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[pauls]

I bought a bmw x3 with electric everything anyway i knew when i bought it the drivers side mirror would not tilt or fold away. That didnt bother me as the passenger side one did , also the passenger one tilted down when put in reverse. That has now stopped working as well. The windows on both sides still work off the drivers switch. Could somebody tell me is they a way of testing the wireing to the mirrors without have to strip the door down. There is only one fuse so i cant see it being that as 1 was workkng.
I do have a multi meter but dont really know how to use it, so would need to know what to switch it to and what i would expect ghe results to be.
 I spoke to local garage and they want £78 a hour to try and identify whats wrong.

Any help would be appreciate.

[Doctor Gollum]

Any noise or evidence of attempted working on either mirror when the mirror controls are used? If no, then peel back the rubber tube on the door hinges and look for breakages. 

[pauls]

No noise or sign off movement

[Andy B]

Any noise or evidence of attempted working on either mirror when the mirror controls are used? If no, then peel back the rubber tube on the door hinges and look for breakages. 

A Merc tends to break wiring where the mirror itself folds rather than the main harness to the door .....

but I guess yo already knew that 

[YZ250]

I bought a bmw x3 with electric everything anyway i knew when i bought it the drivers side mirror would not tilt or fold away. That didnt bother me as the passenger side one did , also the passenger one tilted down when put in reverse. That has now stopped working as well.................

You may already have done so but just check that the mirror selection switch is set to drivers mirror as auto tilt passenger mirror when reversing only works in this position on a beemer.

[Doctor Gollum]

Any noise or evidence of attempted working on either mirror when the mirror controls are used? If no, then peel back the rubber tube on the door hinges and look for breakages. 

A Merc tends to break wiring where the mirror itself folds rather than the main harness to the door .....

but I guess yo already knew that 

Manual fold on mine

[pauls]

First thing I did was check the switch was in the right position.
All the functions have just stopped working. I need to find a way of checking the mirror switches to see if the switches are faulty or it's the mirror motors have died

[STEMO]

First thing I did was check the switch was in the right position.
All the functions have just stopped working. I need to find a way of checking the mirror switches to see if the switches are faulty or it's the mirror motors have died

Take it to a dealer. They shouldn't charge you any more than £300 to diagnose the fault. 

[aaronjb]

First thing I did was check the switch was in the right position.
All the functions have just stopped working. I need to find a way of checking the mirror switches to see if the switches are faulty or it's the mirror motors have died

STEMO is being his usual self, but if you can get it on to a BMW diagnostic machine that will tell you if the fault is motor, feedback circuit (potentiometers) or switch.. or if it says both motor & pots then it's likely a wiring fault.

Otherwise you're down to belling out each wire in the harness and checking for breakages.

[STEMO]

First thing I did was check the switch was in the right position.
All the functions have just stopped working. I need to find a way of checking the mirror switches to see if the switches are faulty or it's the mirror motors have died

STEMO is being his usual self, but if you can get it on to a BMW diagnostic machine that will tell you if the fault is motor, feedback circuit (potentiometers) or switch.. or if it says both motor & pots then it's likely a wiring fault.

Otherwise you're down to belling out each wire in the harness and checking for breakages.

Whadderya mean, me usual self? Helpful and practical, I hope. 

[aaronjb]

Whadderya mean, me usual self? Helpful and practical, I hope. 

Absolutely 

[pauls]

Total confused now. Went out this morning and I thought I would give it a try. I moved the selector switch a couple of times and all of a sudden the drivers side started working again.

[STEMO]

Total confused now. Went out this morning and I thought I would give it a try. I moved the selector switch a couple of times and all of a sudden the drivers side started working again.

Why confused? That narrows it down to the switch.

[STEMO]

And, as the power runs through the switch to both mirrors, replacing the switch may cure the fault altogether.

[Andy B]

Years ago, the driver's mirror on my Omega would move to its setting on the memory button, however if I pressed it again, the mirror would move again to another position. Cleaning up the contacts at various plugs sorted it.