Retrofitting the factory self dimming rearview mirror + Homelink
 

Has anyone actually done this?

We regret not ordering the self dimming/homelink rearview mirror in the Clubman. I have it from factory on my '05 MCS and I love it:nod: :thumbsup:

I looked at the rearview mirror mount (behind the actuall mirror) and I see a circuit board and some wires. Looks like the car comes pre-wired for it, but I could be wrong.:confused:

I am seriously thinking of purchasing the Homelink rearview mirror but would like to see if others have done successfully and what is actually involved in the process.:wink:

Many thanks for your responses.:popcorn:

Call Jayson at Classic MINI in Ohio & ask him. He will know if it is a doable swap. I'd bet it is.

If you find out, please let us know! It'll be another tempting mod I don't really need. Also, I don't have a garage.

Anyone heard any answer on this one?

I'm sure it's possible. MINI offers a "retrofit kit" I've retrofitted my E46 330i with the "retrofit kit" in the past and all the wiring was present.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...41&hg=51&fg=95

That retrofit kit is for the homelink for owners that already have the auto dip mirror.

Any users that have the manual mirror will find that the power wires are not there if they remove the mirror....................i've looked at this upgrade in detail.

The wiring loom is different with the auto mirror option as you get quick clear screen too.

Only option would be to splice into a power feed............maybe overhead lights.

ic, that makes sense. since the auto dim would already have the power wire.

I don't know if they changed the wiring set-up, but you could actually install a Homelink auto-dim mirror in place of a manual(non-auto dimming), no Homelink mirror on a 1st. gen. There is a thread somewhere in regards to that. It was just a matter of finding a used mirror and plug n' play after that.

Hi Japper,

Grrrrr..I wish I had read your post earlier before receiving my R56 "Auto" Dim/Homelink version mirror that I won off ebay. I was planning on replacing my manual mirror with it thinking it would be as easy as plug n play! :mad: I'm now stuck with a homelink/autodim mirror with no power on my R56. Total FAIL :cry: on my part....my bad...lol

So ya, let me reconfirm with everyone what Japper posted earlier, that the power wires are missing in the wire harness of the R56 if yours came with a factory manual mirror (not to be confused with the 1st Gen owners who had theirs prewired, what a lucky bunch!).

Interestingly enough, the wire harness the goes to the manual mirror in my R56 does have a bunch of other wires that align perfect with the auto mirror (reciever for the keyless entry remote?) so it looks to be somewhat plug in play, just not all of the wires.

Does anyone have the wiring diagram for the R56 autodim/homelink mirror? Or any electronic gurus have any suggestions on how I can go about making this all work? I was thinking of tapping into the center headliner area in the compartment where the lights and toggles are. I have read others were able to tap into the power wires in this location for their radar detectors, could be a nice power source for the auto mirror as well.

In the mean time, I'll have to investigate further into this over the weekend to see what the wire harness part of the auto mirror requires vs what my manual mirror doesn't have, the difference would be what I would be dealing with.

Looks like a fun little project once I can acquire a little more knowledge and have a better understanding of what I am getting into. Thanks for taking the time to read this! :)

-Oly

BigOly, if you just need power for the mirror, it's easy to run wire down to the fuse block. I did that with my radar detector. Used an Add-a-Circuit to get power from the fuse block.

There IS power to the non-homelink non-auto dip mirror. It is used to power the remote lock reciever circuits.

The pinout info (for the std non-homelink, non- auto dip) is included here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-to-08-mc.html

However, I can see where the homelink auto dip mirror could have additional power wires in the harness. bigOly, if you get the power pin info for the homelink mirror you may be able to open the mirror and jumper power wires to the right place to make it work.

Dan,

That's a great find! Thank you!

Oly

Hi Minidrivr,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have my V1 radar already hooked up to my headliner running down to the fuse block via the add-a-circuit as you have mentioned. I'm a bit weary since I already have my radar detector and auto sport button mod already hooked up to the add-a-circuit I might be sucking up too much power from that wire if I add a couple of more power hungry modules to it.

I'm going to try DanQ's idea and see if I can crack the mirror open and piggyback power off the remote lock receiver module to feed the homelink/dimmer modules. That way I don't have to mess with adding factory wire to fill in the missing pins coming from the car to the mirror.

The only questions I have now before I start this crazy little retrofit... Will there be enough power to feed all three modules using one power wire line feeding into the mirror that was only meant to feed the remote lock receiver? The second question... Which are the positive and negative wire/contacts for each module inside the mirror, if I can even get to them :confused: ?.

Any electro guru's (I'm not one) know if it's possible to us a multimeter or some "swiss army knife" detection tool to identify the positive and negative contacts of each module. I have a gut feeling when I open it up it's not going to have in big letters "12V+ here" "Neg (-) here" etc etc.

Once I crack this baby open this the weekend I'll find out for sure...:thumbsup:

wire diagram for R56 Mirror/fob-remote/Dimm/homelink:

based on DanQ's excellent and informative post, I am going to share what I see via wire colors based on the OEM Homelink/Dimmer R56 mirror wire harness (10 pin connector):

DanQ already found out (based on the fob remote receiver WITHOUT dimm/homelink manual mirror):
pin 2 = purple = 4.5V
pin 7 = pink = no connect
pin 8 = orange = +12V
pin 10 = Brown = Ground

What I see (based on the fob remote receiver WITH dimm/homelink mirror) (Special Note: the other pins that DanQ described are also the SAME with this mirror):
pin 1 = grey
pin 3= red
pin 4 = white
pin 5 = black

I'm going to be Captain obvious and test:

red = positive +12V
black = ground

and

jump pin 3 with pin 8
jump pin 5 with pin 10
and see what I come up with. If anyone knows what grey and white wires are for please chime in ;)

UPDATE: based on the gentex autodim mirror info pin 4 white could be optional pin:

• 8.0 12-VOLT (POSITIVE) REVERSE LAMP CONNECTION (OPTIONAL)
  
• 8.1 Route the white wire to a reverse triggered wire.
• NOTE: The use of this optional wire is at your discretion. When vehicle is in reverse, it un-dims the mirror for better visibility.

I have decided not to crack open the mirror (it seems like a pain to crack open) and just jump the wires from the harness.

More wire investigation on the way...

I doubt that Black is ground as noted above BMW/MINI mostly uses Brown as Ground just a heads up...

OK I'm back and SUCCESS!!!

red = positive +12V
black = ground

and I

jumped pin 3 with pin 8
jumped pin 5 with pin 10

And NOW MY HOMELINK WORKS!!!

So my question for everyone that has homelink: I can press each of the 3 homelink buttons and the plastic rubber indicator lights up even after I turn off the engine and remove the key/disc, this is normal correct? I just want to make sure I'm not draining the battery due to the lack of an ignition wire or something of that sort...

So now I'm thinking grey and white wires have something to do with the auto dim part of the mirror.

Does the homelink operate when the car is not running? Mine only works when the car is running and the little rubber amber light doesn't light up when the car is not running either.

Yup, I can use it while the engine is not on and even after I take the FOB out of the push button slot. Now I have a bad feeling that because I had the homelink piggyback off the FOB remote receiver power wire, that my homelink is now running and draining my battery even after I leave the car. I'm think this because the FOB receiver (built into the mirror) has to have a constant power to idle and receive an unlock signal from the FOB. I may have to resort to tapping a wire to the fuse box where I already have my radar detector and sport button mod, this power source only goes on after I start the car and and cuts power off when I turn off the engine. Oh well...thanks for the feedback, you may have saved me from having a dead battery.

I don't know about it draining your battery. It's not really using much if any when it's idle. Doesn't it only use power when you press the buttons to operate a door? Unless it uses power to constantly check the light level for the auto-dimming option, if it has that as well. You're right the FOB receiver must have power all the time for the FOBs to work.

I would be more concerned about someone opening the garage door. I live in an underground appartment, so if the homelink works when the car is off, then someone could use it to open the door.

hey guys, sorry for bumping this old thread but I wanted to thank you all for the instructions. I hope we can say definitively that the retrofit is not all that difficult (aside from finding the mirror reasonably priced).

I found one on ebay before I read this thread, assuming the harnesses were the same. I've got a pretty good background in car audio, so I figured that even if the plugs or wiring was different it wouldn't be that bad to wire it up anyway. I did exactly as BigOly said and jumped the following:

jumped pin 3 with pin 8
jumped pin 5 with pin 10

I also jumped grey with orange (pin 1 with pin 8) and nothing exploded or died, but I also can't really tell if my autodimming feature is working. I just know that there was a night and day difference (pardon the pun) between the glare I saw with the regular mirror, and the glare from this one.

I had intended to take some pics, but honestly there wasn't a lot to see. If someone really needs explicit directions, I'll take the mirror back off and take a pic or two.

Thanks again.

Jaydub - can you confirm if there is or is not a power-draw when the car is not on? As postulated above.

The buttons still work with the key off, yes. However, my previous 4Runner, which had Homelink from the factory, did the same thing. I can't imagine it would draw enough to drain a battery. I've had mine in for nearly a month now with no issues.

I imagine if it was a concern, rather than wiring the red to pin 8, one could wire it to a switched output in the fuse panel.

Hope that helps.

So, last night I had a weird idea to try cleaning up the wiring on the retrofit. Truthfully, getting the mirror piece and bezel off isn't too difficult. Just move slowly and use a spade or some sort of plastic knife so you won't gouge up the soft factory plastic. I cut/soldered the appropriate connections and reconnected everything, and it worked fine. (whew!)

The only issue I am having is that I can't tell whether the auto-dip function is working. I don't know if it's because my windows are tinted, but even shining a bright light into the sensor didn't seem to make anything happen. Oh well, I was more interested in the homelink anyway. :D