Rear View Mirror Swap Questions. SOS 05 330i --> Non_SOS

[trancenation]

Hello All,

I'm planning to pick up a 2005 325i mirror with rain sensors/autodimming to replace my 2005 330i SOS mirror w/ rain sensor & autodimming. I was wondering if these mirrors were plug and play or if I am supposed to alter the wiring harness.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[derbo]

Hello All,

I'm planning to pick up a 2005 325i mirror with rain sensors/autodimming to replace my 2005 330i SOS mirror w/ rain sensor & autodimming. I was wondering if these mirrors were plug and play or if I am supposed to alter the wiring harness.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Jay definitely not PLUG N PLAY! If you have access to a multimeter, figure out which circuit/pins connect to the autodimming and what connects to the SOS. Best way to be safe is to remove all the wires from the car harness and install power to pin 3 and ground to pin 10 for it to work.


Here is what I wrote when I did mine from SOS, non auto-dimming to Auto-dimming, Compass, Homelink Mirror.

I've been looking around the forums about the EC/GTO/Compass mirrors and how it is so easy to install by adding pin 3 and pin 10 to the harness. Be warned! Not all E46 will always be this easy!

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...ht=rear+mirror

From this thread, it seems the most complete pin out i've seen so far.

'03 Oval Mirror with no Assist, no homelink (10 pin connector)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pin 1 +12V when car is put in reverse, I believe so AD is disabled while backing up
Pin 2 +12V Constant source (Power "reciever" for remotes)
Pin 3 +12V Ignition source (Power AD circuitry)
Pin 4 O/S (-) Optical Sensor
Pin 5 O/S (+) Optical Sensor
Pin 6 O/S (-) Optical Sensor
Pin 7 O/S (+) Optical Sensor
Pin 8 ????
Pin 9 LED kathode (-) This is the clown nose LED
Pin 10 Ground

Note: that the O/S pins 4, 5, 6, 7 take up four pins and loop into each other (ie 4/6 and 5/7)

Now on the car side. As mentioned I have an '05 M3 with Assist so my wiring may differ to that of other E46 vehicles. I can say though that there seems to be some commanility between my '05 and the '03 oval mirror

'05 M3 Car connector located near rain sensor, no homelink (10 pin connector)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pin 1 +12V when car is put in reverse, I believe so AD is disabled while
Pin 2 -BLANK- NO CONNECTION
Pin 3 +12V Ignition source (Power AD circuitry)
Pin 4 +12V Constant source (I-Bus for Assist)
Pin 5 Parking light +1.5V (used to light the Assist buttons)
Pin 6 ?????
Pin 7 +12V Constant source (Power "reciever" for remotes)
Pin 8 +12V Constant source
Pin 9 LED kathode (-) This is the clown nose LED
Pin 10 Ground

I have an oddball 330i with performance package, power seats and SOS. if your e46 has SOS, this can be a problem! I tried an auto-dim mirror and it melted the EC (boiled over look almost) because the SOS wiring used the same pins that the autodim mirror used. This permanently damaged the EC circuit and made the mirror useless. Now I thought, WTF? I noticed all the threads and DIY, no one really had SOS so they didn't have the wiring issue like I did.

So I fiddled around with the multimeter as well and found that pin 4, 5, 6, 7 would have a problem with the electrochromatic circuit on the mirror. I had to remove the pins from 4,5,6,7 and add pin 3 only since pin 10 was also SOS shared ground. Luckily I ordered the BMW harness kit and had an extra plug to just throw the SOS wires into and shove it up into the headliner. Now I have an EC/GTO mirror, no compass yet.. got to find one


I just thought I put my experience on the forums, so no one has to melt another one of these mirrors and waste their money. :

[trancenation]

Ah this is good to know. Thanks. Are the pins labeled on the wiring harness connected to the vehicle? Additionally, did you alter the wiring harness connected to the car or mirror?

[Oli77]

Why are you changing mirror Jay?

[trancenation]

Why are you changing mirror Jay?

I have the infamous mirror bubble. I've decided to forgo getting a brand new one and instead I'm picking a replacement up.

[derbo]

Ah this is good to know. Thanks. Are the pins labeled on the wiring harness connected to the vehicle? Additionally, did you alter the wiring harness connected to the car or mirror?

On the harness on the car side, there is a small numbers on the connector showing 1 - 10.
Pin 10 will be a brown wire and you should have it and that can help you figure out the orientation of the connector.
Pin 3 should be a green/yellow wire.

It should be :

1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10



I modified the car harness portion. Pin 4, 5, 6, 7 are now empty on my car side portion of the harness. I depinned it and left it in the headliner. Keep in mind, SOS will no longer be active. I did not have an intention to retain it.

[cakM3]

Based on Derek's post above... for vehicles with nav you can still access the sos feature from the display menu.

[derbo]

Maybe you can confirm Charlie

[cakM3]

Maybe you can confirm Charlie

Jay, if you're going to connect a non-SOS rear view auto dim mirror to a car with BMW assist, you need to do the following...

On the car side of the connector, not the mirror side...

Pin 1 +12V when car is put in reverse, I believe so AD is disabled while
Pin 2 -BLANK- NO CONNECTION
Pin 3 +12V Ignition source (Power AD circuitry)
Pin 4 +12V Constant source (I-Bus for Assist)
Pin 5 Parking light +1.5V (used to light the Assist buttons)
Pin 6 ?????
Pin 7 +12V Constant source (Power "reciever" for remotes)
Pin 8 +12V Constant source
Pin 9 LED kathode (-) This is the clown nose LED
Pin 10 Ground

Push out Pin 7 (+12V Constant source) and reinsert into Pin 2 (BLANK). As well as push out pins 4, 5, 6, and 7 on the mirror side of the connector plug. This will prevent you from smoking the mirror. Those pins (4, 5, 6, & 7) are used with BMW Assist from the research I have done.

I have done this with my ///M since it too has BMW assist. I did not like the OE SOS auto dim mirror and swapped it out for a non-BMW Assist ///M Oval auto dim mirror. This process worked very well for me.

[trancenation]

Thanks Derek and Charlie! So should I remove the 4, 5, 6, and 7 pins from both the Car connector and Mirror connector or just the Car connector. I'll try this out once I have some time to replace my mirror.

Jay, if you're going to connect a non-SOS rear view auto dim mirror to a car with BMW assist, you need to do the following...

On the car side of the connector, not the mirror side...

Pin 1 +12V when car is put in reverse, I believe so AD is disabled while
Pin 2 -BLANK- NO CONNECTION
Pin 3 +12V Ignition source (Power AD circuitry)
Pin 4 +12V Constant source (I-Bus for Assist)
Pin 5 Parking light +1.5V (used to light the Assist buttons)
Pin 6 ?????
Pin 7 +12V Constant source (Power "reciever" for remotes)
Pin 8 +12V Constant source
Pin 9 LED kathode (-) This is the clown nose LED
Pin 10 Ground

Push out Pin 7 (+12V Constant source) and reinsert into Pin 2 (BLANK). As well as push out pins 4, 5, 6, and 7 on the mirror side of the connector plug. This will prevent you from smoking the mirror. Those pins (4, 5, 6, & 7) are used with BMW Assist from the research I have done.

I have done this with my ///M since it too has BMW assist. I did not like the OE SOS auto dim mirror and swapped it out for a non-BMW Assist ///M Oval auto dim mirror. This process worked very well for me.