M3 mirror or hidden compass Homelink mirror?

[nextelbuddy]

So if you had both mirrors in your possession which one would you choose to keep in your car?

The M3 mirror I just ordered a replacement Auto dim the cell from radar mirror to perform a repair.

The E90 hidden Compass Homelink mirror is in my car now.

I also have the factory E46 Homelink button in my headliner...

I love the look of the M3 mirror I really don't want to give up the hidden Compass feature so I'm torn.


On a side note after tearing this M3 mirror apart I don't understand why they are so damn expensive when they have the least amount of Technology and circuitry in them lol. So much empty wasted space it's like a hollow piece of plastic with an auto dim cell.

I took the hidden Compass mirror apart and that thing is badass with all its circuitry and circuit boards and sensors.

[ZHPizza]

@704sw is rolling with a Z4 mirror, which is like a happy medium between the two sizes. I don't believe it has a compass tho.

[az3579]

Definitely the M3 mirror. It flows a lot better with the M3 side mirrors.
Personally I would never use the compass feature; that's what GPS is for. :)

[nextelbuddy]

@704sw is rolling with a Z4 mirror, which is like a happy medium between the two sizes. I don't believe it has a compass tho.

i like the size of the M3 mirror. i initilly ws going to retrofit the homelink and compass system into the M3 mirror but after talking with Scott at radar mirror and then tking everything apart myself, decided that it really is not possible.

Scott sells a 2 way glass version of the M3 mirror replacement and I was going to get that to let the compass shine through but A. that glass is $399 compared to the $99 for standard glass. and B. the hidden compass is attached to a PCB board that is also attached to a main PCB board that includes an integrated compass sensor so it all has to come over not just the display or sister board. its just too large of a board to fit at all.


the home link was possible albeit lots of cutting and fitting. since my car already has homelink in the headliner i decided i didnt want to hack anything up.


so now im just at the point where if I change to the M3 mirror, i gain a nice look that I want but I lose the compass feature.

[BMWCurves]

Keep the M3 mirror. The compass is nice but...eh, I never use it. You already have HomeLink as well anyways.

[KevinC]

I had the same oval M3 mirror in my Z4M Coupe, and had radarmirror.com add Homelink to it, something he apparently doesn't do any more. It was pretty slick.

In my ZHP, I have an E46 convertible mirror with Homelink, with replaced dim function, again from RadarMirror. Found it on Ebay on the cheap and it solved 2 problems once fixed, adding Homelink without the roof module.

In your shoes, I'd probably stand pat, if the compass is important to me.

My Golf R doesn't even offer Homelink in a $40k car, a travesty nowadays. So I have a stupid dongle on my visor. But it does have a nice digital compass in the cluster, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

[nextelbuddy]

I had the same oval M3 mirror in my Z4M Coupe, and had radarmirror.com add Homelink to it, something he apparently doesn't do any more. It was pretty slick.

In my ZHP, I have an E46 convertible mirror with Homelink, with replaced dim function, again from RadarMirror. Found it on Ebay on the cheap and it solved 2 problems once fixed, adding Homelink without the roof module.

In your shoes, I'd probably stand pat, if the compass is important to me.

My Golf R doesn't even offer Homelink in a $40k car, a travesty nowadays. So I have a stupid dongle on my visor. But it does have a nice digital compass in the cluster, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Yes i saw your mirror with the round buttons. im not sure where he got the round buttons from as no BMW came with round homelink buttons so he probably harvested that from somewhere else.

i asked him about doing mine and he said "homelink doesnt allow him to do them anymore" i highly doubt he got in trouble from homelink but instead probably realized ho much stupid work is involved in cutting out the inside of the mirror to accommodate the guts of the home link, fabricating a brace for the internal buttons and then bracing the frame inside so that the glass rested nice and flat since he had to cut out the internal structure to fit the homelink guts....