# Can you fold the side view mirrors



## phatchunk99 (Apr 22, 2004)

I've read somewhere that during a collision, the side view mirrors will automatically fold up to minimize the cost of repairs. My question is when you park your car on a narrow street, would you be able to fold the side view mirrors to avoid passing cars hitting them? I've tried with a minimal amount of force to rotate the mirrors, but they wouldn't budge. I didn't want to use too much force and risk breaking the mirrors.

Thanks.


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## cantona7 (Apr 8, 2004)

I've never heard of the mirrors folding up in the case of collision. Frankly, that makes no sense to me. In the event of a collision, $500 worth of mirrors is going to be the least of your problems. But yes, you can manually fold the mirrors in. They're fairly tight and they fold UP not IN.


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## Terry Kennedy (Sep 21, 2002)

phatchunk99 said:


> I've read somewhere that during a collision, the side view mirrors will automatically fold up to minimize the cost of repairs. My question is when you park your car on a narrow street, would you be able to fold the side view mirrors to avoid passing cars hitting them? I've tried with a minimal amount of force to rotate the mirrors, but they wouldn't budge. I didn't want to use too much force and risk breaking the mirrors.


The rectangular "elephant ear" mirrors can be folded toward the body, either by pushing them in manually, or if you get sideswiped. If that's all that gets hit, then you only have to swap the color-matched housing (which is a snap-on piece on these mirrors) instead of pulling the door apart and replacing the whole mirror assembly.

With the oval style mirrors, I don't know if they do this. If you have the motorized folding option, they rotate up instead of folding in.


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## Elwood (Dec 20, 2002)

Terry Kennedy said:


> The rectangular "elephant ear" mirrors can be folded toward the body, either by pushing them in manually, or if you get sideswiped. If that's all that gets hit, then you only have to swap the color-matched housing (which is a snap-on piece on these mirrors) instead of pulling the door apart and replacing the whole mirror assembly.
> 
> With the oval style mirrors, I don't know if they do this. If you have the motorized folding option, they rotate up instead of folding in.


Coupe's rotate upwards and in.

Trust me folding mirrors is a good thing. My mother once backed our Bonneville out of the garage and tore off the mirror. Crack plastic everywhere. Needless to say, that car didn't have folding mirrors :yikes:


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## kpaul (Sep 22, 2004)

I wish I could find the picture we took somewhere in Europe of a whole (narrow) street with folded rearview mirrors on every single car. Mine folded up (as mentioned above) and I think it's a perfectly good idea on a narrow street.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

kpaul said:


> I wish I could find the picture we took somewhere in Europe of a whole (narrow) street with folded rearview mirrors on every single car. Mine folded up (as mentioned above) and I think it's a perfectly good idea on a narrow street.


Yes, it is a pretty common sight here in Europe. I always fold up the mirrors, when I park.


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## andy_thomas (Oct 7, 2002)

phatchunk99 said:


> I've read somewhere that during a collision, the side view mirrors will automatically fold up to minimize the cost of repairs. My question is when you park your car on a narrow street, would you be able to fold the side view mirrors to avoid passing cars hitting them? I've tried with a minimal amount of force to rotate the mirrors, but they wouldn't budge. I didn't want to use too much force and risk breaking the mirrors.
> 
> Thanks.


You can fold the mirrors in with the touch of a button, but you need to specify the right option code (313). There is no chance that BMW would fit the mirrors with motors to do this automatically - and besides, the mirrors take 2-3 sec to fold in. Not really relevant in an accident .

Non-power-fold mirrors can be folded in manually. It should be in the owner's manual (it certainly is in my UK version).


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## nickeltong (Mar 16, 2004)

Yup, my coupe's mirror rolls upward 45 degrees.

Just flip the entire mirror enclosure along its crevice.

They don't fold in horizontally like most cars though.


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## st_o_p (Sep 30, 2003)

cantona7 said:


> I've never heard of the mirrors folding up in the case of collision. Frankly, that makes no sense to me. In the event of a collision, $500 worth of mirrors is going to be the least of your problems...


It makes a lof of sense, as experience proved already :thumbup: 
Actually I was impressed by the fact, and it was one more proof to me that E46 is thought out to the smallest detail. In the accident, my passenger side doors were bent (not much, but had to be replaced anyway). But the mirror holder was only scratched on the back; it did fold horizontally. The mirror itself popped out, but was not broken. Saved couple hundreds there... And yes, I saw what happened in a similar situation with a Ford Taurus sideview mirror - much more painful


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