Auto Dimming rear view mirror

Tdi Noobie · Sep 27, 2012

Has anyone gotten rid of theirs? I cant stand it. Problem I have is when its dawn, or dusk and there is a giant truck with its lights on behind me, the wont dim!!! Or if there is nobody behind you and someone pulls up, it takes forever to dim. I have had them on other brand cars and have had the same prob.

I would love nothing more to replace it with a cheapo lever style like my JSW had.. Just not sure about the wires that appear to go to it. I could ask the dealer at my first service but I dont know if I can wait that long!

IXLR8 · Sep 27, 2012

I haven't figured out how to change out the auto dimming mirror, but I am sure with you on this one. 90% of my driving is at night/early morning and I hate the auto dimming mirror. Presently I am looking at putting a LED in front of the sensor to keep the mirror dimmed all the time.

Yankinwaoz · Sep 27, 2012

I agree. I am not crazy about it.

APT · Sep 27, 2012

There is a switch to disable the dimming functionality.

15% tint on my rear window pretty much negates any need for auto dimming the review mirror.

Mr. Furious · Sep 27, 2012

I love mine and would be very hesitant to get a car that doesn't have one.

Tdi Noobie · Sep 27, 2012

Where is the switch to disable it? Not sure that is the best way, since it dosent have that manual switch to flip it.

Like you IXLR8.. Dawn/dusk driving and it never works.. Next time I am at the dealer I will ask if they can swap it.. Cant be that hard.

Glad it works for you Mr. Furious. I hate not having control. Sensitive eyes I guess. Wait til I cant turn the traction control off trying to get out of my driveway in 10 inches of snow.

APT · Sep 27, 2012

There is a button on the bottom of the mirror to turn the auto dimming feature on and off. Not quite the same as the manual switch as dimming off means it is not dimmed.

dubStrom · Sep 27, 2012

Tdi Noobie said:
Has anyone gotten rid of theirs? I cant stand it. Problem I have is when its dawn, or dusk and there is a giant truck with its lights on behind me, the wont dim!!! Or if there is nobody behind you and someone pulls up, it takes forever to dim. I have had them on other brand cars and have had the same prob.

I would love nothing more to replace it with a cheapo lever style like my JSW had.. Just not sure about the wires that appear to go to it. I could ask the dealer at my first service but I dont know if I can wait that long!

Raise the mirror a little, so that if you lift your head you get a full view, but head normal, only about 35-40% view. This prevents direct reflection and keeps it available. Try it. So far it is excellent for me.

VeeDubTDI · Sep 27, 2012

I don't have this problem because the car has tint, although that creates its own issues with night time visibility.

Tdi Noobie · Sep 28, 2012

Ive done the angle up thing dubstorm.. Works ok. I am still going to look for the manual one. They work better than the auto one when the auto on is dimmed in my opinion..

Tint, that will be done sometime.. Need to find a good tinting place in the mitten.

ng3 · Sep 28, 2012

The Canadian base model comes with the simple lever mirror, maybe check with a dealer if it can be ordered? Let me know if you need a part #.

VeeDubTDI · Sep 28, 2012

You'll need to make sure that the manual mirror will hook up to the mirror mount in your car. It may be different than the S model if your car has a rain sensor.

ng3 · Sep 28, 2012

Mine's a Trendline+ TDI, not sure what trim it matches to in the US but it has the light/rain sensor, so I think the only problem would be if the ball the mirror mounts to is of a different size...

APT · Oct 1, 2012

Tdi Noobie said:
Need to find a good tinting place in the mitten.

You are very close to one of the best. This is where I got mine done. I highly recommend them.

PassatDriver · Jan 5, 2013

IXLR8 said:
I haven't figured out how to change out the auto dimming mirror, but I am sure with you on this one. 90% of my driving is at night/early morning and I hate the auto dimming mirror. Presently I am looking at putting a LED in front of the sensor to keep the mirror dimmed all the time.

I cant't stand the auto dimming mirror either, it is too slow to react and the glare is bad. I put a piece of tape over the sensor that points out the windshield and that seems to keep it dimmed more often. However, I heard that you can program the wipers to work on rain sensor (TDI SE did not come enabled from factory) and I think covering THAT sensor may negate that upgrade. Dealer tested the dimming function and said it works the way it is supposed to.

VeeDubTDI · Jan 5, 2013

The wipers do not use the light sensor on the back of the mirror. Instead, they use the array inside where the mirror mounts to the windshield.

Fix_Until_Broke · Jun 29, 2013

ng3 said:
The Canadian base model comes with the simple lever mirror, maybe check with a dealer if it can be ordered? Let me know if you need a part #.

VeeDubTDI said:
You'll need to make sure that the manual mirror will hook up to the mirror mount in your car. It may be different than the S model if your car has a rain sensor.

Has anyone looked further into this?

I'm in agreement that the auto dimming rearview mirror is generally useless. Goes from bright white to bright green and only when it's dark (because obviously, there are only bright things in the night time, it's impossible to have bright things in the day time, WHEN THE SUN IS OUT!

).

VeeDubTDI · Jun 30, 2013

Works fine when combined with window tint.

vw_norm · Jun 30, 2013

mine works fine. There is a +12V signal that goes to the mirror when you put the car in reverse to undim it in order to make it clear for you to see behind. The little green LED in the front of the mirror should be lit to indicate that the mirror can dim.

CallMeColt · Aug 17, 2020

I'm interested in changing my mirror to a DVR mirror. Since this mirror has a non-standard mount due the rain sensor, it complicats things. Does anyone by chance have a measurement of the OEM ball mount? I wondering if it's a standard size & the DVR mirror can be pushed on it.

I also found the Rostra adapter for the NMS but it's unclear if if goes over the rain sensor.
https://12voltsexpert.com/product/rostra-250-8606-mirror-adapter-mount-volkswagen/

Skimax · Aug 17, 2020

I agree this is the worst feature of the car. Are we getting so lazy we can't reach up and flip a lever? Fortunately I don't have to drive at night that often any more.

Auto Dimming rear view mirror

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