[Wolfus Aurelius]

I used the exterior-mirror dip today while backing up along the curb to park. See, curbs here can be any height, from practically nothing to eight inches high, and I don't want to scar up my wheels or rocker panels. Plus, it wastes gas to park, get out and look, get back in and readjust, etc. Which, I suspect, is why BMW put the feature in.

I'm glad, too, that it's under my control, and that it's not both mirrors. The Oldsmobile Aurora I test drove in 1997 or so had the feature, but it was automatic when you went into R, and it was both mirrors. No thanks. I can look out of my window, or open the door if need be, to check the curb on my side. I need some way to eye the other side.

I do wonder why BMW set it up so you push the button to your side to activate a feature on the opposite side of the car. Finally I've got the idea behind the shifter: You want to go faster while driving forward, you push the stick forward (to go down a gear and get more revs); you want to slow, you pull back on the stick, like reins on a horse (to go up a gear and lose some revs). But the mirror button has me floored.