Left Aspherical Mirror Part # Differ in LH- / RH-Drive Markets?

[eNate]

I installed a pair of genuine BMW euro-spec aspherical side view mirrors on my i3.

I am taken aback by how disorienting the driver side mirror is. Don't get me wrong, it's something I'm adapting to and I appreciate the wider field of visibility, which is the reason I purchased these. But specifically what I believe I'm noticing is my eyes have to adjust their focus when I glance at the mirror, and I'm also getting used to how close vehicles are in reality vs. how far away they appear in the mirror. Yeah, intuitively I understood that going in, just like with our existing "Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" right-side mirrors, but in actual use it's coming as a surprise I have to get used to.

Anyhow...

The mirrors same from Latvia, a country where, like in the US, they drive on the right, and the driver sits on the left.

But it got me wondering, with aspherical mirrors, is the left-side mirror made differently for installation on a left-hand drive car versus a right-hand drive car? If nobody knows the answer off-hand I'll pull up the parts diagrams to see if I can tell. But I don't recall ever seeing them listed that way,

 

[eXodus]

I just bought no-name off aspherical mirrors of Amazon/ Ebay the looked fairly similar to me for both sides - I tried to install the wrong first.

First - yes Aspherical is distorted - that the idea behind it. I'm from Europe and been driving this mirrors all my life.

As soon as I get a car without those, my Brain says: "you don't see anything around you. That's not save"
Now living in the US - had to order Euro Aspherical Mirrors for all my vehicles (Volvo, BMW, Chevy) because the I can't drive with the focusing style mirrors anymore. I have really hard time gauging the distance with those. My brain is hardwired to the aspherical mode of mirrors

I would give it a few more days to get your Brain get adjusted to the distortion. You eyes are fine - your Brain needs to rewire those connections to make sense of that picture.

 

[eNate]

I would give it a few more days to get your Brain get adjusted to the distortion. You eyes are fine - your Brain needs to rewire those connections to make sense of that picture.

Lol, yeah, I'm adjusting. What's weird though is if I face straight ahead and just shift my eyeballs over to the mirror that's fine, it's when I turn my head that I get the "refocusing" phenomenon. But I'm already feeling pretty accustom to it, and it's only been three drives.

 

[Timmins]

I'm a fan of an aspherical mirror for safe driving. Does anyone have the BMW part number for a left side (LH-drive) aspherical mirror?
Also, where did you find the seller in Latvia? Was it eBay? Thanks!

 

[eNate]

Here's a link to the ebay seller:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-2-3-F20-F22-F30-F31-F32-F34-F36-i3-OEM-Mirror-Glass-RH-LH-Heated-Dimming-/202905937028?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

 

[Timmins]

Thanks for the eBay link. I placed my order.

 

[eNate]

The lack of a blind spot warning in the i3 is a worry, and I hope to find an after-market device to address that with the help of the folks here on the forum.

Hey I had the same concern particularly because I've had BSM on my past 3 or 4 vehicles going back to 2012 and have come to appreciate it, so why not on our i3s, BMW?

In any case, my solution was to order a set of OE aspherical side view mirrors. They're not a US option so you'll have to look at European sellers. The driver's side in particular gives a few degrees of more visibility which I find useful, and totally don't mind the absence of the electronic system.

Very easy to install and can be found with the dimming and the defrost (or not, so be careful which one you buy). The only caveat is that some users report getting nauseous from the wide perspective, probably due to shift in focus. I noticed the same phenomenon, too. But what I found was that when I keep my head facing forward and just shift my eyes to the mirror, there's no disorientation -- it was only when I turned my head to the mirror that I experience this effect. At this point I'm three years in with these mirrors and don't even notice any anything, despite daily driving other cars with "regular" mirrors.

I thought I had a before and after shot of my install but could only find the "after." So in lieu of that, I'm also including a link to a video comparison.

 

[TheAirman]

Realoem shows a few different part numbers. You wouldn't happen to have the correct part numbers so I could try to find a pair? The ebay link above is expired.

 

[TheAirman]

These maybe:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1938509555...pw161y+RrIvme64gRu9wm+Bww/ca|tkp:BFBMht3Vxspj

Realoem lists the same part for the F30, F31 also.

 

[eNate]

I don't have the part number. Those you found look like they'll fit, but they're missing the auto-dimming JIC that's important to you.

 

[TheAirman]

I'm not sure if my car has the self dimming outside mirror. I guess I'll have to pop them off and see.

 

[tongsli]

I put the same type of mirrors on my VW MK4 Jetta. Had to purchase from the UK to get both sides. The Jetta only had heated so much easier than our mirrors on the i3.

For those of you having issues with nausea due to the distortion. If you adjust your mirror so the inside edge closest to the car looks 12-18 inches beyond your rear fender, it will eliminate any blind spot.

It works. A vehicle in your rear view will appear in the side mirror before it leaves the rear view. And, before it leaves the side mirror it will be next to you before it leaves the side mirror. No blind spot.

I'm not against this mod at all, just giving an alternative solution.