Sunvisor pivot movement

This thread has been therapeutic, I must admit. I just hope our wives/girlfriends/significant others never see it otherwise us E9ers will just be talking to each other from then on ...
 
Official Notice - Loss of Federal Funding

Regrettably, due to the present widening Federal and State budget deficits, funding for this program initiative has ceased. This unfortunately will have a devastating effect on the future of these educational pograms and coupe valuation internationally.:cry:
 
that last skill is the most difficult to master, as there is a very fine line on our cars between slamming and applying just the right amount of force to get the door to close the first time.

A good precursor is having owned a Volvo 240 wagon where the 5th door weighs a ton and has to be dropped gently just from a few inches to close. A 2-3 feet drop is equivalent to a 6.5 on the Richter scale for the driver waiting inside...
 
Eureka!

Or in my case.... how to keep the significant other outta the high dollar (fast.. shhh.. I bought it to save on gas!) Porsche....and not have to refinish curb marks...or new p7s; ouch.


The OEM pivot- encased in the plastic is the arm you can see. Not visible is a small nut. This is what the rod pivots on. Not the plastic. Since the arm is cad or chrome bits come off and the operation gets gummed up. Use your favorite penetrant de jour, multiple times, operating in a counter clockwise rotation- loosening it. Baby steps.. Do not tighten. Works like butta.....

For the New non OEM, it does not have the nut that the BMW engineers so cleverly (sneaky bastards) concealed. Same thing- penetrant de jour, counterclock wise gently... frees up like a stuck pig. And I mean free......of worry the significant other doesn't have to wear a hat sideways ( lookin gangsta, but thanks for the suggestion Jay. I also assume nobody here runs around east LA at night either.) and I don't have to mirror the balance for high speed turns while downshifting. ( Use the whole road... never let up... compression, lift...remember the lessons?..... the ones we NEVER discuss around the kid with the new learners permit?)
 
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ha, ha, ha, great ideas !

now back to work:

i dissasembled the old sunvisor to understand the mechanism, and i found this:

the pivot, of the fixed side, this is the one that is usually sticked to the strange nut you will see next

IMG00027-20110129-1708.jpg


together with the nut (it is not exactly a nut, because it has not a thread inside):

IMG00028-20110129-1709.jpg


now the old broken plastic support

IMG00030-20110129-1709.jpg


IMG00029-20110129-1709.jpg


and the spring plus the retainer

IMG00032-20110129-1710.jpg


finally you can see the replacement, a newer plastic support in which the nut has dissappeared, and the function is done by the friction between plastic and pivot exerted by the spring:

IMG00033-20110129-1710.jpg


hope it helps understand the problem
 
I'm with Chris.

Just wear a hat with a visor when driving your coupe in the early morning / late afternoon. Hope no one you know sees you when you have the thing on sideways to block light coming in the side window!

If you wear your hat like that And grow a small goatee, the kids will think you are very cool!
 
Damn it, man

Thanks guys. This thread had been entertaining to say the least. So I just checked on the condition of the visors and mounts on my car (attention diverted lately to mechanical stuff)
and guess what? Passenger side is now broken beyond repair. How did this happen? I haven't driven from that side in some time! The spouse does get a little tired of the "don't touch that, you will break it" mantra. Oh, well. Beats scrubbing toilets by far. Is the piece available from the dealer? Not quite ready for another small parts list for Carl!
Update...pulled the visor from the car, had a visor from a P1800 in the stash, so disassembled this first as it seemed to be kind of the same, other than the fact that the mount is way more stout than the bimmer plastic bit. The pivot rod is virtually identical to the BMW. I will reassemble using a proper stainless nut vs the cheesy spring steel crap-ola
nut(?) that is OEM once I find a new or used pivot mount (possible e3 -2002 bit as well?)
 
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The visor

Just for giggles,
Here is the mount used on the P1800 as well as the pivot rod (s) for both the E9 and Volvo.
100_1853.jpg

The coupe bit required destructive disassembly, no worries as it seems it was broken and epoxy'ed before (as the spouse was quick to observe) Hmmm...I drive the coupe for fun, when the "gotta be there at 1600 hrs" I trust in my old benz. Stout. For the spouse, the Volvo is the dog hauler of choice.
Hate it when I see bits from cars of the same year, more or less, and obvious of the same supplier origin...well...sometimes a lot to be desired from the BMW engineers in as far as being "stout"
Maybe saving weight to use a two point vs three point mounting fixture?
 
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