E30 Zone

Hi Zoners,

Looking for some electrical help...

Im retrofitting an e36 auto dimming rear view mirror (3 wire version).

The wires on the mirror are:
Brown/Orange - ground
Purple/White - +V
Blue/Yellow - Reverse Light Feed

Question is:
Where could I get the nearest reverse lights feed?

Car in question is an e30 325i convertible - manual.

Cheers

Gov

You dont need the reverse light feed for it to work, just means you might sometimes have a dimmed mirror when reversing.

Andrew

Dont worry about it. If you MUST hook it up then you need to run the wire down the A pillar to the back up light switch below the gear shifter under the shift gaitor to the wires coming out of the rubber boot.

Its best if I did wire up the reverse light otherwise I'll be reversing into something or someone with it being a cabby!

Thanks for the help guys!

Route of reverse light wire (blue/white) is up through the gear lever grommet from the switch on the gearbox underneath the car on manuals, or from the selector lever assembly inside the car on autos. From there is goes through a two pin plug and socket near the base of the gear lever, along the front edge/ underneath the passenger seat under the carpet to the LH sill, back the LH sill, up and over the wheel arch to the LH rear light cluster, then along the rear panel to the RH cluster.
As said above, the most convenient place to intercept it is under the front console, near the gear lever.

Depending on how clear your rear screen is the dim might not even work anyway, the light tint on my E34 touring rear screen stops the mirror dimming

Brianmoooore - really appreciate the detailed routing of the wire! Thank you! Ill most likely tap into it at the sill and take a wire up to the rear view mirror.

DanThe - The screen/roof is brand new which I fitted last year, so its still clear. However it does have a slight green tint to it so I maybe in the same boat as you!

What do you guys use to stick the mirror to the windscreen? I used superglue before - that snapped off and left a mess. Ive now cleaned it up and used Tiger Seal, will this be good enough? (ive not checked it yet)

You shouldn't need anything if you have the right screen. There should be a special dot on a convertible screen where the triangular mount bonds. In fact, every convertible screen I've ever seen already has the mount bonded to the screen.

If you do not have that mount, i.e. a saloon / touring screen, you're gonna have problems.

GovR wrote:
What do you guys use to stick the mirror to the windscreen? I used superglue before - that snapped off and left a mess. Ive now cleaned it up and used Tiger Seal, will this be good enough? (ive not checked it yet)

Allegedly this is a good way to crack a screen!
Any motor factors should be able to supply you with the correct adhesive pads for the job.

B7 wrote:You shouldn't need anything if you have the right screen. There should be a special dot on a convertible screen where the triangular mount bonds. In fact, every convertible screen I've ever seen already has the mount bonded to the screen.

If you do not have that mount, i.e. a saloon / touring screen, you're gonna have problems.

The previous windscreen which was on it - someone used an adhesive pad, no mount, however that windscreen cracked during storage when it was getting resprayed.

I got a new one from National Windscreens for £80 or so, didnt realise they should come with the mount on them

Brianmoooore wrote:

GovR wrote:
What do you guys use to stick the mirror to the windscreen? I used superglue before - that snapped off and left a mess. Ive now cleaned it up and used Tiger Seal, will this be good enough? (ive not checked it yet)

Allegedly this is a good way to crack a screen!
Any motor factors should be able to supply you with the correct adhesive pads for the job.

Oooops, it cleaned up ok - lets just hope it hasn't done any lasting damage! Ill have a pop into my local for the pads.

Thanks for the help guys.

Brianmoooore wrote:

GovR wrote:
What do you guys use to stick the mirror to the windscreen? I used superglue before - that snapped off and left a mess. Ive now cleaned it up and used Tiger Seal, will this be good enough? (ive not checked it yet)

Allegedly this is a good way to crack a screen!

This happened to me many moons ago with an XR2, i superglued the mirror back on after numerous self adesive pad fails.
It took about a month before the screen started cracking and after a couple more months the crack was about a foot long across the top of the screen.

A friend of mine was having trouble with mirrors staying on and went through pads etc, even tried some special superglue for windscreens which lasted about 2 weeks
In the end he went to ford and they stuck it on, and its stayed on.

Why dont you buy one of these to stick it on with? will cost you about a fiver

Item 3 and 2

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E36/C ... or_mirror/

Or does the 'dot' on the windscreen play a part?

The supergluing doesnt sound too good - I shall soon find out! Lol.

Item 3 is what I have to bond to the windscreen, Item 2 is just a rubber ring. Ive stuck it on with Tiger Seal with a nice neat black circle looking from the outside with no air bubbles, Ill give it a few days to dry before I fix the mirror on - hopefully it will have stuck!

I didn't have a dot on mine, there was just a barcode sticker in its place.

GovR wrote:

B7 wrote:You shouldn't need anything if you have the right screen. There should be a special dot on a convertible screen where the triangular mount bonds. In fact, every convertible screen I've ever seen already has the mount bonded to the screen.

If you do not have that mount, i.e. a saloon / touring screen, you're gonna have problems.

The previous windscreen which was on it - someone used an adhesive pad, no mount, however that windscreen cracked during storage when it was getting resprayed.

I got a new one from National Windscreens for £80 or so, didnt realise they should come with the mount on them

I'd be going back to them for the right screen.

/\ Definitely /\

If you still have the receipt get them to stick the mirror on as its part of the job

I am also trying to retro-fit this mirror to my coupe, and was wondering where you picked up an ign+ and earth feed from, I was planning to splice int the wiring for the check control panel, once I find out which colour is ign+and which is earth?

Or is this a bad idea?

Earth is brown. Anything with green as the main colour is ignition switch position 2 related, and with purple as the main colour, ignition switch position 1.
In the case of the check panel, you have the choice of the green/white on pin 4, or the purple/green on pin 23.

Thank you for your help!


great guide on wiring in mirrors here:
http://e30.bmwdiy.info/lighted-mirror/index.html

richy187 wrote:Thank you for your help!


great guide on wiring in mirrors here:
http://e30.bmwdiy.info/lighted-mirror/index.html

That's for map light mirrors, not for auto dimming.