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No more auto-dimming mirrors on Model 3?
- Thread starter WilliamG
- Start date
Just bear in mind they won't be of much use to new Model 3 owners if the connector isn't there behind the mirror. We need to have someone without auto-dimming mirrors pop the mirror glass off and let us know if the connector is there. There are two connectors - one for heat, and one for auto-dimming.
Too bad I don’t have my rolls of wrap for the chrome yet. Otherwise I’d have an excuse to take the cover off.
You don’t need to remove the mirror cover. The glass just pops out really easily. You just electric move them to the side and pop them out.
Really glad my car has the auto dimming. I’ve never had an issue with them. It’s disappointing to see this removed as a feature.
Prolificant
Member
So I picked up my Performance Model 3 about ten days ago and noticed that the rear view mirror refused to dim. I asked a friend who purchased a March 2020 AWD how his dimming worked and he said that his rear view mirror worked but not his side mirrors.
Today I had an appointment for the rear view mirror to be repaired and the guy spent a couple hours at my house trying to figure it out. He told me that for some reason there is no power coming to the rear view mirror so he is going to have to do more research and get back to me. I asked him about the side mirrors possibly not dimming anymore and he said he was not aware of such a change. I asked him about the connectors for the side mirrors and he said he pulled off my door panel and one of the wires related to dimming was not there. His documentation shows premium should have it, and all my mirrors have the premium designation so hes confused. So it sounds like they've changed some things and not shared this with the techs, and in my case possibly the assembly line as something is fishy in my particular car. So at the moment I have zero dimming mirrors and at some point will likely only have one.
Today I had an appointment for the rear view mirror to be repaired and the guy spent a couple hours at my house trying to figure it out. He told me that for some reason there is no power coming to the rear view mirror so he is going to have to do more research and get back to me. I asked him about the side mirrors possibly not dimming anymore and he said he was not aware of such a change. I asked him about the connectors for the side mirrors and he said he pulled off my door panel and one of the wires related to dimming was not there. His documentation shows premium should have it, and all my mirrors have the premium designation so hes confused. So it sounds like they've changed some things and not shared this with the techs, and in my case possibly the assembly line as something is fishy in my particular car. So at the moment I have zero dimming mirrors and at some point will likely only have one.
jkoya
NA2 NSX
@Prolificant - Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing your service experience. I hope they will at least get your auto-dimming rear view mirror working for you...
Hah! You saved me from pulling my own mirrors off. So the dimming connection isn’t here and the mirror is physically different to and wouldn’t work even if there was power.
MacGreiner
5YJ
How are you determining your rear view mirror isn’t dimming? It only dims at night so I’m not even sure how the tech would be able to troubleshoot it except at that point. And why would he pull off a door panel when it takes 10 seconds to take out the mirror glass?
What is “fishy” about your car? The Model 3 isn’t advertised as having dimming mirrors anymore, and I’m guessing it wasn’t at the time of purchase either.
Prolificant
Member
Thanks! I’ve been a lurker here for about a year but figured I'd finally join now that I'm an owner. I'm sure they'll figure it out at some point. Fortunately this defect is only an annoyance at this point.
Yeah, according to the guy there was a missing wire which seems to point to the whole no side dimming mirrors thing. I don't know if he just meant one wire from the connector or all of the specific plug/wires needed are missing, so it seems at the minimum you'd need wires ran. additionally, he also talked about the computer being programmed with what type of mirror you have so I could see them being disabled in software further complicating a retrofit attempt. But I am just guessing based on me asking the guy questions about them.
I determined it was not dimming by driving at night all week and constantly being blinded by any light source behind the vehicle. I wouldn't call myself an auto dimming mirror engineer, but have been the proud owner of many auto dimming mirrors in the past and have first hand real world experience seeing them dim.
In no way have I seen the mirror function as I have in other Tesla's I have driven or any car for that matter. I am pretty dang confident that my rear view mirror does not function.Most of these questions are difficult for me to answer as I do not know the technician's troubleshooting process and did not observe him working directly. I only spoke to him for about five minutes when he was finished.
Why he took a door apart if there exists an easier way to access the wires I do not know. He did mention that the passenger and rear view mirrors are controlled by a specific module, and the driver side door is controlled by a separate module. I might surmise that he was attempting to eliminate specific components from being the culprit for the failure.
As for the technician knowing if it worked or not, I would assume there is a method to manually trigger the dimming function for troubleshooting purposes being it controlled via software in the first place. He seemed confident that it was not functioning.
When he first arrived he explained that his first troubleshooting steps were to include verifying that it was connected properly. I'm assuming when that did not improve things he started to dive further.
As to what is "fishy," he went into a few ideas on what might be causing the issue and i don't recall exactly what wasn't matching up but he did say all was not as it should be. He told me that the mirror wasn't getting power/signal and he could not determine why because all the part numbers, software configurations, etc. pointed to me having auto dimming mirrors.
While I was not aware that the auto dimming external mirrors had been removed from the vehicle feature list near or after I had ordered it (in January) I am dissapointed about it, but am not claiming anything was fishy as in "bait and switch," but as in the technician couldn't figure out the problem via his troubleshooting. To that, I think there was additional confusion due to the wiring in my car not matching what he had on file for what the car should have. it sounded like I have "premium" mirrors that "should" dim, and they are not dimming. It seems that perhaps the removal of the side dimming mirrors may have been intended but perhaps not shared with technicians or their documentation which likely caused him additional confusion.
I plan to inquire further as to the source of this issue once it is resolved and will be happy to share those details when they are made available to me.
anandoc
Another BMW convert
I have a 02/2020 build LR AWD (Canada) and I have auto-dimming mirrors.
BluestarE3
Active Member
Well, the user's manual does say that the availability of this feature varies by region as well as by build date.
Prolificant
Member
Today the mobile service tech messaged that they ordered a rear view mirror for my car and stated that it was a January 2020 change to remove auto dimming side mirrors. it seems many of you lucked out even after January but Unfortunately both my and a friends march builds do not have them.
Heh, based on some threads here I think we should consider ourselves lucky and it’s a non issue once tint is involved. I’m probably getting those convex mirrors anyhow.
The more I drive the 3, the more I’m convinced it’s designed for someone who is 5’8” or shorter that has a 2 foot neck. Why? If you have to sit far back and are taller, the mirrors don’t look as far out as you would like. And you need a tall neck to deal with that high rear shelf
jkoya
NA2 NSX
For me personally, the blue anti-glare tint of the Suma Performance mirrors work better than the auto-dimming...
Prolificant
Member
Heh, based on some threads here I think we should consider ourselves lucky and it’s a non issue once tint is involved. I’m probably getting those convex mirrors anyhow.
The more I drive the 3, the more I’m convinced it’s designed for someone who is 5’8” or shorter that has a 2 foot neck. Why? If you have to sit far back and are taller, the mirrors don’t look as far out as you would like. And you need a tall neck to deal with that high rear shelf
I plan on getting the windows tinted soon, so that will help with side mirror dazzling for sure.
And I did think the mirror FOV felt a bit narrow when I first got it.
I'll be happy when my rear view mirror starts working.
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