awesome work. instead of splice the black and red wire. i noticed in your picture there is a plug connector. Could you have de-pinned the wires from the connector and swap them?

 

The plug has a rubber gasket in it, not easy to de-pin and I would probably damage trying.

Actually that picture is the back of the 2014+ mirror you have to use the 2013 mirror for BSM to work so the color of the wires are different.
I ended up cutting the harness it plugs into and flipping that instead.

 

ahh got it.

 

so overall u can buy a 2014+ housing with the auto fold motor and just transfer the 2013 mirror into the housing and cross wire the wire in the 2014?

 

If you have BSM, yes. Also you need the door switch with power folding buttons.

It's an easy mod if you've taken the door panel off.

One tip to reinstalling the door panel. Unclip the seal that presses against the window. Then install that in the window frame. Then line up the door panel and press it into the door. If you do it this way it will go back together easy.

For removal there is one screw under the door switch. One under the felt where you grab the door. One behind the plastic panel in the door release latch. Once the screws are out just yank on it from the base and work your way to the top.

If you remove the door panel a few times the clips get worn out and need replacing otherwise it won't sit flush. I just buy replacement clips on eBay so I know it's a factory tight fit every time. Lol, hopefully this is the last time i take my door panel off.

 

This is a fantastic write up! Thanks for documenting. I'm going to do this once I can find the mirrors on eBay.

 

One more question. Do I have to buy a mirror with BSM, or just one with auto fold and then I can transfer my BSM with wire reversal?

THANK YOU

 

^ This is my question as well.

EDIT: Actually I have a slightly different question. Seeing as how our 2013 cars are wired to have auto folding mirrors anyway, cant we just transfer the folding motor only from the 2014 mirror assembly over to the 2013? Or am I missing how the mirror is put together to fold?

 

You can do this, but you'd have to wire it correctly. One wire goes to ground. In the harness when you unravel it, there are 4 wires that connect to one wire. That one wire goes to the plug for ground.
The other has to wire to the correct slot on the back of the plug for BSM.

I think all the power folding ones I could find had BSM.

Also make sure before you buy there are 16 wires coming out of the plug. If it only has 14 then it's manually folding, not power.

 

You could do this, but the entire wiring harness goes through a tunnel in the side of the motor. You would have to depin all the wires from the plug run it through the opening in the motor, then repin it. Or cut all the wires and reattach it. Plus I'm not sure If you could buy just the motor.

The motor is in the upper housing of the side mirror, not the base.

It's not easy to find an affordable auto folding side mirror. Most of the ones on eBay are manually folding.

 

Was auto folding mirror standard on 2014+ or was it part of the luxury package?
There are apparently some 2014+ side mirrors that are not power folding. Make sure there are 16 wires on the back of the plug.

 

Interesting. It seems like it would be easier to de-pin the connector at this point if you have the tool to do it (I do lol)

 

Just installed the passenger side mirror, everything works.

Few questions for people with factory power folding side mirrors.

My passenger side mirror folds faster than the drivers side just by a fraction of a second, enough to be noticeable. Is that normal?
My side mirrors came from two different years so possibly one motor is slightly faster than the other.

When I set the mirrors to auto they fold when I turn the car off. I thought it was supposed to fold when I lock the doors. Is that how your cars are?

 

I don't have auto folding mirrors but they're definitely supposed to fold when the car is locked. That's odd!

Also, does the reverse tilt still function?

 

Yes it tilts down in reverse. Blind spot works, heated side mirrors work.

In auto my mirrors only open when I turn the car on and they only close when I turn the car off.