[Stelvio]

Ok - here we go. Let the '12 335 Sportline go (fine car with Dinan Shockware installed). I've had the M3 for three days and 200 miles on LA's streets and freeways, and while it's overall superb so far, I seem to have a situation that has been discussed on this forum in the past, but it doesn't seem to have been mentioned in the case of the F80 cars. The problem has to do with vibration in the main inside rearview mirror; so bad that you can't tell who's behind you at 100', much less who's coming from a mile back. This happens not under acceleration, but at steady throttle at the California de facto speed limit of 80mph. I've grabbed the lower corner of the mirror and tried to steady it; no luck. The only thing that calms things down is lifting off the accelerator to see what's up - and then resuming - which is not happening. Your decisions are based on what you know, and if you don't know much, some of your decisions might not be the most wise.

I have looked into the subject on Bimmerfest, but the posts all seem to be regarding older 5 and 6 series cars - I haven't seen anything on this issue pertaining to the current M3. Three months ago I test drove a '16 M3 w 19" wheels, and decided that on balance, that wasn't going to work for me on the garbage diamond-cut concrete freeways Caltrans District 7 gives us to drive on. I ordered my car with 18" wheels, and so far I'm very glad I did. On the older posts about older BMWs with mirror vibrations, the owners that had this problem mentioned whether they had a sunroof or not, and it never occurred to me that this would be a problem. I have the CF roof on my M3, but can't imagine the choice of roof could make a difference. And if it did, they should have bloody-well sorted it out if the carbon roof was going to be a factor in whether or not the mirror vibrated. I remember how bad the mirror-shake was in a Van Dieman RF 78 Formula Ford; part of the game in that world. But in this car? Not going to happen.

The steering wheel doesn't shake at any speed, and I know wheel balancing was mentioned a lot in those older posts on older cars, as one of the goose-chases owners were sent on to try and solve the problem. Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this with an F80 car, and if they have and then went into the dealer about it, what was the response? I'll be diving into this tomorrow with my dealer, Crevier of Santa Ana - both with the Fleet Man and my experienced service writer. Cheers

 

[CALWATERBOY DUE]

....the California de facto speed limit of 80mph.

Har! Like, totally true, Bay Area & Central Valley, past couple o'years.

I'd complain about that mirror. Yep.

 

[Stelvio]

Simple update, after almost a month; just got the car back after it's 1,200 mi service. The dealer says BMW is aware of the fact that some inside mirrors can vibrate as bad as mine does (when it does), but the service dept couldn't see anything to do about it. It's a design problem and it depends on the road surface, speed, gear, etc etc etc as to whether or not the vibration sets-off or not. For now, they simply recommend what I was already doing - grabbing the mirror very tightly between the thumb and fingers of the right hand to steady it as much as possible when the vibration is really bad. But there's no way to "see it coming"; I crossed an overpass bridge on an LA freeway interchange which took like 5 seconds, and during the time I had only the overpass bridge under me the image in the mirror vibrated like an explosion in a cheap version of a Michael Bay movie - as soon as the car had cleared the overpass, the image in the mirror was totally steady. It's a nice special effect but not what I'm in to for movies, or for driving. So the dealer's advice is to complain like hell every time I take the car in for something to get the issue on record, and hopefully BMW will get the message. The mirror assembly goes for over $1,100 evidently which is why they don't just replace it if you come in and complain. I asked if there is a mega "Central Complaint" Dept at BMW either online or a phone number and I was told that they'll find one for me. If anyone out there has that kind of information on hand, I'd appreciate it. But for now, the mirror is whole and was mounted properly at the factory so there's nothing the dealer can do except say "sorry", and that they would replace it immediately if BMW would pay for it. So until BMW blinks, it stinks.

 

[Chop362]

Sounds to me like HPFP Lite. Sucks, keep pestering them.

 

[Stelvio]

Five month update on the vibrating inside rearview mirror - on a road trip the Bay Area last November, it was still a totally unacceptable nightmare. When on I 5, you need to know who's behind you at all times - or on any highway for that matter. I sent a pissed-off email to my fleet man, and then over the next month or so, it just went away. Haven't had the chance for a repeat on I 5 yet, but it's also been a nightmare holding the mirror frame tightly with the right hand to see who's where, on the concrete crap called freeways in LA County. Now, on the local concrete crap, it's fine. The Service writer I use told me when I first got the M3, that the rear end takes 4,000 miles to even start to loosen-up - and I'm now at 4,400 miles. Hard to fight or fix what you can't see, but maybe it's just been down to time and miles. We shall see.