Firstfives.org

I managed to walk into my left side mirror and broke the plastic surround - twice!

so have taken the mirror off the door to see if I can repair it. Hmm



for a unit that seems to have been made in 2 halves - top and bottom, it seem to have been fused together - as there is now no seam!



looking at the drawings - I have and electric adjustable mirror.



evidently this 1980 e12 shares the same side mirror as E28's

e28 mirror


My other cars all have different side mirrors

April 76 balck finish mounted to door skin


April 1977 chrome finish mounted to door skin


March 79 - chrome finish mounted to door corner


March 81 black finish mounted to door corner - ala E28

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some M535i Black finish mounted to door corner
thats Ulli Thieme looking at the engine bay


some M535i chrome finish mounted to door corner



thankfully I have spare E28 door so I can nab the mirror off for now! until I get this broken one back together

an interesting observation,

on the E12's the internal top guide is straight., whereas on the e28 the top guide has an upwards sweep!

e12 top rail



e28 top rail - curves upwards near the side mirror - can see the extra support added underneath.



side mirror fits and fixed in the same though!

also in Australia our cars were/are required to door intrusion bars.

77 and 79 cars both have some sort of rail and ribbed lower attachment- which appears to have contributed to rust!






both the 80 and 81 cars has a simple pipe

Wow! What a nice congregation of e12s. Im sure this issue with the side mirror, will just be a blip on the monitor with what you have there.

kudos!

the M535i's weren't mine, I just chaffered Ulli around on that day. - who knows where they are now.

The e30 mirrors are the same too and more common, I used one for a replacement on the passenger side. You can also pop the mirror glass out and replace the motors easily, even the plugs are the same. For the late model e12 mirrors, at least.
Some cars (like mine) also have a mirror defrost element which comes on with the rear window defrost. I had no idea until I took the mirrors apart to re-grease them.