I've been fixing a lot of sh*t during the last couple of months plus. One of those issues was a mirror that wasn't right anymore. It turns out it had what is known as a monochromatic fluid leak, for the self-dimming feature. That fluid is bad news if it drips onto any plastic or soft touch, & possibly other materials. I sent it out to http://www.radar-mirror.com/ for the repair. It was dropped off at the USPS a bit after 4PM on the 8th, & it was sent back repaired this afternoon of the 14th. The repair cost was $99, versus $300-400 for a new replacement.
It's not an uncommon issue with automatic dimming mirrors. The gel, with age, turns into a fluid that is caustic, & pretty much ruins whatever it lands on, when it eventually leaks out of the mirror housing. For me, it started out as a visible line that grew longer with time, & then started forming a bubble that increased in size with time. The image above was not the largest that bubble became. When I found out that leaking would be bad news, I removed the mirror to be safe.
Yes, the BMW self-dimming mirrors in the later E36 years (2000?) & newer models have this same issue. I think the repair company's YouTube video has a BMW mirror as an example.
I bought an awesome Gentex OEM quality autodimming one on eBay for my Abarth for about $120, with built in Homelink and a compass. I couldn't stand a non-autodim mirror after 6 years daily driving with one in the R.
Guy shipped it out right away and I had it quick. He has a ton of options. Would recommend :thumbup:
Do they come with all the mounting hardware too? From what I read it looks like I would need to splice my old mirror harness?
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