Firstfives.org

Hey guys,

My e12 drivers side view mirror glass is cracked. Does anyone know if the e24 or e23 glass with the same looking mirror fits?
It's the two year only (I think) chrome mirror that mounts on the glass corner, not on the door skin.
It seems like finding a used e24 mirror with a good glass would be easier to find.

Thanks,

Joe

The chrome, corner of the window mirror ran thru the 79 model year. 80/81 got the black plastic mirror along with slightly revised doors.

The assemblies will not fit, E24s have more of an angle to them and E23s are larger. The mirror head might fit, but is a royal pain to try to remove from the base and if the mirror glass is removable, I don't know how. But drivers side chrome mirrors aren't hard to find, I think I've got a couple. I've even got a funky E24 partly disassembled if you want to try to do the glass alone, but I suggest a replacement mirror assembly. Just be glad it's not the passenger side, those are the ones that are hard to find. PM me if you're interested.

Hi Mike - curious, how were the 80/81 doors revised?

10ring, here's a pair of NOS chrome E12 mirrors on eBay from Hungary if you want to spend $325:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-5-E12-CHRO ... 3349622989

528i-1981 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 4:30 am Hi Mike - curious, how were the 80/81 doors revised?

That corner where the mirror mounts is different. The sheet metal has a different shape to it and the holes are in a different location. I put the later mirrors on a 79 I had long ago and it was not a bolt up. Seems like I had to trim the rubber and I know I had to drill new holes. What I thought would be a 15 minute job ended up taking a couple of hours.

Interesting. I bought a replacement door shell with the right P/n for an 81 from Schmiedmann and presumed it would be a perfect copy. It probably is, but I’ll keep this in mind when it comes time to make the swap.

I just checked realoem. The part numbers for just the glass are the same for an e24.
Part numbers 51161848819 and 51161849648
Although its NLA, I suppose I could just try to find an e24 mirror up to 8/1979.
Of course this is assuming I could separate the glass from the mirror without damaging it.

Mike, The mirrors in the link (I call them flag type mirrors) are different than mine.

New mirrors are so damn expensive.

Here's a used driver's side E24 mirror in chrome for $130 ... the seller uses the p/n you reference ...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/76-77-78-79-80 ... Swd0BVqsfI

Thanks so much guys.
I just found one not too far from me!!!
Going to check it out tomorrow and hoping to pick up some other odds and ends parts.