Is my mirror heated???

[AjRose]

I have another button next to my rear defrost It's really faded so I can barely see It but I beleive it's a small mirror I'll go check In my manual see If It says anything about It.

[ak96ss]

1) There is no 'layer' under the glass - the glass either has a heating element built in or it doesn't.

b) That one with the line is actually a different mirror - there are two different versions of the mirror glass. 'Normal' mirror glass and convex. The one with the line is 2/3rd's 'normal' and the outside third, next to the line, is convex.

I'm at work, or I'd put a pic up, 'cause I have the convex ones on both sides, and they are heated.

I wired mine to come on with the rear defrost; not sure how they came from the factory, but the impression I got when I first looked into this was that they were on all the time. YMMV.

[dr.strangelove]

back from the dead, how did you wire this heated mirror setup if you don't mind my asking. behind the glass there appear to be two tabs to connect wires to, so i am pretty sure the glass will accept the heating element, but as for the wiring, i'm not too sure on that, just a live 12v, and a ground? run through the rear defrost?

[ak96ss]

If there are two tabs actually on the glass, then that is the heating element. I wired mine with one tab going to ground and the other from a lead off of the rear window defroster. Like I said last year (!), I think the factory setup is to have them on all the time, but I ran a separate wire all the way through the door connector, across the dash, and to the lead coming from the defroster switch. On my car, the wire I spliced in to was the 2.5mm black wire.

If you don't mind having them on all the time, I would imagine you could find a wire in the door that is only hot in the 'RUN' position and splice it into that. I chose to go the extra mile and connect it to the rear defroster switch because I didn't see any point in having them on all the time.

Anyway, it is just a heating element, so it only requires +12V and ground, and it doesn't really matter which tab goes to which.

[dr.strangelove]

is there any negatives to running three 12v wires off of the one fused line? or is there no drain on the system?

[ak96ss]

No, there should be no significant difference - the fuse for the rear defroster is 30A. If your rear defroster and these two little heating elements blow that, you have other issues! I would recommend against soldering, though. Just get a quality tap from 3M or, what I did was to actually cut the line and use a crimp connector. The pink wires go to the mirrors.

[dr.strangelove]

i could just replace the female prong in the switch backing, and then run the three wires out, and then run the respective wires out, right? along with that, then i could just run the grounds out.

just an idea to circumvent splicing or cutting.

let me know what you think?

[ak96ss]

i could just replace the female prong in the switch backing, and then run the three wires out, and then run the respective wires out, right? along with that, then i could just run the grounds out.

just an idea to circumvent splicing or cutting.

let me know what you think?

Yep, you sure could.

EDIT: I should add that the reason I used the cut/crimp method rather than replacing the connector in the connector body was that I didn't have any of those connectors on hand and didn't feel like waiting for them to arrive in the mail. I do actually have some of those connectors on hand now and will probably be changing that wiring at some point in the near future to do just what you have suggested.

[quikveedb2]

i assume a vin decode would tell you if you have 'em or not, no?

[dr.strangelove]

good deal! i plan on doing that, then finding out the connector pins for the door jamb, and then doing that as well, so in the end i should have about 9 or so connectors. i love those things, just need to find the OE style crimper.

[mikeedler]

so, why would you want them to only heat and defrost when you turn the rear defrost on? on all newer BMWs with heated mirrors, they are on all the time- that way when you get in your car in the morning they arent frozen and you can actually see in them when you back-up.
and the other easy way to tell is to look at your windshield nozzles under your hood- if they have electrical wires going to them, then you have the winter package- which also includes heated door locks.

[ak96ss]

Mostly because I don't need them most of the time - even in winter it doesn't get that bad here; why heat the mirrors when it is 80 degrees at 6 AM? I've found that when I need to defrost or clear the mirrors, I also need to do the same to the back window; and, lastly, my E30 isn't really a daily driver that much anymore, so why have the parasitic loss of a heating element on all the time when it isn't required? Do they really leave them on *all* the time? I can see it now - your car covered in a foot of snow, except for the mirrors poking out, nice and clear... :)

You could just as easily put them on a separate switch, but, like I said, when I need to clear the mirrors I generally also need to clear the rear window. Feel free to wire them however you choose - I ran mine off the rear defroster; you could run yours off the headlights, turn signals, stereo, whatever...

[Sam Cogley]

I want heated mirrors - and the heated washer nozzles.

[dr.strangelove]

heated washer nozzles are simple. the harness and two heated jets. look it up, i know that bavauto has the nozzles (check part number and source cheaper elsewhere), and i know that maximillian has the harness. both are still supposedly available.

as for the heated mirrors, i am following ak96ss' idea on running the positive out from the defrost switch. i have checked all the areas where connectors are necessary, and have come up with this little list of parts.

keep in mind i still need to check the little females that connect to the mirror.

you will need to have these on the back of your mirrors to be able to make this all work.



luckily my car came with them on there!

ok part numbers as of yet (still need to confirm number 4 on the list)

1) 61131357705 x 1 (back of defrost switch)
2) 61131365100 x 4 (males at door jamb)
3) 61131365099 x 4 (females at door jamb)
4) 61131269612 x 4 females that attach to mirror)

ok, no. "1)" replaces the connector that is running the black wire to the back of the defrost switch. you will have to run that black wire in conjunction with the two other wires and fit them to the new connector and put that back in. (still not too keen on running three wires to a connector, might try two, and have one have a splice to connect the other)

no. "2)" will be used at the door jamb on the frame side, and is running the wire from the switch.

no. "3)" will be used at the door jamb but on the boot/harness side and will run to the mirror.

once at the mirror, the hot wire will connect to no. "4)" and there you have it. the positive is run to the mirror.

to run the ground, you have the mirror prong connected to no. "4)".

no. "4)" is connected to a wire.

this wire runs to the door jamb boot/harness and connects to no. "3)".

connect a ground wire to no. "2)" and plug it into the socket at the door jamb on the frame.

then run it to ground.

simple really.

one thought though, i am going to try to just ground it out to the existing ground on the mirror itself, but i will have to confirm this before claiming it works (should save a bunch of work and headache).

hope this helps a little.

[dr.strangelove]

Update. for those looking for the OE option to have heated mirrors, it's really simple. found out my M3 has heated mirrors, and there are two wires. one wire ties into the blue wire, and one wire ties into the brown wire. You will need four bmw parts.

here is the list.

61131269612 x 4
61131357921 x 4

oh, and two wires about 3-4 inches long.