Questions about Bavaria Side Mirrors

[rblongboarder]

Hello Everyone,

Question for the experts here: When did passenger side view mirrors appear on the E3/Bavaria vehicles?

I've been looking at lots of photos in Google Image search, and it appears the change occurred between
the 1972/1973 models...

[Even though I own a 1970 model, I've considered adding a passenger side view mirror for safety.]

Jean-Paul

 

[HB Chris]

They did not arrive from the factory with passenger side mirrors, they were an option at the dealer and were always available. The electric mirror was introduced in late 1974 and the manual large flag mirror was not produced until early CY 1975.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

I have a right side mirror. It isn't much use. AFAIK there are not ones available with convex glass nor is just the convex glass available. The good thing about the huge greenhouse on an E3 is that you have a pretty clear view of the right rear without moving your head much.

Catalog picture 51/13 - BMW 2500 - 3,3 Li (E3) - Vehicle trim / Glasses | Wallothesch

www.wallothnesch.com

 

[bavbob]

I call my Bav the Hubble telescope cause I can see everything when I drive it.

 

[Drew Gregg]

I have a right side mirror. It isn't much use. AFAIK there are not ones available with convex glass nor is just the convex glass available. The good thing about the huge greenhouse on an E3 is that you have a pretty clear view of the right rear without moving your head much.

Catalog picture 51/13 - BMW 2500 - 3,3 Li (E3) - Vehicle trim / Glasses | Wallothesch

www.wallothnesch.com

Dick-- I have been driving for 60 years. All of my cars and SUV's that I used to tow a boat had flat glass left and right mirrors. Back in the 70's, I would take the convex glass out of the right mirror and replace it with flat glass so when I looked in either mirror,I was seeing all surrounding areas at the same distance.
The key was the mirror settings. Your left mirror should be set with your head up against the door glass and the mirror is set to see down the side of the car.
The right side mirror is set with your head in the middle of the car directly behind the interior rear view mirror. Then set the right mirror to see down the right side of the car. You will now have no blind spots and the outside mirrors will only see the road on both sides and your interior mirror will see out your rear windscreen.
All of this can be confirmed by parking your car next to another car that would be in your blind spot--left & then right. You will see the car in your mirror with just a slight head & eye movement.
Most people set their left mirror to see directly behind them,and then use their interior mirror to fix their hair or makeup. You know these drivers when you see their face in their outside mirror when you're directly behind them. They can't see you when you're beside them.
The flag mirrors on our E9 &E3 when set correctly will give you a full view of what's behind and beside you. The Trap. mirrors on my 1972 2002 showed less,but the traffic wasn't nearly as dense 50 years ago as it is today. Drew

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

Thanks, Drew. I agree that many people have the three mirrors all pointed to the same area behind the car then complain about "blind spots". My "test" for proper side mirror set up is to insure that a car passing on my left on a multilane freeway starts appearing in my left side mirror as it starts disappearing from my interior rear view mirror., and starts disappearing in the outside mirror when it starts appearing in my peripheral vision. Same with the right. Your method of initial set up should give a good baseline that can then be tweaked slightly if needed to pass my test. I'll try it.

I think the problem of flat glass in the right mirror might be that it gives a very different picture than that of all other cars I drive. That combined with the fact that the non power right mirror can't be fine tuned from the driver seat makes it tough (for me) to feel comfortable that I have it positioned to completely eliminate that blind spot. Again, not a problem in an E3 with all that glass and those thin pillars.

The best view of the right side of the car and all right side blind spots was my stock 71 MGB with the right mirror in the factory location on the right wing. Mounting the mirror here never caught on in the US, but it works great.

 

[CSteve]

I have seen photos of the 2000CS with dual "teardrop" fender mounted mirrors. I can't remember the name, just that they are so beautiful. And I have never driven a car with fender mounted mirrors.

But in the early 60s I drove a hotrod Chevy with the tachometer mounted on the fender. And there are photos of factory? mounted tachs on the hoods of Olds and Chevy muscle car. Nicely integrated with hoods stamped into the sheet metal.

Oh for a time machine.

 

[rblongboarder]

I must say.. I'm quite happy that my original question provoked such great dialogue and commentary. As an R&D scientist I always
try to ask open-ended questions (why? how?) and avoid questions that lead to simple yes/no answers... it really encourages
spontaneous thinking and brainstorming. Thanks gentlemen.

The MG photo is quite helpful. At Laguna Seca Historics this year, I recall lots of vehicles with fender-mounted sideview mirrors. I'm
certainly not an expert, but the general conclusion I came to goes like this: it seems fender-mounted sideview mirrors were quite common
in the 50's and 60's, and began to be phased out in the late 60's and early 70's... I noticed it seemed to be more prevalent on Euro
vehicles...

 

[HB Chris]

I have seen photos of the 2000CS with dual "teardrop" fender mounted mirrors. I can't remember the name, just that they are so beautiful. And I have never driven a car with fender mounted mirrors.

But in the early 60s I drove a hotrod Chevy with the tachometer mounted on the fender. And there are photos of factory? mounted tachs on the hoods of Olds and Chevy muscle car. Nicely integrated with hoods stamped into the sheet metal.

Oh for a time machine.

I think it was Pontiac who introduced the hood mounted tach.

 

[CSteve]

I think you are right Chris. The GTO or the Firebird? Or. Sexy!

 

[HB Chris]

Both!