Homelink Mirro

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vinnie
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 13
  • Views Views 2K
V

Vinnie

New Member
First time poster but long time lurker in here.

I've made my jump to EVs back in April 2021 when we bought our ID4. Loved the car so much and wanted to get another EV as my daily commuter. That's when I ordered a Mini. I've been undecided on which trim I really want and had to pass on 2 orders already (Iconic and Sig+) but finally settled on just the Sig trim since I really can't justify paying for all the other options with the higher trims. The only option I really wanted was the HUD which my sales guy forgot to include in the build. I will be picking up the car in a couple of days. I want to ask if there are any OEM homelink rearview mirror that can be purchase for the SE and how hard is it to install. I've actually replaced my id4's mirror with a homelink one with ease and didn't even take 10 minutes. Hopefully it will be the same effort to install on the Mini.
 
Vinnie said:
First time poster but long time lurker in here.

I've made my jump to EVs back in April 2021 when we bought our ID4. Loved the car so much and wanted to get another EV as my daily commuter. That's when I ordered a Mini. I've been undecided on which trim I really want and had to pass on 2 orders already (Iconic and Sig+) but finally settled on just the Sig trim since I really can't justify paying for all the other options with the higher trims. The only option I really wanted was the HUD which my sales guy forgot to include in the build. I will be picking up the car in a couple of days. I want to ask if there are any OEM homelink rearview mirror that can be purchase for the SE and how hard is it to install. I've actually replaced my id4's mirror with a homelink one with ease and didn't even take 10 minutes. Hopefully it will be the same effort to install on the Mini.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum! I don't remember any other forum member attempting this upgrade. Please keep us updated on your quest. I couldn't find a compatible mirror on ebay and ECS Tuning says the genuine MINI mirror they sell for a mere $783.36 "Does NOT Fit."

Of course, the Signature doesn't get all the bells and whistles (curses on your idiot MA for leaving off your HUD, which I love), but thankfully MINI didn't shortchange that model on driving fun, which is the main reason to get a MINI Cooper SE. To get into your garage, you can just duct-tape your Homelink fob somewhere in the cabin :)
 
I programmed my mirror, but it would usually take 4-5 button presses to open the garage door while sitting right in front of the door. The remote works from much further away, and I can hit the button as I turn on my street and the door will be mostly up when I pull into the driveway. The mirror is also hard to reach while driving and I was tired of re-adjusting the mirror after manhandling it over and over to get the garage door to open. I clipped the remote to the visor and went back to using that, as it's much less frustrating.
 
I wonder if there are any CarPlay compatible garage door openers that could be programmed to one of the vehicles hot keys.

The price of home link is ridiculous when you consider what you can buy a cheap remote for.
 
chrunck said:
I programmed my mirror, but it would usually take 4-5 button presses to open the garage door while sitting right in front of the door. The remote works from much further away, and I can hit the button as I turn on my street and the door will be mostly up when I pull into the driveway. The mirror is also hard to reach while driving and I was tired of re-adjusting the mirror after manhandling it over and over to get the garage door to open. I clipped the remote to the visor and went back to using that, as it's much less frustrating.
Click to expand...
@chrunck, I agree with every one of your criticisms. Our Honda Clarity's Homelink button is easy to reach and its Homelink transmitter's range dwarfs that of the MINI transmitter. I'd hesitate to pay a steep price for the MINI transmitter's problematic access and sub-standard performance.
 
The homelink is the only feature my wife would actually use from a higher spec trim SE so it clearly wasn’t worth it for us.
If the mirror was a straight swap I’d buy it and do it, up to say $400 which is what Kia charged for their homelink/dimming mirror on our prior Soul.
But as nearly $800(?!?!) and having to run wires etc… no thanks.
I just used double sided tape to hold the remote on the dash between the left side air vent and gauge cluster.
 
Quiet Mini said:
I wonder if there are any CarPlay compatible garage door openers that could be programmed to one of the vehicles hot keys.
Click to expand...
Yes on compatible garage door openers, via HomeKit for sure (such as MyQ). They might not work using CarPlay, but certainly from an iPhone. As for the hot buttons, I have not found a way to use them for CarPlay functions.

I like the built-in mirror HomeLink door buttons. On my Clubman without them I have a regular remote opener that's clipped to the sun visor, and reaching the buttons is really no easier than on the mirror.
 
For those of you that are using an external/portable remote, I'd recommend you stick your remote in an inconspicuous location; because if in any unlucky chance your car ever gets broken into and the thief finds a piece of letter/registration/any kind of document with your address on it, you'll then have the hassle of reprogramming your garage opener immediately.

The chance of it all happening is slim but it did happen to my neighbour before. His car got broken into and then the thief must have found his address from his registration. He didn't notice that his remote got stolen since he didn't access his garage every day - but a few days after the incident, he got a bunch of his tools and stuff stolen from his garage as they were able to just open his garage when he wasn't home.

I opted to install MyQ on my garage instead since some of my cars don't have homelink. In addition to being able to open it when you get home, it's also convenient when your friend needs to drop something off and you're not home. In addition, you'll be able to set notifications to your phone when it's been opened for more than a set amount of time. I've also set it to close automatically at two separate hours during the night in case I had forgotten to close it. I've had it installed for 4-5 years now and I can't imagine doing without it.
 
Last edited:
I have a MyQ door but I find digging for my phone and opening the app and waiting etc to be a PITA. I don’t trust it necessarily want it to open automatically when I arrive home as it would end up doing that if I went out for a walk.
But it is useful as a backup to the remote.
That said I do wonder why garage door remotes are so big. Maybe there is a smaller one I could put on my key ring that way it wouldn’t get stolen… Hmm…
 
I posted this on the other forums. I believe any mirror drove 14 forward will fit.

I did this swap with my 128i, and it was time consuming but easy.

The time was spent taking the overhead console off, and swapping a wire connector wit one that had extra wires. I could have just tapped into one of the map lights, but I wanted it to look factory.

Plenty of write ups on the BMW forums.
 
And I thought the $300 that Tesla charges just to activate the garage door capability was a rip off, especially if you already have a remote.
 
I have a myQ opener that works with HomeKit via a Homebridge setup. Homebridge is very nerdy and I don’t recommend it to everyone, but it’s working well. When using CarPlay a button pops up on the screen to open the door when I’m about half a mile away.

However most of the time when I’m opening or closing the door I’m in reverse and the backup camera is showing, so I use the opener built in to the mirror. That works fine too.

As for missing out on the HUD: I like it ok. I just yesterday discovered that it shows nav info if you use the built in nav. However if it weren’t there I probably wouldn’t miss it too much.
 
endquote said:
As for missing out on the HUD: I like it ok. I just yesterday discovered that it shows nav info if you use the built in nav. However if it weren’t there I probably wouldn’t miss it too much.
Click to expand...
The other day when @moofpup was asking about the colored bars surrounding the speedometer number on the instrument panel, I realized how seldom I look at the instrument panel, thanks to the HUD. When I power-up my SE, I look down to the bottom of the instrument panel to check the battery percentage, but after that I mostly ignore the instrument panel. I'd really miss the HUD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top