Auto dimming rear view mirrors - not always good?

[97tbird]

I just saw this post in a different forum and it made me think... Can the auto dimming mirrors in modern cars ever be "turned off"? or is one stuck with it?

I think I'd like it where i can dim it when i WANT it to dim and not auto...

Quote:
"....The car has sun protection glass and auto-dim rear view mirrors. The combination of these means that I can barely see out of the back of the car when I have to reverse/back-up in the dark!

I live in a very rural area, down a long single-track road and lane with absolutely no street or other ambient lighting. I often have to stop and back-up if I meet oncoming traffic. I have always been totally confident reversing at a good speed, day or night, in other cars, because I could see where I was going. But I cannot see a freakin' thing out the back of this car at night! (It is rather embarrassing creeping backwards in a zig zag as I vainly peer into the mirrors, while the oncoming driver stares at my incompetence.)

My question is: can I put higher wattage bulbs into the reversing/back-up light sockets? If so, what values do you recommend?...."

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
I just saw this post in a different forum and it made me think... Can the auto dimming mirrors in modern cars ever be "turned off"? or is one stuck with it?

I think I'd like it where i can dim it when i WANT it to dim and not auto...

Quote:
"....The car has ... auto-dim rear view mirrors. ... I can barely see out of the back of the car when I have to reverse/back-up in the dark!




You are not suppose to use your rear-view mirrors for backing up, you are suppose to turn around and look over your shoulder. You would have gotten that one wrong on the drivers license test.

But, NO. I don't know if you can turn the auto-dim feature off. You could maybe find the hot wire, or ground, that feed the mirror with power and splice an on/off switch to toggle it on and off manually. Be careful you don't splice the temp or compass wires if you have them.

 

[dkryan]

The OEM auto-dimming mirror in both my '01 I30 and '05 Highlander allows you to push a button at the bottom of the mirror and turn off the auto-dim feature.

Most of the aftermarket mirrors have this feature, as well.

 

[ctrcbob]

Both my cars have it, and I can switch it off on both. In addition, I often DO switch it off, as I would rather drive with it off, than on.

 

[97tbird]

cool - at least it looks like most cars have a way off turning it off. just had me concerned for the future car buying experiences.

 

[IntegraVT]

Most of the auto dimming units I've run across have had an on/off switch.

I know that Honda had problems with Magna Donnelly sourced auto-dim mirrors earlier this decade. They would crack and leak a toxic fluid melting dashboards and worse; there were even reports of explosions.

 

[Colt45ws]

Yeah, mine can turn off. Most of the time it does not really work anyway; the aftermarket tint on the rear glass fools it.
Also, as far as Im aware, most of these are wired to shut off anyway when in reverse.

 

[Stu_Rock]

I have auto-dimming mirrors in my car, and I hate them. In my car, not only does the rear view mirror dim, but it sends a signal to the left side view mirror to dim as well.

I use both of those mirrors constantly while driving, and the dimming just removes too much visual information.

The annoying thing about disabling them on my car is that you need to hold the mirror power button for several seconds, and setting gets forgotten every time you shut the car off. It's too much of a burden to turn off the feature every time I start the car.

My workaround has been to put a piece of electrical tape over the rear-facing photoresistor on the rear view mirror. The catch is that now I can't dim the mirror in the one situation where I find it useful--when a tall pickup truck is tailgating me. That is rare where I live now, but was commonplace back in Wisconsin.

If anyone has figured out any other good workarounds, I'd love to hear them.

 

[97f150]

Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock


The annoying thing about disabling them on my car is that you need to hold the mirror power button for several seconds, and setting gets forgotten every time you shut the car off. It's too much of a burden to turn off the feature every time I start the car.


Really? Wow, just wow.

I have a button on the auto mirror in my Ram to turn it off. It does come back on the next time I start the truck, but I am also not constantly driving in reverse. Most of the time I reverse just a short distance where looking back over my right shoulder suffices just fine.

 

[Falcon_LS]

In all three of mine, there's a button to turn it off. They are all made by Gentex, I'm not sure about Donnelly. They are also automatically disabled once you shift into reverse.

 

[OVERKILL]

There is a button in the middle of mine to turn off. That being said, it has a light sensor and only auto-dims when there is a car very close behind me and it picks up the headlights. My Lincoln is the same way.

 

[Stu_Rock]

Originally Posted By: 97f150
Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock
It's too much of a burden to turn off the feature every time I start the car.

Really? Wow, just wow. I have a button on the auto mirror in my Ram to turn it off. It does come back on the next time I start the truck, but I am also not constantly driving in reverse. Most of the time I reverse just a short distance where looking back over my right shoulder suffices just fine.

Is your "wow" directed at me or my car?

Note that I am not the one with the complaint about backing up. My beef with this feature is during forward driving.

I went out and checked. It's three full seconds of holding the power button to disable the dimming. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you have to do it every time you start the car, it gets old really quick. And if you forget at startup, three seconds is a long time while driving.

 

[97tbird]

just FYI: i am not the one complaining either our current cars do NOT have auto dim mirrors; I saw that post in a different forum, and it got me thinking - for the future. it seems the car that guy was talking about did NOT have any way of disabling it, except "tape over sensor" trick. (it's a bimmer!, btw)

 

[Quattro Pete]

If there is a way to disable auto-dimming mirror in my 530i, then I'm not aware of it. However, I have never found it to be a problem. For backing up, you're not supposed to rely on your rear-view mirror anyway. And if the OP put such dark tint on the back window that he can't see [censored], well, that's kind of his problem.

 

[97tbird]

I agree.