Passat gets Jetta mirrors as a half year change (not documented)

[gwernerjr]

I was at the dealer getting my firmware update and owners manual recall yesterday, and while in the showroom I noticed a brand new 2.5 SE and it had the jetta mirrors. I thought I was just seeing things until the slightly older 2.5 SEL in front of it in the showroom had the original CC/Eos mirrors. Then I went outside and saw that half of them had the old mirrors (the batch that was from an earlier shipment) and all the ones from the most previous shipment had the jetta mirrors. The salesman at first said "Oh the nicer mirrors only come on the SEL") until we saw three S models with the original mirrors on the lot. Then we walked the entire lot and found the aforementioned situation with half and half. I took pictures, but my flickr account is linked to my Facebook which i deleted so I cannot post them right now. The jetta mirrors and beetle mirrors (mexico part) have a smaller design with a flat like side, versus the CC/Eos mirrors which have a sharp curved side and are a little wider.

This is another cut back, and whats more weird is that 12's have a nicer feature then the 13'. So lose the mirrors gain the backup cam/vents for 13'.

My aspherical OEM mirrors only fit in the CC/Eos mirrors, so I am enthralled I did not get the cheap meximobile mirrors.

The website exterior pictures have also been photo-shopped for the new mirrors! They are noticeably smaller and flat on the sides!


Also while I remember, the new firmware update did not cut out my voice command as many complained it did! Hooray! But still this is weird for the mirror situation, and I am 100% sure of it.

And, another change half way through the year, is that the TDI SE (any version but sunroof/nav) comes with the rims from the 2.5 SEL now instead of the rims from the 2.5 SE. Saw one on the lot with those rims and the new mexi mirrors.

[Andy@Ross-Tech.com]

Which dealer? You can search inventory for many dealers on cars.com. I searched and sorted by most recent date added to site. Every pic (even those of very fresh, high VIN cars like 1VWBP7A31CC082424 ) look to have the same pointy mirrors as the other Passats:

[Perio5]

I have been trying to put mirror covers on my B7 and haven´t had a chance to really compare the jetta´s mirrors to the B7´s, to my eyes they look the same but after this thread i think i have the "nice" ones, i live in Mexico and today i´m going to the dealer and snap some pics for you, let´s see if down here they already are different. sorry for hijacking the thread but if i have the "non jetta" mirrors what covers should i buy?, B6, CC, EOS???

[mknieri]

To the OP: Post pictures that you took. If you need a place to host them outside of Facebook you can do that here...

http://imgur.com/

I too took my car in last week for the owner's manual recall and also had an ECU update but didn't walk around the lot much to notice the mirror difference.

[TDI Brad]

Did you get and install the aspherical mirrors?

[Andy@Ross-Tech.com]

Which dealer? You can search inventory for many dealers on cars.com. I searched and sorted by most recent date added to site. Every pic (even those of very fresh, high VIN cars like 1VWBP7A31CC082424 ) look to have the same pointy mirrors as the other Passats:

Here's a Jetta mirror for comparison:

[ColoradoDriver]

Perhaps done with to reduce wind noise??

[VW_JW]

Article from askavwsalesguy site about the mirror change.

http://askavwsalesguy.com/blog/2012/...or-update.html

[CCISFORME]

OK, I'm having trouble telling the difference from the ones no our SEL (it's black). Maybe ours already had these?? We bought it in mid-March, but no idea what the manufacture date was (car is at the airport parking garage while the Other Half is out of town on business).

[garethusa]

by 2014, the new passat will have everything that is on the new jetta.

this will help VW cut costs a lot and still give the people a preference over the passat logo or jetta logo on the trunk.

[jkinzel]

OK, I'm having trouble telling the difference from the ones no our SEL (it's black). Maybe ours already had these?? We bought it in mid-March, but no idea what the manufacture date was (car is at the airport parking garage while the Other Half is out of town on business).

I "think" the build date is on the sticker on the drivers side door frame.

[CCISFORME]

Oh yeah, I know where to look, it's just that the car's primary driver has it parked at the airport right now... But, after looking back at the thread and the pics, it seems we do have the previously-used Eos/CC mirrors.

[gwernerjr]

Yes I got the aspherical mirrors installed they are phenomenal,

Maybe they are changed to cut down on wind noise or maybe it was to cut down on cost since the jettas and beetles use them as well. I'm glad that I have the original mirrors because the aspherical glass pieces are made for those.

[jkinzel]

VW keeps this up, I might as well just buy a Jetta wagon and save three to four grand and avoid the Adblue problem.

[TDI Brad]

Any pics of the aspherical mirrors? Sorry for sidetracking.

[CCISFORME]

Any pics of the aspherical mirrors? Sorry for sidetracking.

I think they're the ones in the pictures above - notice how they're pointier and longer than the flat-sided ones on the Jetta?

[gwernerjr]

I think they're the ones in the pictures above - notice how they're pointier and longer than the flat-sided ones on the Jetta?

Nope; working on it right now..

[gwernerjr]

Nope; working on it right now..

Feast your eyes:

Original Mirrors Front (you can see the new ones in the background)



Original Mirrors Back



New Mirrors Front



New Mirrors Back



Aspherical Mirrors (Sorry the picture does not do it justice)





Firmware Update

[TDI Brad]

Asphericals look nice.

As for the jetta mirrors my guess is VW opted for them to increase visibility based on the size difference. When I first started driving my Passat I thought the mirrors were alittle small but now I'm used to them. Just my 2 cents.

[gwernerjr]

Asphericals look nice.

As for the jetta mirrors my guess is VW opted for them to increase visibility based on the size difference. When I first started driving my Passat I thought the mirrors were alittle small but now I'm used to them. Just my 2 cents.

It's cheaper to use the ones from mexico then the ones from europe on a car built in the US. The new ones are even smaller so I don't think they'll be increasing visibility.

[writeb]

So, basically the easy way to tell if you have Jetta side mirrors is if they have the aspherical glass on it? Pretty decent trade off, I guess, the blind spot on the Passat is pretty atrocious to be honest. These will help. (I have my euro replacement mirrors with the Aspherical mirror glass enroute from ECS now). I do wonder about the wind noise though

[CCISFORME]

It's cheaper to use the ones from mexico then the ones from europe on a car built in the US. The new ones are even smaller so I don't think they'll be increasing visibility.

My question is, why didn't this occur to the Decision Makers from the very beginning??

[brsexton]

Owning both a 12 Passat (2/12 build date with the orginial style mirrors) and a 12 Jetta, I will say that I like the signal lights MUCH better on the Jetta. The mirror signal lights look like a bulb is burned out because of the bulb spacing. It isn't even. The newer mirrors, like the ones on the Jetta have a better light bar and you can't actually see the bulbs inside. It's a much cleaner look in my opinion.

[redneckracing]

How come the colors are like that? Does it change with the firmware???


20120430_195436 by DasAutoB7, on Flickr

[compu_85]

Hm, I didn't notice the change happened. My April built 2012 has the newer mirrors. I like the shape of them more than the prior style... it's a bummer the wide angle mirrors don't fit. I have them on my 99.5 and love them.

-J

[gwernerjr]

So, basically the easy way to tell if you have Jetta side mirrors is if they have the aspherical glass on it? Pretty decent trade off, I guess, the blind spot on the Passat is pretty atrocious to be honest. These will help. (I have my euro replacement mirrors with the Aspherical mirror glass enroute from ECS now). I do wonder about the wind noise though

well the aspeherical glass is an add on if you have the original euro mirrors from the eos/cc

My question is, why didn't this occur to the Decision Makers from the very beginning??

I believe they wanted to make the car seem a little nicer with the more expensive mirrors, but in the end it was a cost saving trick to take them from mexico then have them sent all the way from europe. Let's not forget that more euro cars use those mirrors as well which mean that they may have had a shortage of them so what other better way then to change them out on the us passat where no one but us would notice..

I will say that I like the signal lights MUCH better on the Jetta. The mirror signal lights look like a bulb is burned out because of the bulb spacing. It isn't even. The newer mirrors, like the ones on the Jetta have a better light bar and you can't actually see the bulbs inside.

I noticed this too, but still i'd rather have the aspherical glass; Just took a 400 mile trip from VA to NY and used them so much while changing lanes on i-95.

How come the colors are like that? Does it change with the firmware???

I'm not sure what you mean, the colors are the same. The only change is the sirius travellink, and the color icons on the sat radio stations (love!)

[gwernerjr]

Lets clear this up since people are getting confused!


Aspherical mirrors, relate to the glass pieces that you purchase after the car is delivered, from ECS or OEMplus (for example) which have concave glass, and blind spot sections (separated by a dotted line on the glass) which curve the glass to give you a better view. They are technically not approved for the US but are so much better than the standard mirrors.

The mirror housing which is more pointy on the side is the euro original mirror

The mirror housing which is more flat on the side is the new mexico beetle/jetta mirror

Aspherical mirrors are not the same as the mirror housing, but they will only fit in the euro mirror housing since they are made for europe.

Hope this helps

[percydobbin]

well the aspeherical glass is an add on if you have the original euro mirrors from the eos/cc



I believe they wanted to make the car seem a little nicer with the more expensive mirrors, but in the end it was a cost saving trick to take them from mexico then have them sent all the way from europe. Let's not forget that more euro cars use those mirrors as well which mean that they may have had a shortage of them so what other better way then to change them out on the us passat where no one but us would notice..



I noticed this too, but still i'd rather have the aspherical glass; Just took a 400 mile trip from VA to NY and used them so much while changing lanes on i-95.



I'm not sure what you mean, the colors are the same. The only change is the sirius travellink, and the color icons on the sat radio stations (love!)

I have never seen how the Sirius screen has presets on the bottom, does anyone know offhand how to do this?