On the BMW E46 M3 & E39 M5, if the wing mirror is impacted then the mirror can become loose. If you get hold of it there will be unwanted movement and the mirror can 'wobble' while driving. Worst case scenario, the mirror can actually be dislodged from the base and hang by it's wires. This is often then case if your mirrors are vandalised or you judge a gap bigger than it actually is when driving!
The reason the wing mirror wobbles is because the aluminium bracket inside has broken. This bracket is the only thing that holds the body of the mirror to the base plate on the car. It is the weakest point and because this small bracket breaks first you could consider it a sacrificial part, as it saves the body of the mirror with all it's motors and electronics inside.
The problem is that BMW do not sell this bracket on it's own! You are left with the option of leaving the mirror wobbly/hanging or buying a whole new wing mirror from the Dealer. A new electric folding wing mirror is approx. £400 from BMW. It is supplied Primed, so you would also need to pay to get it resprayed at cost. If you do decide to leave the mirror as it is, the bracket could break further allowing the whole mirror to detach and could damage your paintwork if it dislodges at speed.
I have a solution for you. I have had custom made a replacement bracket out of aluminium. It has been CNC machined on a computer controlled lathe and then anodised in Black afterwards to give it the same finish as the original part and make it more hard wearing.
As with many of my parts I offer, this has been improved over the original manufacturers part. It is better designed and stronger so will not break as easily again. It also is a tighter fit than the original, so once fitted the mirror will have less play than it did when new.
A lot of design and testing went in to making this part. It can potentially save you paying £400 for a new mirror plus the cost of painting it. Plus your mirror will be stronger and tighter than it was from new.
Please note that if you need to do both wing mirrors, you will need to buy two brackets. These are not sided. It is the same part used for Left and Right mirror. Works for Left and Right hand drive vehicles.
To change this bracket, you will need to remove the wing mirror from the car. As the 'hook' part of the bracket is designed to be a tight fit, you will need to bolt it to the body of the mirror first. By then holding the mirror, this will give you good leverage to hook it in to the base. Once in the base you can fix it using the two factory Torx bolts. You will need to apply a little pressure on your Torx Driver to cut the threads in to the bracket. The bolts are steel and the bracket is aluminium so they will cut their own threads easily. Full DIY instructions for repair on my website.
***PLEASE NOTE - This bracket will ONLY fit Genuine BMW manufactured OE Wing mirrors. It will NOT fit aftermarket/copy wing mirrors. The reason for this is the aftermarket/copy mirrors have a completely different design of bracket fitted which is not the same as BMW bracket.
Wing Mirror Repair bracket
£45.00
I can deliver anywhere in the UK and Worldwide. I have many satisfied customers all over the World. I can always provide assistance to anybody that has questions when fitting. It really is quite easy with basic tools.To view my mirror repair guide click here
