When my passenger side mirror corroded and snapped in two a few months ago I was disappointed to find that an unpainted replacement would cost me £175 new and a second hand one on ebay around £100. I was also disappointed that it seemed that there were no aftermarket mirrors available for the Z3. When a part fails on one of my cars I like to replace it with a better part, so spending £175 on a replacement standard mirror was not an option for me.
I then found out from fellow board member TerryO that the Vittaloni California mirrors have the same bolt spacing as Z3 mirrors so bolt straight on with a bit of modification.
These mirrors cost me £65 in total to purchase and fit on the car
Here are the pics
sorry they realy do not suit the z in any way. a bit small and the colour makes you look at them,but thats just my thoughs,and yes the replacements are expensive i paid £125 for one off fleabay.
Can't say they carry enough "prescence".....My BH would say something like "Unlucky" if she saw something like that...She says that about most "small" things...
i've just bought 2xdoor mirrors from a breakers,cost £250,in great condition and match the colour of my zed.i appreciate nobody wants to pay any more than they have to for any parts but the mirrors for £65 bring to mind "buy it cheap,buy it twice",soz,not for me,too small and don't suit though i admire the lateral thinking but not the result.
I do intend to paint them at some point, I just needed to get them on the car this weekend while the weather was nice as my passenger mirror wasn't going to last much longer.
Mine are alos held on with insulation tape at present - but I asked for some on this forum and was able to replace mine in the right colour at the right price.
It's all a matter of taste and also not telling the wife how much I've spent on my Z3 since buying it only three months ago - but I will soon have spent more on bits and clearing up prior usage by non-Z3 afficieanados than I actually spent on the car itself - but am i bovvered.......
I think they would look fine when painted to match the car. The price of new ones is ridiculous and is obviously artificially inflating the 2nd hand prices. BMW must prefer to sit on old stock for obsolete models rather than offload at a reasonable price. I priced up a new OE BMW exhaust system recently (front and back sections) for my 1.9 and it came to around £1,000!
Baretto, I guessed the purists wouldn't like the Vitaloni's, but it's got to be better than gaffa tape if your original mirrors have broken. Fitting second hand mirrors is the obvious option, but you have to be very quick or lucky to pick up spare Z3 mirrors at the moment. Few cars have the mirrors fitted directly to the door skin like the Z3 & MX5. I guess it's just part of the roadster styling. I'll stick with my Vitaloni's for now, until a pair of Z3's appear, but I'm not going to hold my breath. TerryO.
Just bought some vitaloni mirrors, so will soon have a drivers side mirror(intact) and a passenger side mirror(broke) in silver for parts going on fleabay unless some one wants to make me an offer.
I think they'll look fine when colour coded though and it's saved you a fair few £££'s - and at least you may be able to see something other than the rear arches.
I'd say these are a good option for anything other than an M car or project/show car.
I have an element of 'M-styling' on my car, If that's a good enough reason for the manufacturers to adorn a 320 with the M badge, then its certainly a good enough reason for me..
gookah wrote:Fair play for the alternative thinking, it is good to see similar mirrors to the M,
but these are so small that sorry ..... I just see:
Now.... BMW Mini Mirrors? there's a thought
I can see why someone would fit them as an alternative buy, but in all honesty I would just get the standard mirrors second hand or from a scrappy and get them sprayed up, agree they look too small.
I think someone looked at possibility of fitting the MINI mirrors but the mirror base is alot larger and shaped differently for the curvature of the door.
Tim.
2001 Z3 1.9 Roadster Sport - 2012 Z4 sDrive 2.0 M Sport
