Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror

**skibuddy** · 31-10-2012,12:51 PM

Now that I find myself driving to and from work in the dark I am questioning whether an Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror has any value in a car with Privacy Glass. Turning the auto dimming function on and off doesn't seem to make any difference to the brightness of the cars behind. Is this down to the Privacy glass, or is it not working properly?

**Timothy Nathan** · 31-10-2012,01:30 PM

I don't think it's much use, and I don't have privacy glass.

**johnsimcox** · 31-10-2012,02:36 PM

Originally Posted by skibuddy

Now that I find myself driving to and from work in the dark I am questioning whether an Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror has any value in a car with Privacy Glass. Turning the auto dimming function on and off doesn't seem to make any difference to the brightness of the cars behind. Is this down to the Privacy glass, or is it not working properly?

I think it is a function of the privacy glass meaning insufficient light falls on the sensor in the bottom of the mirror. I recall a while back on another forum that someone with an A4 found that having specced both privacy glass and autodimming door mirrors that the later did not work because it used the same sensor as the interior mirror. He got Audi to refund him the cost of the mirrors as they would never work as intended.

**foxy367** · 31-10-2012,03:38 PM

Originally Posted by Timothy Nathan

I don't think it's much use, and I don't have privacy glass.

I was of the same opinion as you until I drove the wife's A1 this week and realised how much you miss it when its not there. I was dazzled half a dozen times driving home!

**KAM** · 31-10-2012,03:50 PM

WARNING: Thread tangent ahead ...

While on the subject of interior mirrors, I managed to break my windscreen a couple of weekends ago!

I was sitting in the car just outside my house, doing some cleaning, tidying and wiping. I was polishing the inside of the windscreen with wide sweeping strokes and I hit the mirror, quite by accident, knocking it off its mounting. The actual mounting point is on the glass and it just dangled there by the wires disappearing in to the roof panel.
"Oh well", I thought, "it came off so easily, no doubt it clips back on just as easily."
Hmm, not quite. I struggled to get it to snap back on at all. I could see three metal clips that appeared to be the key fixing points but even with them aligned as best I could I still couldn't get it back in place. Eventually I decided a little gentle force was required, applied as a short sharp thump. I held the mirror body in place with my left hand, balled my right hand in to a fist and hit the body with the outside edge of my fist.

Ess-aitch-eye-tee!!!

Now I had a detached mirror as before, but I also had about a dozen cracks in the windscreen, each about 10-12" long, radiating out from the point just behind the mirror mounting. Honest, I just tapped the damned thing!

Very fortunately for me, it's a company car sourced through a leasing company. I called the lease company and requested a new windscreen. The lady I spoke to asked me the usual range of questions I expected: name, address, registration etc, and then the one that stumped me -
"Is the windscreen broken on the driver's side or the passenger's side?"
I laughed, "You're hardly going to replace only half of it are you?"
She didn't seem to see anything funny.
"Well, which is it?"
"Right in the very middle."
The one question I didn't get asked, and was quite grateful for its absence, was "... and exactly how did it happen?"

The lease company then notified their preferred windscreen company, National Windscreens. I got a call from NW. This guy was much more interested in the technical bits: exact model, variant, model year etc. Then he introduced the sticky questions -
"And have you got the special coating on the windscreen for the auto wipers?"
Yes, I had.
"And what about the auto headlights, have you got them as well?"
Yes, I had.
There was the long intake of breath between clenched teeth that we've all heard from a garage mechanic at one time or another.
"We may not have one of them in stock. We might need to get Pilks to get us one."
What?! You'll have to get a glass manufacturer to make me a windscreen? Surely not.
By this time I was thinking it was the last time I would do any cleaning again in the car. Ever.

Anyway, a few phone-calls round various depots by NW located the correct windscreen. They came to pick the car up and returned it later that same day. The end of the tale is when they handed the keys back to me.
"So," I said, "is that it then? Good as new, eh?"
"No way, mate", he replied. "This one's better than new. This one's had the personal touch all through. There's been no robots near this one."

I honestly wasn't sure whether to be pleased by that or not.

Mirrors, don't talk to me about mirrors ....

jbanfie · 31-10-2012,03:57 PM

Great story, well told!

I'd hate to know how much one of these windscreens costs, and am surprised insurance companies don't ask about certain options as part of the quote.

**Timothy Nathan** · 31-10-2012,04:49 PM

You didn't mention HUD.

**foxy367** · 31-10-2012,05:53 PM

is HUD not just reflected off the glass from the little box above the binnacle?

I am dreading getting any stone chips my car's insured by work (which is great in theory) but we have to pay for and claim back replacement windscreens. The catch is we can only claim £480 so if its any more it comes out of yours trulys pocket!

**Timothy Nathan** · 31-10-2012,05:58 PM

Originally Posted by foxy367

is HUD not just reflected off the glass from the little box above the binnacle?

Nope, there is a special prism or coating for HUD.

**robbyg** · 01-11-2012,08:45 PM

bringing a number of replies to the above posts into one post here:

1. i wondered the same if mine was any use with priv glass. I can confirm it is. Tried it on a long boring journey. when you switch it on/off it is not an instant reaction. from off to fully working the "dimming" action fades in over 3-4 seconds and is quite subtle, hard to notice if you are only glancing at the mirror while driving along the busy motorway in the dark. This is different to previous car which acted in about half a second. Turning it off, after about 10 mins driving i noticed several times it was abit bright and could do with dimming. So i put it back on and forgot all about it.

2. You are responsible for telling your insurer about factory fitted options, not just "modifications". Audi insurance did not charge me any more for them. However, audi insurance wanted about £300 more than the others. Admiral charged about £80 more based on my long list of factory options. I always thinks its best to tell, i would hate them not to pay up because i haven't declared tinted glass or air suspension etc.

3. I will now be more careful when cleaning my screen. thanks for the tip.