Oval Rear View Mirror Auto Dimming Replacement Glass Cell for BMW E46 M3 E39 M5

Item as described, appears identical to the original. With proper tools, mechanical ability,and patience, the job is easy. Was completed in one hour with perfect results.Price is extremely fair.

Purchased this for my 2000 M Roadster. Here's what you need to do.Remove old mirror by carefully turning counter clockwise, popping out the small black panel on the mirror stem, and unplugging the electrical connector.Separate the front plastic mirror housing from the rear or main housing. You will likely break all the tabs but don't fret (if anyone has a magic solution here, I'd love to hear it).Remove the circuit board and the plastic housing glued to the back of your old mirror. There are three or four small tabs to detach the circuit board from its black plastic housing. Unsolder (de-solder?) the red and black wires from the metal frame. Use a small screwdriver or something similar to carefully pry off the plastic housing, including the sticky tape, from the back of the old mirror.Stick that plastic housing to the back of your new mirror (take note of the + and - label so that you orient the housing such that the red wire is where the + is and the black where the - is). In my case, the old sticky tape was still sticky - you may need to add adhesive. Also note that I had to trim a little off the four corners of the circuit board housing before I attached it because it appeared to be a tad too big.Pop the circuit board back into the housing, being careful not to break those black tabs.Next is soldering. Use painters masking tape to affix the red wire and black wire to the top and bottom edges so that the wires are resting against the metal frame. Then solder each one; you only need a small amount. Remove tape and gently check that your soldered wires are holding firm.I then applied two dabs of clear silicone to the plastic back of the new mirror - one at the leftmost and another at the rightmost positions - to affix the new mirror to the rear of the plastic housing (the skinny part or front) so it would not move or fall out during final assembly.Before the final step, make sure the sensor with two black wires is pushed into that small round hole in the bottom of the mirror.In terms of assembling the external housing, I didn't want to use super glue because that would have made this process difficult for the next guy, and maybe caused the housing to break. I considered two options: clear silicone caulk and something called 'shoe goo.' Both maintain some elasticity after they cure. I ended up apply very small dabs of 'shoe goo' to every tab. When I mated the two parts of the housing, a very little goo seeped out; a toothpick fixed that. Then I wrapped two strong rubber bands around the housing and let it cure for 24 hours.I reinstalled the mirror in the car and now can see what's behind me when I drive ;). Very curious to see if the dimming feature works - very much hope so since I think that is what drives the price of this item.

My E46 M3 started getting the dreaded bubbles in the rearview mirror. The magic mirror juice was trying to escape. I didn't want to risk damaging the interior under the mirror so I decided to replace the mirror ASAP. Thankfully this mirror was available next day on Amazon.Replacement was a simple job, though I burned myself with the soldering iron and my re-assembly was hampered by many broken tabs so I had to glue the mirror housing back together.The mirror glass itself is clear and darkens/lightens quickly, which leads me to believe it is the gel type and not the liquid type like the OE mirror. I think some of the top edge of the mirror isn't fully covered by the mirror housing but it is barely noticeable (see photo).Overall, I am happy with this purchase. It being available on Amazon reduced my car's downtime. I only hope it lasts.

I had no luck getting the auto dimming to work on my mirror, most likely the used circuit board. On a positive note, the mirror is not functional and looks great. Cheap fix compared to BMW, even the non dimming mirror from BMW is $350.

Great quality easy install Saved hundred's of dollars doing it myself

Product wise it’s working great. Direct fit for MY2000 BMW e39 m5.

Requires a little bit of soldering but it’s a great repair mirror for those OEM ones that have leaked.

As long as you can manage some very basic soldering, this is an easy fix. Fix your rear view for 1/10 the cost of new.