Autotechnik CF Mirrors Review/Install

[Greenkirby21]

Price: 125$ from their ebay store(or 150 on their website). Autotechnik is American(not that it makes a difference at all because fitment is not good :\)

Description "According to them":
This is a set of AutoTecknic dry carbon fiber mirror covers for the e82/ e87(Pre-Facelift)/ e88. These 6K twill weave dry carbon fiber mirror covers have the ultra-thin thickness of 0.5mm in which only dry carbon can achieve. With special epoxy resin same as the F1 racing technology, it will not change color under the rain or sun. The mirror covers will fit onto your 1 series OEM mirrors like a glove.

Package will also include the ultra thin 3M automotive adhesive tape and detailed installation instructions. Installation time will take no longer than 20 min.

Will only fit Pre-Facelift e87 1 series models and the e82/ e88 coupe and convertible.


1. Test Fitment
The mirrors came in the mail very nicely package and they are super light and super thin. I test fitted them on the car(both) and they seemed to fit just fine.

2. Installation
A) Wash Car
B) I used an alcohol wipe to prepare the surface(i think 70%)
C) Made sure it was super Dry



D) Applied included 3M tape. I had no idea where to put the tape so I just placed it along the edges. This 3M was different then other ones I have used before. The one with my CF spoiler was thicker and gray. This one is much thinner and clear.



This is good because there is no gap in the final product(and by gap, I mean if you look at them straight on, leveled, the mirrors DO fit on like a glove. Problem is, they are too short and don't cover everything. The included tape is SUPER thin




E) Installation. Grab a friend to help you. My dad said I installed them wrong which is why they look like shit. Apparently I did it wrong. With the tape exposed, I just kinda placed the CF mirrors on top, trying to guess the best.

Turns out that is bad. My dad said I should have done it section by section, pulling away the tape slowly while other person pulls over the CF mirrors.

As a result, once I put the mirror on, it stuck like glue and there was really no wiggle room. Add the fact that I put it from bottom to top, I did not get enough to cover the top completely.

The mirrors ARE NOT LONG ENOUGH. If they could extend them by even like 2 centimeters then they would fully cover the mirror, and this would be a 5/5 review with 0 issues.

However, they are NOT long enough. Even though I installed them somewhat badly, there was still not enough to cover the old cover completely.

From the front, everything looks fine:



Even on the side, everything is ok:


However, get to the other side, and you can clearly see how its missing only a small amount of CF fiber.



This is the side I messed up on:



Bottom is pretty good IMO:


Other side:


Not long enough either:


Final Thoughts
Well, first off, learn from me and install them from the TOP to Bottom. I installed them Bottom to top, and because of that, it seems that the top has some leftover exposed. Granted, these mirrors are not big enough, but I would much rather the bottom exposed as nobody will look under -_-.

The quality is pretty good, couldn't see any issues. Fitment is good too. I was expecting large gaps from the tape, but the CF is sooo thin it fits well. Its such a shame that the CF is not big enough to cover the entire mirror.

My dad is planning on helping me out to reinstall these so they look better. Question is, how do I remove them? They are super sturdy >_>.

[ReyT]

you will have ugly gaps with those caps

[135Pats]

Some bunching of the CF on these, but for the price who cares. Let us know how the fitment is, if theyre just caps i believe you literally place them on. No removing of the OEM mirror at all.

[Satalite]

I would put them over your existing mirrors first w/o any tape to see how much gap these create. If it doesn't create a lot of gap you might want to move away from tape and go for the 3M car adhesive glue. But if you don't care too much about gaps and go for the 3M thin car tape.

[Greenkirby21]

Originally Posted by Satalite

I would put them over your existing mirrors first w/o any tape to see how much gap these create. If it doesn't create a lot of gap you might want to move away from tape and go for the 3M car adhesive glue. But if you don't care too much about gaps and go for the 3M thin car tape.

actually these fit too good in terms of going around. They are a little short at the end and you can see some red, but in terms of fitment they are spot on.

my problem now is where to put the tape....seeing how there is little to no space to place it >_>

[Greenkirby21]

Edit: Updated OP with review

fitment is fine, but the CF mirrors themselves need to be LONGER. Seriously if they just extended the edges by 2 CM all around it would be perfect

[b1aze]

2cm would be a lot, almost a full inch. 2mm is a different story. Time for a black sharpie or plastidip around the edges?

[hyper1]

i just installed mine and I had the same issue.
I put black tape to hide the white between the cf caps and the black ring of the mirror.
where did you get yours.
are they from zinaracing or something like that.

[Greenkirby21]

Originally Posted by hyper1

i just installed mine and I had the same issue.
I put black tape to hide the white between the cf caps and the black ring of the mirror.
where did you get yours.
are they from zinaracing or something like that.

I got mine from here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E87-E82-...ck_Parts_Acces

I purchased it from aphase auto(that link above), but the product was shipped directly from Autotechnik HQ in California.

[hyper1]

interesting ...
i wonder if maybe the original manufacture is the same that made my cf caps.
Because, i have the exact same issue.
in their email response, after sending some pictures back to Zinaracin. They told me that all their products were test fitted to make sure that everything is fine.
I think it's BS.
Anyway too bad for them.
Because now, nobody....i think, from this forum will be interested at buying their cf caps.