Nuts! Cage Nuts

[David Layton]

BTS Autoteile in Germany has re-stocked the cage nuts for the mirror mounts.    If you have not checked out this vendor, you should.

 

https://www.bts-autoteile.de

 

 

 

 

[calw]

I noticed the other day that Rogerstii has them proudly listed at $22.87 each 

 

https://www.rogerstii.com/bmw-door-mirror-mounting-nut-2002-320i-3-0cs-3-0s/

 

not the case a few months ago. 

[zinz]

30 minutes ago, David Layton said:

BTS Autoteile in Germany

 

I bought a lot of parts from them for the 2000CS.  Very easy to deal with and quality parts. They even replied back explaining that some things I had ordered were not correct for the 2000CS and steered me to the correct parts.

 

Good folks,

Ed Z

[Schon '02]

The issue I had with the OEM cage nut was the stretched hole in the door skin. The ears on the back-side of the nut were no longer able to fully catch the edge of the hole, so once one ear slipped off, the nut lost its grip on the door skin.

 

Sorting though the spare nuts& bolts bin, I found that a similar threaded nut with longer ears is used on toggle anchors. I swapped out the back-side eared nut for the one in the toggle anchor and it fixed the problem for less than a dollar.

[PaulTWinterton]

1 hour ago, Schon '02 said:

the stretched hole in the door skin

 

A common problem that causes a wobbly mirror. A small block of wood and a small mallet can flatten down the edges. Cleaning and lubricating the mirror pivot will stop that from happening again. 

[John76]

3 hours ago, David Layton said:

https://www.bts-autoteile.de

 

Nice site!

My favorite German to English translation is for the carb float = "swimmer"

[HBChris]

The caged nuts are notoriously weak, you can move your mounting bracket a tiny bit, drill small holes and use sheet metal screws.

[stephers]

OK  one word, ok, sorry two words   Riv nuts

[visionaut]

Cage-free nuts...  They ain't coming out.  

[Mike Self]

5 hours ago, stephers said:

Riv nuts

Where the heck to you get 'em?  Used to be at the local Ace or True Value hardware stores, now no one seems to have ever heard of 'em...

 

mike

[BarneyT]

I use “jack”nuts...

[jimk]

28 minutes ago, BarneyT said:

I use “jack”nuts...

Those look a lot easier to set than rivnuts.  

[kbmb02]

On 2/15/2021 at 3:14 PM, HBChris said:

The caged nuts are notoriously weak, you can move your mounting bracket a tiny bit, drill small holes and use sheet metal screws.

 

I've pondered whether the OE cage nut design is weak by design? (as in, 'sacrificial' = someone comes along and whacks the side view mirror, the cage nuts fail / pull out and the mirror drops off ... rather than it all being so rigid that the door skin rips/bends when mirrors are attached via other methods). -KB

 

- nuts

Edited February 18, 2021 by kbmb02

[stephers]

Hi Mike

 

Here in Canada, I get them at Princess Auto which is like your Harbor Freight           You need a special tool to tighten them up     I use aluminum ones , once they have been put in, they hold tighter than anything else       Hell, I use them on a Sports racer that I crew on to hold all sorts of things to the sheet metal and there are way more vibration and banging issues there than on a street 2002       McMaster Carr    has them and I think Bel meltric carries them as well, I believe       Use stainless screws so you can buff those up to look like chrome , use a little bit of Everbright solution on the screws afterwards and they will keep a nice shine for 2-3 years     My actual tool is qute expensive,ade by POP that contains both std and metric adapters      The rivnuts come in aluminum, steel or even in a gold color look

 

Thanks, Rick

[John_in_VA]

2 hours ago, stephers said:

Use stainless screws so you can buff those up to look like chrome, use a little bit of Everbright solution on the screws afterwards and they will keep a nice shine for 2-3 years

 

Thanks, Rick

 

Are you referring to their ProtectaClear product?  Thanks!

https://shop.everbritecoatings.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&zenid=idalccsjrddapvi6bd1q84faq3