Homelink/compass/high beam assist (e.g. everything)

I am not sure what high beam assist is. That sounds interesting. I found a lot of different part numbers out there and am not sure what would have been the right mirror to buy if I did the upgrade.

[jaffles]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

At least in the NA market, they all have the "clown nose" if they have the auto-dimming mirror whether they have the alarm or not. The one for auto dimming isn't as tall since it isn't needed to change the mirror angle. It just will never blink if you don't have the alarm. Up to a point, the earlier cars were pre-wired for the alarm system, but after that they weren't. I think it more-or-less coincided with the LCI changes - a cost cutting measure. But the mirrors never changed AFAIK.

Yeh Ok, interesting. Got 2 x 2010 lci in the garage both with auto dimming rear view mirrors. The 93 has a clown nose, the 92 not. Both European BMW imports. I'll be fitting a kill switch to both when the new car play goes in, so alarmed or not its become redundant. I like the idea of the nose however a s a good visible deterrent.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by jsunma

FWIW, I don't think that on most cars or years the red "clown nose" has anything to do with auto-dimming. It's for the alarm system which you may or may not have installed and/or coded. On my car, turning the clown nose does nothing beyond removing the red plastic lens, should one be interested in doing that.

On cars without auto-dimming, the clown nose is how you manually dim the mirror (as seen in OP's disassembled mirror) - it rotates and tilts the mirror, and that spring he was posting about is what keeps it in the right position. On those mirrors, it's a good bit taller so you can get a grip on it to rotate it. Auto-dimming cars have a much shorter one. But regardless of having the alarm or not, all of these cars have one.

My 128i came with a non-dimming mirror but does have the alarm, so it had the tall one that blinked. My 328i has an auto-dimming mirror but does not have the alarm, so it doesn't. I retrofitted an auto-dimming mirror to the 128i - still blinks. The LED to make it blink is there regardless, so a clever person could make it blink with a bit of circuitry even with no alarm system if they were so motivated.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by olfac87

I am not sure what high beam assist is. That sounds interesting. I found a lot of different part numbers out there and am not sure what would have been the right mirror to buy if I did the upgrade.

Turns the high beams on and off for you when another car approaches. The sensor for that is in the mirror. Needs some other gubbins too. I don't recall if it's a different turn signal lever or a different headlight switch. But on one or the other is the button to turn HBA on and off.

[olfac87]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

Turns the high beams on and off for you when another car approaches. The sensor for that is in the mirror. Needs some other gubbins too. I don't recall if it's a different turn signal lever or a different headlight switch. But on one or the other is the button to turn HBA on and off.

I didn’t realize that feature would have been available in the 2011 era. It’s the newest car I own minus a sports car with not much tech. If this spring pops again then I will definitely embark on trying to retrofit in a tech-enabled mirror. Sounds like a not too difficult project (depending on the high-beam option and expanding the scope because of that).

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by olfac87

I didn’t realize that feature would have been available in the 2011 era. It’s the newest car I own minus a sports car with not much tech. If this spring pops again then I will definitely embark on trying to retrofit in a tech-enabled mirror. Sounds like a not too difficult project (depending on the high-beam option and expanding the scope because of that).

Cadillac had it in the 60s. Nothing new. No, I don't think it's a difficult retrofit, but no idea if all the wiring is there for it (I had to buy a harness to put the autodimming mirror in my 128i, but it was cheap and readily available). And of course, has to be coded.

[lordnikon]

Pre-LCI models:

Clown nose in the rear view mirror indicate:
1) You have factory alarm already installed or
2) No alarm installed but the car is pre-wired for it

LCI models:

1) Clown nose in rear view mirror means you have the factory alarm
2) No clown nose means no alarm (They no longer come pre-wired from factory)

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by lordnikon

Pre-LCI models:

Clown nose in the rear view mirror indicate:
1) You have factory alarm already installed or
2) No alarm installed but the car is pre-wired for it

LCI models:

1) Clown nose in rear view mirror means you have the factory alarm
2) No clown nose means no alarm (They no longer come pre-wired from factory)

My '11 e91 is LCI, no alarm, no alarm pre-wiring, and has a non-functioning short clown nose (auto-dimming mirror).

So more to it than just LCI or not. But I have never seen an e9x or e8x without one here in the US, but obviously, I haven't seen all of them.

[lordnikon]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

My '11 e91 is LCI, no alarm, no alarm pre-wiring, and has a non-functioning short clown nose (auto-dimming mirror).

So more to it than just LCI or not. But I have never seen an e9x or e8x without one here in the US, but obviously, I haven't seen all of them.

Did you buy the car new or used? If used, someone could have retrofitted the mirror.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by lordnikon

Did you buy the car new or used? If used, someone could have retrofitted the mirror.

Brand spanking new, <1 mile on it when I picked it up at BMW Welt in July of 2011.