Cold weather - folding mirrors

**NickH A4** · 16-11-2010,10:49 AM

Quite chilly this morning with a heavy frost, I'm going to turn off the folding mirrors as they may not like being put into the driving position with a layer of ice in the way if this is the way it's going to be from now on.

Just thought this may serve as a useful reminder if you haven't thought about this yet.

Nick

**Geordie Amanda** · 16-11-2010,10:54 AM

I’ve owned some pretty cheap cars which have folding mirrors and never had a problem to be honest. I won’t be switching mine off as I paid a lot of money for my A4 and can’t believe Audi would be so incompetent as to not already design the mirrors with a bit of ice in mind. Besides, I park on the street, so the mirrors have to fold in.

If I post a new thread saying ‘I have broken my folding mirrors in the frost’ don’t be too surprised though

**NickH A4** · 16-11-2010,10:58 AM

First time I've had folding mirrors so no previous experience, fair point about them being tested with ice in mind.

Anyone had any problems in the past they can share or are they bomb proof when it comes to the cold weather?

Nick

**ScottyUK** · 16-11-2010,11:28 AM

I'm with Amanda on this one.

If I have a problem then it'll be down to Audi to resolve it....although I'm not expecting there to be one.

Simples.

p.s. With regard Audi being incompetent well it didn't stop them putting the auto dimming light sensor inside the car. I've got the privacy glass (i.e. tints) and hence less light comes through. This means it takes more light that on a non-tinted car to make the mirrors dim. That's fine for the interior mirror but it means I get more light from the side mirrors than I should before they dim.

Audi argued the case and then conceeded ..... and gave me a full refund for the price of the electric folding mirrors.

**vwawudi** · 16-11-2010,01:29 PM

Originally Posted by ScottyUK

I'm with Amanda on this one.

If I have a problem then it'll be down to Audi to resolve it....although I'm not expecting there to be one.

Simples.

p.s. With regard Audi being incompetent well it didn't stop them putting the auto dimming light sensor inside the car. I've got the privacy glass (i.e. tints) and hence less light comes through. This means it takes more light that on a non-tinted car to make the mirrors dim. That's fine for the interior mirror but it means I get more light from the side mirrors than I should before they dim.

Audi argued the case and then conceeded ..... and gave me a full refund for the price of the electric folding mirrors.

I thought the auto dimming thingy was just for the rear view mirror? Do the side mirrors dim?

BTW, where's the sensor? In the rear view miror unit?

While we are on the subject, how do I heat my side mirrors? Press the centre button? Put on rear windscreen heater?

Thanking you...

**legendamongus** · 16-11-2010,01:50 PM

Originally Posted by NickH A4

Anyone had any problems in the past they can share or are they bomb proof when it comes to the cold weather?

I've had them on cars for the last few years. I don't think a light covering of frost will damage them at all. Mine worked perfectly well all last winter, which was pretty cold.

With regards to the mirrors, isn't the sensor located in the rear view mirror housing? Where would be a better place to locate it? And yes, the side mirrors can dim, but I think it was an option, should have been included with the folding mirrors though. Leave the selector in the central position and then they heat as well, there should be a little icon with a mirror with some lines on it (a bit like the rear window demister) IIRC.

**ScottyUK** · 16-11-2010,03:52 PM

Originally Posted by legendamongus

With regards to the mirrors, isn't the sensor located in the rear view mirror housing? Where would be a better place to locate it? And yes, the side mirrors can dim, but I think it was an option, should have been included with the folding mirrors though.

Yep the sensor is in the rear view mirror ... which works perfectly unless you have tinted glass which obviously affects it's performance. It means the door mirrors don't tint early enough.

I guess they could have put a small sensor in the wing mirrors instead.

The light in the door mirrors will always be brighter than the light in my rear view mirror due to the tints only affected the light coming through the rear screen i.e. the front side windows aren't tinted.

To be honest it does still work (and I wouldn't be without the dimming side or interior mirrors) but obviously it's not the same as with an untinted car.

**Geordie Amanda** · 16-11-2010,04:08 PM

Would it be possible to fit some sort of ND filter to the wing mirrors (like photographers and telly cameramen use on their cameras/lights/windows?). I think there is a sensitivity setting adjuster too, somewhere in the MMI menu, so if you darkened the wing mirrors to match the tinted windows and then turned up (or would that be down?) the sensitivity of the sensor, it might work as you would expect. That made sense in my head at least

I do think the wing mirrors darkening seems a bit like black magic to me