don't think my mirrors are heating

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:20 am

I'm not convinced my A4 (B6) mirrors are heating up to melt ice and evaporate condensation. The manual says they work when the rear demister's on and the outside temp is of a certain value but I'm not convinced they're working. I can't see a fuse listed that's responsible for the heated mirrors either.
any ideas?
cheers
nj

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:47 pm

Are the elec mirrors still working? If so, I would say thats its a faulty heating element in the mirror.

The mirror is classed as one complete unit, so its the same fuse for the mirrors & the heating element.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:14 pm

yeah they both move but neither side heats up very well. i'd perhaps expect one side to have gone but seems strange that both sides have gone at the same time. hmm. ach, maybe i should sit in the car and see how long it takes. i might just be expecting results too quickly? i'm sure my coupes have had mirrors that pretty much started giving off wisps of steam as soon as I've started up and needed them.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:56 pm

My heated mirrors will start to clear within a few seconds of turning them on, I don't think you would be in doubt as to whether they are working or not.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:55 pm

If they're working - they'll feel warm when they're on.......

If they're both not working, and your rear screen clears - are you sure you have them fitted?

If you remove the mirror glass, and they've not got two wires connected to the back - they're not heated.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:42 pm

I don't want to take off the glass to check but it would be bloody strange for a 51 plate a4 sport not to have them I would have thought? I'll conduct some more stringent testing over the next couple of days (i'll pay more attention)

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:08 pm

I recently sold my cq20v - 18 years old with heated mirrors - replaced it with a 2002 A4 1.8T SE (51 plate) and guess what - NO heated mirrors Sad

I just took it for granted that they would be heated but they are not.
Heated mirrors are maybe not as common as we think - my wife's 56 plate Mini Cooper (with pepper Pack and other extras) doesn't have heated mirrors.

I wouldn't have thought it would cost too much when installing electric mirrors to also make them heated.

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 10:05 pm

jesus that's kind mental to not have heated mirrors on cars this price. mine must have cost £30k new? For that i'd really expect independent plum heating Very Happy

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:01 pm

i think the windscreen clear needs to be selected noel...
hows that freaky trailer coming on.

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:33 pm

I have just looked at Parkers spec list online and it appears that heated mirrors were only standard from Jan 2003, being a £110 option prior to that.

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:43 pm

ach. I thought it was rear demister? must try both. hasn't been cold enough to need it the last few days of course.

Re the trailer - Looks like I'll need to pause it for a while. need to sort the house and I risk being crucified if I start messing about with the coupe trailer just now Confused

James - cheers for that. I must see if the original spec sheet is there to see if it was added. Seems mental that someone in Britain wouldn't add it as an extra if offered. It's needed a lot more often that the air con anyway Very Happy

Inexperienced Joined: Jan 14, 2008 Posts: 32

You can get just the replacement glass mirror. Make sure you buy the heated ones. You will find that the wiring loom is already in the main body of the mirror casing, just plug in the two connecting wires. Thats what an extra £110 gave you! Shocked

Operate at the same time with the rear heated window with set timer.

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:16 pm

really? bloody hell. thanks for the info mate. What do you mean by the set timer by the way? You mean the heated elements will work for a set period of time even though the rear demister remains on?

Inexperienced Joined: Jan 14, 2008 Posts: 32

No I got that slightly wrong Embarassed

The heated rear window switches off automatically after about 10 minutes if the outside temperature is above 0 deg/c Which makes sense really.

The heated mirror surfaces are heated (depending on the outside temperature) when the rear window heater is swiched on.

Life seems to get more complicated ............ Very Happy

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:38 pm

aha

cool. I'll just try to get my mitts on a couple of mirrors with heating elements then. And then figure out how to get the old ones off without using a hammer Shock

Inexperienced Joined: Jan 14, 2008 Posts: 32

Just make sure the loom is pre wired first before you get the mirrors. Wink

Then later, when you've replaced the old mirrors with new mirrors, sods law, you'll clip the wall reversing somewhere and smash the bloody mirror Very Happy

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:51 pm

Fishing wire/breaker strain, thread it through behind the glass so it forms a loop then gently pull Very Happy

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:43 pm

Funny I was thinking to make sure I have the new ones before I remove the old ones in case I end up cracking them. Very Happy

And yes - I'd give it a good 30 mins before I've cracked the whole mirror unit open like an egg Sad

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:52 pm

Does anybody know if the mirrors are the same on any other models other than the B6? Just to see if I can expand my search.
cheers

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:55 pm

I do know that exterior wise the B6 and B7 mirror caps are the same, so I imagine that would apply to the glass too.

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:20 pm

sweeeeeet!
cheers

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:03 pm

To be on the safe side use 2 pieces either side, hard to explain without a picture Confused

sorry

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:11 pm

no I totally get you mate. I guess a loop over each side and twist the ends, pull gently... type approach?
I've had a price of £60 for 2 complete mirrors from someone on ebay so i'll need to price the mirror glass new from the stealer

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:24 pm

There's a thread about the retrofit for this on Audi-Sport you may be interested in: LINK.

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:33 pm

thanks james, that's great. I tried asking a few people breaking B6s on ebay and the prices came back at £30 each whole mirror, £60 each mirror and a mental £100 each mirror. Thin that seller lives in another land far far away though.
£30 for the pair of glasses sounds pretty fair from the dealer. I need to get up there and get a set of proper audi mats too.

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:21 pm

Yeah I know what you mean, I am looking for a set of standard mirror caps to try a few things with, thinking there would be plenty available from people who have put silver mirror caps on. But some people seem to have an exaggerated value of their worth!

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:16 pm

especially at £200 a pair! I've bought whole cars for less than that!

I'll let you know if I find a cheapish pair by the way