[agent_orange]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

Man, what a great idea. I put mine on a hydraulic (hand pumped) press and used a shot bag to support the mirror base. A shot bag isn't exactly something people have lying around lol.

It'd be pretty cool if you could post the name of the part you found on AliExpress. That way others can search for it and find it easier.

Thanks, your comprehensive post was great too.

If you search on AliExpress for "BMW mirror hinge" or "BMW 233640010" you will find both the stainless ones and the OEM-style cast zinc alloy ones.
I bought from seller 'AR-Home Life Store' and the quality was excellent.
Wasn't sure whether the QR code visible in the photo was going to be useful or not.

[postreader]

First of all, thanks to bradleyland for the detailed instructions and agent_orange for the tip on how to compress the spring using a threaded rod.

Quick question for agent_orange, I see that you used a flange nut at the top of the threaded rod. How about the bottom? What did you use down there. Another flange nut? If so, how did you manage to get it in between the metal and plastic?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Originally Posted by agent_orange

Giving back to this thread that helped me.

Had the passenger's (left side, RHD country) mirror post fail a few weeks ago.
Didn't know about this issue before finding this thread despite owing F25s since 2018, and was sure that I must have hit something or that somebody had messed with my car.

Bought a pair of the stainless mirror posts from AliExpress, since having a spare on hand for the driver's side now means the original will never fail. (Murphy's law)

Taking the mirror off the car and apart was fairly straightforward.
Getting the post installed against the spring pressure was a pain.
Tried compressing the spring with a vice and using first cable ties and then steel wire to hold it compressed, but that didn't work as the cable ties or wire either got in the way or didn't hold.
Was thinking of how to compress it in place like some here did, but the other side is plastic and not parallel to the top of the mirror post.
Then I realised, there is a hole all the way through.
Using some M8 threaded rod and a flanged nut underneath against the cast alloy body made it easy.
The wires came out easily without cutting, just back the small individual connector(s) out of the larger round connector.

[Wayfastwhitey]

This post helped a lot, had to replace the driver side mirror, just waiting on the pass side now. Hardest part for me was the LED for the door release at some point was broken off, so had to rig it to stay tight

[agent_orange]

Originally Posted by postreader

First of all, thanks to bradleyland for the detailed instructions and agent_orange for the tip on how to compress the spring using a threaded rod.

Quick question for agent_orange, I see that you used a flange nut at the top of the threaded rod. How about the bottom? What did you use down there. Another flange nut? If so, how did you manage to get it in between the metal and plastic?

Thanks in advance for your help!

The nut at the bottom was also a flanged nut, but a larger and different one to above, and fed in through the same cavity where the wires run from the round connector to then go through the hollow mirror post. (with wires removed upwards out of the mirror post first)
So feed the nut in from the side until under the hole, and then pick it up and engage with the threaded rod down through the hole from above.
Easier than it sounds.

[postreader]

Thanks, agent_orange, for the response.

I couldn't wait so started experimenting. Unfortunately, the flanged nut that I bought does not have a large enough flange to stop the nut from going into the outer opening so I was not able to compress the spring and turn the hinge. It got the point where I couldn't turn the nut any further.

Fortunately, I had also bought some washers so I used a washer along with the flanged nut at the bottom. So, it was double the challenge to get both the washer and nut onto the threaded rod. But, like you mentioned, it was not as challenging as sounds. Eventually I was able to compress the spring enough to be able to turn the hinge and have it snap into place.

Thanks again for your response. Really appreciate it. Hopefully it will help others in the future since this seems like an issue many people are having / have had / and might eventually have.

Originally Posted by agent_orange

The nut at the bottom was also a flanged nut, but a larger and different one to above, and fed in through the same cavity where the wires run from the round connector to then go through the hollow mirror post. (with wires removed upwards out of the mirror post first)
So feed the nut in from the side until under the hole, and then pick it up and engage with the threaded rod down through the hole from above.
Easier than it sounds.