BMW i3 side mirror repair costs

[quantium]

There have been some discussion in various topics about the very high cost of BMW side mirror repair. Basically, this is complete assembly replacement.

In the original "mission statement" for the i3, the idea seemed to be as ecological as possible. Power for the factory comes from wind turbines. The car bodies are made from carbon fibre rather than iron. The wood trim is produced from renewable sources.

The original design for the side mirrors seems very sensible in that there is a plastic ring that breaks if the mirror is forced to move as the result of a collision either with a fixed object, such as a gate post, or in a road traffic accident. This avoids the mirror mechanism being broken or indeed can prevent the door being damaged as the whole thing is ripped off. This ring seems to perform the same sort of function as a fuse in an electrical circuit. Once a fuse has blown, it can be replaced. Indeed in times past, a fuse could even be required with fine wire of a suitable gauge.

It is surely not ecological to replace the entire assembly just for the want of this plastic ring.

Even to replace the entire assembly, removing the door panels seems to be a major hassle requiring new clips to put it back. What is wrong with replaceable screws?

I can see a business opportunity here. Publish instructions as to how to remove and disassemble the wing mirror assembly, preferably without removing from the door, and replace the ring. Print rings using a 3D printer and sell for say £100 -- still a lot for what it is, but much less than the prices (+VAT) charged by BMW's agents. If the business is operated by a single individual as income for his 3D printer, he is unlikely to make the VAT limit over a year, further reducing costs to the end user.

I can also see an opportunity to be really disruptive. Do as above and publish the 3D CAD file on the internet. Then even if the hapless BMW owner needing a mirror repair has no 3D printer he could do well by entering this new bit of the technology market and make his own. This sort of behaviour is "negative vandalism", ie doing something constructive that is also disruptive.

 

[quantium]

We finally had this replace by the dealer, and the bill came to £787.36. Included in the list of items were
heated outs
Cover, mirr
SET SCREWS
Clip
Adjustment
Channel Cov

I have no idea what these really are.

We asked for the old mirror back. The mirror cover and the heated mirror itself had been removed and presumably used on the replaced unit. The bit that was replaced was the metal chassis and the gearbox of the retracting mechanism, whose plastic case was broken. The gears and motor were in good order. I could not see how it would have been possible to remove the gearbox and rebuild using another case, but obviously it must have been possible in order to assemble it in the first place. I assume some special spring compressor was involved.

The bill broke down to
Parts £502.80, Labour £153.33 tax penalty £131.23

I have written more detail on
http://www.quantium.plus.com/BMW side mirror.pdf

Does anyone know if there is a parts catalogue for the BMW i3 on line anywhere?

 

[pfanning]

http://www.realoem.com/

i3 mirror assembly - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1Z63-USA-04-2016-I01-BMW_i-i3_94Ah&diagId=51_9184

 

[busaman]

We finally had this replace by the dealer, and the bill came to £787.36. Included in the list of items were
heated outs
Cover, mirr
SET SCREWS
Clip
Adjustment
Channel Cov

I have no idea what these really are.

We asked for the old mirror back. The mirror cover and the heated mirror itself had been removed and presumably used on the replaced unit. The bit that was replaced was the metal chassis and the gearbox of the retracting mechanism, whose plastic case was broken. The gears and motor were in good order. I could not see how it would have been possible to remove the gearbox and rebuild using another case, but obviously it must have been possible in order to assemble it in the first place. I assume some special spring compressor was involved.

The bill broke down to
Parts £502.80, Labour £153.33 tax penalty £131.23

I have written more detail on
http://www.quantium.plus.com/BMW side mirror.pdf

Does anyone know if there is a parts catalogue for the BMW i3 on line anywhere?

that is unbeliveable and a total rip-off who in the right mind could seriously think a wing mirror should cost £700 to replace (if i break mine i will sell the car and buy a tesla model3) and never buy another BMW again

 

[Mito]

In the original "mission statement" for the i3, the idea seemed to be as ecological as possible. Power for the factory comes from wind turbines. The car bodies are made from carbon fibre rather than iron. The wood trim is produced from renewable sources.

I think there is a disconnect within a large company between the designers and the management in that there are worthy goals and design statements but these get eroded and perverted by greedy managers after the car is conceptualised and designed.

Here is a case in point that I discovered on the BMW 3 series manual gearbox made by ZF transmissions
. Again another company who crows about their ethical and green credentials on their website and says they will sell individual parts however as part of their deal with BMW they will not sell any gearbox parts individually. BMW in turn will not sell you a single gearbox shaft but instead want to shaft you by insisting you but a whole new gearbox which is neither green or ethical to the point where the dealer price of this operation will actually write off the car!
( for anyone interested we just bought a second hand box in the end )

 

[mrsmith]

Did the same thing, reversed into a gate post. Glass broken and black plastic mirror chassis bit too. Took apart and only needed new glass and plastic chassis.

£65 for glass £30 for plastic but. Took about 30mins to change. Good as new.

 

[Elkjaer]

mrsmith,
How was the procedure of disassembly, do you remove the mirror by popping it out or is there a plastic shield you have to remove?

I need to change my plastic chassis as well. (Stupid gate post...)

 

[vespaman]

OK, so last night, in the rain, I also reversed into a gate post.
I need to replace number 3 http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1Z63-USA-04-2016-I01-BMW_i-i3_94Ah&diagId=51_9184 - the "holder".

Can this be done without removing the complete mirror assembly from the door?
Elkjaer, mrsmith - did you find any disassembly instructions anywhere?

 

[Elkjaer]

Sorry to hear that vespaman.
I haven’t gotten around to fix mine yet, but the research I did I while back led to two possible solutions:
1. Remove mirror glass, then remove cover (2 on realoem picture). Then somehow extract the holder (4 on realoem picture).
2. Remove inner door trim, detach entire mirror assemble, dismantle mirror, replace holder, reverse process.
I’m not sure if the first solution is possible and I see the second solution as a real pain. Which is why I haven’t started the repair myself.
Looking at realoem it says that the same mirror is used for 1, 2, 3, 4 series, so there might be a guide for these vehicles somewhere out there...

 

[vespaman]

OK, I'll have a go at this during next weekend, I just ordered the part from BMW. Will document whatever I come up with.

 

[Bawareca]

Go to newtis dot info, choose the i3 and then after some research you will find all documents and diagrams that are available to a BMW dealer.

 

[vespaman]

So I got the part that I broke on my mirror some 10 days ago. It did not cost much (about 30€, got some 20% off for some reason) at my BMW shop.

The mirror can be totally dismantled on the door, so no need to take it off, just be careful.

1. Move the mirror up as much as possible, and remove the glass. I used some plastic bike tyre removal tools.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VjoKYiwRtr8sZaOX_gMS56bd1cN35h_R

2. Undo the wiring. Press the little locker on the white connector to release it.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C-tE2iCgztLkW2aOiA7XhGkf-S_KChZs

3. Compress the three front cover hooks, and pull the cover up/forward.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xjf7DckymFyNlojPpBchttVFoWlvOHb6

4. Using a T10, remove the three metal screws, and the two black screws, and one metal screw on front.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KfTkzQ4vhOP-5lPoW4KOHL1NWsoX2bIf

5. Gently remove the bottom part, separate it from the indicator assembly.
6. By rotating the "holder" it can be forced over the mirror base. Be firm but gentle - take care not to damage the leads.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-caHQpZb2XGg56aElVgznmxvEZaJjBUe


Since my driveway+garage door is very narrow, I'm sure to be doing this some time again if I'm not careful...

 

[alohart]

The mirror can be totally dismantled on the door, so no need to take it off, just be careful.

Thanks for posting these instructions with photos.

Since my driveway+garage door is very narrow, I'm sure to be doing this some time again if I'm not careful...

The entrance to our i3 parking garage parking space is constrained by 2 concrete columns, so I always fold the exterior mirrors before parking and don't unfold them until I have backed out of our parking space. So far, so good

Our Uppsala garage was very narrow, so I always folded the exterior mirrors on our 2000 Honda Insight when entering the garage and didn't unfold them until I had backed out of our garage. Before I started folding the mirrors, I dragged the passenger mirror along the garage wall which fortunately only removed a little paint but caused no other damage. Unlike our i3's exterior mirrors, I had to manually fold our Insight's mirrors. So if you are not folding your mirrors before entering your garage, you might try it.

 

[whizzbread]

Hi everyone. I am new here

I got brand new i3 few weeks ago.. I get fed up when I come out of car and truck lock auto as I want unlock truck. how?

 

[alohart]

Hi everyone. I am new here

Please don't hijack this thread with your totally different topic. Start your own new thread please.

 

[vespaman]

if you are not folding your mirrors before entering your garage, you might try it.

Good point! I have only folded them when I knew I was in trouble (too late ). Will try the parking trip without them on a sunny day. It will, however be quite hard backing in without them,. But it is worth a try.

 

[alohart]

I have only folded them when I knew I was in trouble (too late ). Will try the parking trip without them on a sunny day. It will, however be quite hard backing in without them,. But it is worth a try.

I parked by driving in forward which would be easier with folded side mirrors. Backing out of our garage was more difficult, but I monitored how close the car was to the garage walls through the side windows. The narrowest point was at the garage door, so I had to be especially careful there. Sweden needs to build wider garages Don't know how a neighbor with a Volvo V60 estate managed to park.

If you have the backup camera option, it might make backing into your garage a bit easier. Good luck!

 

[whizzbread]

how do I put new post ?

 

[alohart]

how do I put new post ?

1. Choose the appropriate forum here.
2. In the upper left of the page, click the "New Topic" button.
3. Enter your thread's subject.
4. Enter your post.
5. Click the "Submit" button.

 

[user 5025]

Man... so, day after I bought the car... the wife did this... after freaking out over scraping the driver's side doors and rear panel. So I am replacing many of the parts for the mirror and then I have to figure out how to get the scratches handled.