David P

Took my baby back to Brookfield International Autos this morning. The service guy did not look too pleased to see me. I verrified that the last time I was there (three days ago) I was told that there was nothing wrong with my heated mirrors and that they were only on when the temperature was below 40 deg and rear defroster on. I showed him a copy of the 98's wiring diagram and showed the mirrors being connected to 12V at all times. I removed one of the mirrors and measured 12V. The resistance of the passenger mirror was 180 ohms and asked to measure a working mirror. <p>At this point the service guy pulled out a IR thermometer and measured the passenger side mirror heating from 60 deg to 61 deg and the drivers side heating from 60 deg to 71 deg F. He said that he would have to check with the tech who checked my car three days ago and get back to me. He bet me "ten bucks and a doughnut" that they never stock those parts. He's never seen a failed mirror before.<p>This is under warranty, right? "Yes." You get paid for parts and labor, right? "Yes." What's the problem!? Please fix my car.<p>David

RobP

Where did you get the wiring diagram?

Roy M

David<br>Sorry to hear that your dealer is giving you some static about those mirrors. I just mentioned the unheated mirrors to my dealer, Sunnyside in Cleveland, and they bent over backwards to get me satisified. They took two mirrors off a car in stock and I was out of there in 15 minutes. They could have ordered them and asked me to come back but their solution was the better one. Sunnyside has been extremely professional and very egar to keep me happy. (This is the way all dealers should be)<br>Roy M 2.8q Tip (Highly recommend Sunnyside especially the service dept)

CraigB

Anybody have problems with the heaters in the after-mkt sport mirrors (Rich Q, others)? I have 11k miles and my heaters still work (knock on glass...), but I'm thinking about installing the sport (M3 style) mirrors.<p>TIA,<br>CraigB

Rich Quinlan

nt

David P

My dealer is now reporting that the late model 97 A4's mirrors are exhibiting the exact same behavior as my defunct mirrors. To him, that means my mirrors are working! You don't suppose that THOSE mirrors burnt out too??? Nooooooooooo sir! (sarcasm)<p>Could someone PLEASE measure the temperature of your functioning mirrors? My drivers side mirror was measured at 70 deg this morning (up 10 from 60). I know they are supposed to be HOT, and 70 is not hot. <p>So much for AOA call # 1. Here comes call # 2.<p>David

Erik Bruce

David,<p>This whole topic is frustrating! I'm interested in the resolution of your problem, since I'm in the same boat with my 98 (March) 1.8T. My dealer has sworn that the mirrors are working as designed (though I didn't press him on how the technician checked). He states that they are regulated by the climate control module and don't work until it's below 40 degrees F (you'll also see the snowflake indicator on the climate control system at this temperature). <p>This is confusing because of the many 1998 A4 owners here who have stated that their mirrors are HOT all the time. Could it be that Audi switched design mid year? Or could it be that only the cold-weather package has the temp-actuated design?<p>My dealer further said that with this design the mirrors never get HOT, but only warm. This is because these mirrors have an electrically condusive COATING, rather than heating elements, and the coating gets only needs to be modestly warm to de-ice (again, below 40 degrees). <p>Therefore, according to the dealer, it wouldn't help to re-wire the mirrors to the defroster switch because they will never warm enough to clear morning condensation (morning dew at 55-60 degrees is the main problem I have).<p>So what and whom to believe? Yes, it's possible that Audi has changed design midstream. It's also possible that the dealers don't know what they're talking about.<p>Have you talked to AoA yet? Let me know the phone number to call, and I'll tackle it too. Somebody there should at least be able to confirm HOW they are SUPPOSED to work!<p>Erik<br>98 (March build) 1.8tqms, cold weather package.<p>

Bob Petruska

If I remember correctly your previous post stated that your driver side mirror measured 27 ohms, and now the dealer read a high of 70 degrees F!<p>New mirrors are 6 to 9 ohms! Have him measure the temperature again with the new mirrors installed and let us know here the temps indicated. We will be able to correlate.<p>Also what was the ambient temperature during the IR measurement?

Dale B

I did a test with my 98 2.8Q (June 97 production). Outside temp was about 57. Turned on ignition and waited. Mirrors didn't heat. Turned on defroster switch. Mirrors became warm after a couple of minutes. (Heat was noticeable by touch only at the top of each mirror. It must spread from there). So, the defroster switch seems to be involved in my car. I've also checked the mirrors after driving to work in under 40 degree weather, without the defroster on, and have never detected any heat.<p>On the assembly line, the workers don't have options on how to hook things up. They robot-like hook one connector to another. This is really strange how different cars seem to be working in different ways.

Bob Petruska

I have rewired my mirrors(both new)to come on with the defroster switch. At this moment my outside ambient temperature is 39 degrees F, and the driver mirror reads 82 degrees F after a 3 minute warm up. Definitely HOT!<br>