330ciSport
01-02-2005, 12:33 PM
Ok, as some of you know, I fitted my new ACS mirrors at the weekend. Big thanks to Fas for the detailed instructions which helped a lot.
Anyway, after fitting them there was very little movement in the mirror glass/motors, so car went into dealership yesterday for diagnosis/sorting. There was one major problem with the installation that caused the subsequent problems.
After a bit of question posing, it seems that genuine ACS mirrors do appear to have a repeating design flaw that affects a small number of the products shipped. That is namely that the actual fit of the mirror glass into the housing is not always 100%. As such (as others on here will know) sometimes after fitting there is an element of rubbing between the glass and the housing when mirror motor is moved to its extremities (the rubber "sheath" over the motor housing can also cause problems if it gets stuck).
This can usually be sorted out easily by someone who knows what they're doing but when I went to re-position the motors I realised that I had actually tightened them into the housing too tightly and couldn't release them. Therefore, when trying to electrically move the mirrors, it actually blew the motors.
Upshot of all this that after trying to save £180 of fitting costs, it's now costing me £420 as the mirrors have to be stripped right back off the car and new motors installed on both sides!
Nice one! This is definately a job, first time round, where you've got to have someone who's fitted them before present! If not, just pay BMW to do it!
Anyway, after fitting them there was very little movement in the mirror glass/motors, so car went into dealership yesterday for diagnosis/sorting. There was one major problem with the installation that caused the subsequent problems.
After a bit of question posing, it seems that genuine ACS mirrors do appear to have a repeating design flaw that affects a small number of the products shipped. That is namely that the actual fit of the mirror glass into the housing is not always 100%. As such (as others on here will know) sometimes after fitting there is an element of rubbing between the glass and the housing when mirror motor is moved to its extremities (the rubber "sheath" over the motor housing can also cause problems if it gets stuck).
This can usually be sorted out easily by someone who knows what they're doing but when I went to re-position the motors I realised that I had actually tightened them into the housing too tightly and couldn't release them. Therefore, when trying to electrically move the mirrors, it actually blew the motors.
Upshot of all this that after trying to save £180 of fitting costs, it's now costing me £420 as the mirrors have to be stripped right back off the car and new motors installed on both sides!
Nice one! This is definately a job, first time round, where you've got to have someone who's fitted them before present! If not, just pay BMW to do it!