2002 BMW M3: Missing Red Clown Nose

the car is just falling apart.

m_thrizzle,
In other BMWs I've been in, I dim the mirror by turning the clown nose. But, if it is for BMW Assist, too, that makes sense because it looks like an alarm light, not a huuuge dimmer knob.

Leaky? What does a rearview mirror on the inside of the car leak?

Wow, what crummy build quality, which I guess is parDILLA for the course for a BMW.

Also, the tacky clown nose is not for BMW assist, which is operated by a black button.

There seems to be some confusion, and it could explain why the clown nose is missing. If the car has the manual mirror, you twist the clown nose to dim the mirror. If the car has an auto-dimmer sensor, the mirror has the hole m_thrizzle is talking about, and the clown nose is fixed and doesn't twist. It looks like someone tried to dim the mirrors by twisting the clown nose and broke it off. Happens fairly often because unless the headlights hit the sensor just right, the mirror doesn't dim. The small rear window and low ride height of my M Coupe means annoying SUV headlights NEVER hit the sensor.

compliance - the auto-dim mirrors have some fluid in them that changes the mirror - either hydraulic for adjusting it, or some electrochromatic thing to change the reflectivity of the mirror itself. It's known to leak.

Thanks, epbrown, for clearing that up!

Well I guess I know what that thing does now, kinda. I'll have to attempt to twist it when I leave work to see which version I have. Caroline, I wouldn't worry about it too much either way. Lol, hasn't anyone told those knotheads at Edmunds to quit pulling, pushing, and/or twisting buttons if they don't what they do.

I agree with a comment in an earlier thread that you will see more wear on cars with several owners, especially if someone new is driving the car every day.
Now if only I could get people to stop dinging, scuffing and scraping the sides of my car in parking lots it would still look new. Well, outside of the scuffs around the center console area :(

Everything is falling apart!

Caroline, Caroline!

I don't want to "alarm" you ha ha ha
but I think something is missing from the rear view mirror.

That hole just doesn't look right - am I correct?

Here we go -- little things being broken off means the car is falling apart. Tsk tsk. This car is run hard and put away wet; stuff is going to break when several different drivers are using it like this.

This is bs. My 02 maxima used to autodim the mirror for me. But you have to do it yourself in a 50K car from BMW? ridiculous.

Obviously this just proves that the M3 is a horrible car the no one should ever buy. Obviously.

No, ctpax...please read all the above comments before passing off a dynamically beautiful and well-engineered automobile as a POS...the small hole in the same plane as the mirror is the AUTOMATIC PHOTOSENSOR, which will cause the mirror to DIM when it senses enough light. Hence AUTODIM. There. Done. This car does not likely have manual dimming, and thus the "clown nose" is just an indicator for the alarm system. Case closed. I'm SO tired of ignorance and unfounded assaults on perfectly good cars in this forum. But maybe that's just because I'm an engineer and can understand this sort of stuff.

(end rant...)

Who needs an auto-dimming mirror with a clown nose, anyway? It's a bizarre eyesore. My light-weight, unobtrusive manual-dimming rear mirror has never bothered me, and has never had pieces fall out of it in 11 years of ownership.

I bet you can spec a bimmmer without all this ridiculous, fragile rubbish?

OMG!!!!!! WTF!!!!! A part has fallen off a 7 year old car, which means this car is a poorly engineered, overpriced piece of crap. I cannot understand why anyone would by this car, let alone any generation of M3. It's not like parts fall off other cars that are 7 years old. What are you editors at Edmunds thinking? Why aren't you just driving the darling of BMW's current lineup the 135? Who cares if it looks horrible and has a cramped rear seat? It's newer and is less hard edged, so you can drink your Starbucks while driving to the office.

I just don't understand why you guys just don't sell this piece of crap and buy an Evolution or Corevette. Who cares if the interiors are sub par and possibly an afterthought. Who cares if one car gives off a Fast and the Furious aura, while one says "Nascar fan". It still smokes the M3 any day.

UH!! WHAT!!

To sum up, an editor snapped it off twisting it thinking it was a manual dimmer. And this is the car's fault.

please let me know where you guys park. I'd like to bounce a brick off your windshield so you can blame the breakage on the car.

j/k!

"To sum up, an editor snapped it off twisting it thinking it was a manual dimmer. And this is the car's fault."

Just when you thought that they had run out of stupid stunts to pull...

Actually, I don't know if the part fell off during our ownership of the car or if it just wasn't there when we bought it. I'll have to ask the Mikes.

You guys should take it to the dealer to fix it and then bitch about how expensive the maintenance on an M3 is.

That being said, I do hate auto-dimming rear mirrors. They never seem to work all that great, they look too dark most of the time, and they leak toxic fluid in the case of this vintage M3. Give me a little flippy lever instead and I'd be a happy man.

I'm pretty sure I saw it in previous blog posts. I think someone knocked it off and didn't say anything...

"compliance - the auto-dim mirrors have some fluid in them that changes the mirror - either hydraulic for adjusting it, or some electrochromatic thing to change the reflectivity of the mirror itself. It's known to leak."

Whew. And here I thought I was being taken advantage of by paying $70 for a rearview mirror fluid change.

"This is bs. My 02 maxima used to autodim the mirror for me. But you have to do it yourself in a 50K car from BMW? ridiculous."

No, dimming mirrors are ridiculous. I turn my wife's off when I drive her Audi and it's annoying. Dimming mirrors, for me, are obtrusive and make driving dangerous. My 3 series doesn't have dimming mirrors - thankfully.

That clown nose is a dimmer!?!?! I have owned 3 or 4 BMW's with clown noses and I did not know that!!! I just thought it was a gaudy way to let everyone know your alarm was activated.

"That clown nose is a dimmer!?!?! I have owned 3 or 4 BMW's with clown noses and I did not know that!!! I just thought it was a gaudy way to let everyone know your alarm was activated."

It's not a dimmer. That car has the autodim. Please read previous posts.

Thanks.

"This is bs. My 02 maxima used to autodim the mirror for me. But you have to do it yourself in a 50K car from BMW? ridiculous."

Your 02 Maxima has a torsion bar solid axle rear suspension-
which means they got you your autodim mirror by cutting big costs off your rear suspension. Look underneath and compare the fronts vs the back.

Why not just replace it with an autodimming mirror? I think thats worth the extra cost

It IS autodimming - the sensor is the little oval hole below the glass on the face of the mirror.

Why do you guys keep thinking this thing is manual-dimming?

bimmerjay is right that this car has an autodimming mirror. on 3 series cars without the premium package, the clown nose is used to tilt the mirror. Why someone would ever do this is a mystery to me.

Am I the only one who was surprised to find out that auto dim mirrors leaked. My Grandma had a 92 Caddy for years (had the car longer than she could drive)and it never leaked.

*sigh* You and your '02 Maxima need to get a hobby. There, I said it.

That's a weird design. Every car with an automatic dimmer mirror I've been in, going back to Fords in the early 1980's, had the electronics and the light sensor fully integrated into the mirror. No clown noses or other things protruding out of the bottom, and consequently, nothing to fall or break off.

Every car with a manual dimming function had a simple lever on the bottom back of the mirror that you simply flicked on or off. No confusion, nothing to twist or snap off.

I know, I know - it's a BMW. So it gets a thousand pardons.

The clown nose also flashes to indicate that the alarm is armed. There is no reason to EVER touch the thing when you adjust the mirror. I've only owned two BMWs with the feature(1997 E39, 2004 E83) and in both cases the clown nose managed to remain attached.