[daveshan]

I'm currently using the setting to "Fold mirrors in when locked" because of a number of stories about mirrors getting clipped by careless drivers here in the city.

My question is whether that puts an undue load on the mirror motors over time. Aside from speculation, does anyone have knowledge/experience with this one way or the other?

Thanks to all.

[MmmmmM2]

Originally Posted by daveshan

I'm currently using the setting to "Fold mirrors in when locked" because of a number of stories about mirrors getting clipped by careless drivers here in the city.

My question is whether that puts an undue load on the mirror motors over time. Aside from speculation, does anyone have knowledge/experience with this one way or the other?

Thanks to all.

Not sure. I have to manually power fold my mirrors and I only do so when needed because I worried about the power mechanism as well.

[Wmzorba09]

Originally Posted by daveshan

I'm currently using the setting to "Fold mirrors in when locked" because of a number of stories about mirrors getting clipped by careless drivers here in the city.

My question is whether that puts an undue load on the mirror motors over time. Aside from speculation, does anyone have knowledge/experience with this one way or the other?

Thanks to all.

They are designed and engineered to fold this way. I don't understand.

[brissim]

Have had auto folding mirrors on my last two cars (BMW and Volvo). No long term issues at all.

I like the feature because it becomes a visual indicator to you even from some distance away that your car is locked.

Tony

[Deltusurf]

I coded the mirrors to do this on my 2013 650i. I lived through many other issues over the years, but never had a problem with the mirror motors. Hope this helps. I have my mirrors set to fold when locked on my current car too.

[achk]

Have mirrors automatically folded when locked in the current and previous cars. I have not had problems with the motors. I also like it folded because it gives me a visual confirmation that the car is locked.

[NYC_340i]

Thankfully this is a feature with the newer BMWs but I had to code the auto folding mirrors on my '16 340i. I've coded it a few days after I got the car and almost 3 years later they don't show any signs of damage. My parents have a 2011 X3 that's coded to do the same and after over 8 years that's working fine as well.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by NYC_340i

Thankfully this is a feature with the newer BMWs but I had to code the auto folding mirrors on my '16 340i. I've coded it a few days after I got the car and almost 3 years later they don't show any signs of damage. My parents have a 2011 X3 that's coded to do the same and after over 8 years that's working fine as well.

I'm glad they've finally made it an option here in the U.S. too.

[daveshan]

Thanks everyone for your input. Glad to hear several experiences of the mirror motors holding up over the long-term, and no negative experiences yet. I'll continue to use the auto-fold.

Also, using the folded-in mirrors as a quick visual confirmation of the car being locked is a great idea -- I hadn't thought about that benefit.

[TTG]

In CA you will be fine. If you live in a colder climate and your car freezes in the winter time, that's when all the nightmares occur.

I have seen auto-fold mirrors make the funniest and scariest noises when they are trying to unfold in extreme weather. I only fold mine when I need / want to. There is no need for it 90% of the time in the US, Europe and other countries, its a different story.

[Kingy-]

Originally Posted by daveshan

I'm currently using the setting to "Fold mirrors in when locked" because of a number of stories about mirrors getting clipped by careless drivers here in the city.

My question is whether that puts an undue load on the mirror motors over time. Aside from speculation, does anyone have knowledge/experience with this one way or the other?

Thanks to all.

My G20 is currently with BMW for the second time, mirrors won’t fold out, electric windows and manual fold button won’t work on drivers panel, they fitted a new comms a week a go and now have same fault, it’s a know fault apparently,

[bimmer456]

Haven't had any issues and I fold mirrors all the time.

[Kingy-]

Originally Posted by Kingy-

My G20 is currently with BMW for the second time, mirrors won’t fold out, electric windows and manual fold button won’t work on drivers panel, they fitted a new comms a week a go and now have same fault, it’s a know fault apparently,

Got my car back after 3 weeks of being with BMW, they fitted a new drivers mirror unit, parts were on back order, hopefully now all resolved

[Psavo]

Originally Posted by daveshan

I'm currently using the setting to "Fold mirrors in when locked" because of a number of stories about mirrors getting clipped by careless drivers here in the city.

My question is whether that puts an undue load on the mirror motors over time. Aside from speculation, does anyone have knowledge/experience with this one way or the other?

Thanks to all.

G20 330i. My mirrors were frozen in the folded position the other morning on a particular cold day. After an hour of driving they opened up but the right one doesn't fold in any more so I assume the motor is broken. Even when I fold them in with the button on the door only the left one works now

The same day my windows stopped working. All of them. That lasted for a few hours but now its 50/50 whether I can use my windows or not. Don't know if its related to the mirrors being frozen but it all started on the same day.

Car is booked into BMW next week.

[Psavo]

Originally Posted by Kingy-

My G20 is currently with BMW for the second time, mirrors won’t fold out, electric windows and manual fold button won’t work on drivers panel, they fitted a new comms a week a go and now have same fault, it’s a know fault apparently,

This is interesting. Ive just written a post about ny mirrors not opening in the frost and now one is broken but last month my radio/phone/speakers stopped working so it went into BMW to have a comms module fitted. So similar experience to you.

Your windows haven't been playing up as well have they?

[siegester]

I've never had issues with mine on past BMWs. I will note that I had a motor replaced after an accident and the new motor folded much faster which aggravated my OCD a little, but otherwise they work well

[New2a430i]

Hey! New to this forum as I traded my 2017 430i for a new 2020 330i. Anyway, I am trying to code my mirrors to fold/unfold when I lock/unlock. I don’t even see the option for this car. Any thoughts on how I can get it done?

[VipinLJ]

Originally Posted by New2a430i

Hey! New to this forum as I traded my 2017 430i for a new 2020 330i. Anyway, I am trying to code my mirrors to fold/unfold when I lock/unlock. I don’t even see the option for this car. Any thoughts on how I can get it done?

You don’t need to code it. It’s a setting in the iDrive. Not sure where exactly but check under doors in car settings.

[FrostNixon]

My mirrors sometimes stop folding at all when locked, so I need to go to the idrive menu, disable autofold and then enable it again for it to start working..

[mfdutra]

As long as they don't get jammed, the electric motors will work forever. The power windows take a lot more load and we don't think twice about using them.

[vampire81]

automatically folding mirrors since 2013 with zero issues,, 4 bmw's

[Amos91]

Originally Posted by daveshan

I'm currently using the setting to "Fold mirrors in when locked" because of a number of stories about mirrors getting clipped by careless drivers here in the city.

My question is whether that puts an undue load on the mirror motors over time. Aside from speculation, does anyone have knowledge/experience with this one way or the other?

Thanks to all.

Everything has a life span, whether that be the LEDs, engine, start stop battery etc etc.

I wouldn't worry about it in the grand scheme of things.