sleeperA8

does anyone know where online, I can purchase some euro spec convex side mirrors? also is there any way to make my outside mirrors autodimming? I can't rememeber off hand, but I believe the MY97s did not have the autdimming feature on the outside mirrors.

thanks
clarke

skiracer

You are correct on the '97 USA A8s not having autodimming for the outside rear view mirrors. It is a feature that I too would like to add to my '97 along with the convex european mirror surfaces. I have not come across a source for these, but I have not searched extensively. Does anyone out there have any information that could help in this matter? Do any of the Europeans on the forum have any ideas? TIA.

Andy P.

Give Martyn a shout at:-

www.partsdepartment.co.uk

Andy P.

jdwink

Well, my '99 does have the autodimming outside mirrors, and I wish there was a convenient way to turn the feature off. At night, in traffic, I think it is too hard to see cars in the lanes to either side when the mirror is dimmed.

j.winkelman

ryoung

.
I agree -- At night, in traffic, it is very difficult to see cars in the lanes to either side when the mirrors are dimmed.

My Solution: The sensor for all three mirrors is in the center mirror, and I filled the recess for the sensor with black silicone rubber. Of course now the center mirror doesn't dim either, but I thought this was the safer way to go.

KjellA

No autodimming available here before the facelifted '99 model, ETKA doesn't list it for the european '98 anyway.

There are two different types:
Left mirrors for LHD cars:
1) 4A1 857 535 AA - Mirror glass (flat) with plate for rear view mirror, electrically operated and heated

2) 4A1 857 535 AC - Mirror glass (aspherical- wide angle) with plate for rear view mirror, electrically operated and heated

Both sized 175x100 mm.

Then you have something quite interresting:
Left mirror for RHD cars:

4A2 857 535 AB - Mirror glass (convex) with plate for rear view mirror, electrically operated and heated.

Size is 175x100 mm too. :-)


Then you have the small right hand side for LHD cars:

4A1 857 536 AB - Mirror glass (convex) with plate for rear view mirror, electrically operated and heated.
Size 125x100mm.

Can anyone tell me the difference between convex and aspherical wide angle mirror?


A tip:
As previously suggested by our UK friends, if you wanted to replace the small right side mirror with a large one, this should be quite simple. Just get the mirror, cap and trim from a RHD car, they have both mirrors sized 175x100mm.

Part numbers:
RHD right cap 175x100mm: 4A0 857 508 (unpainted)
RHD right trim: 4A0 858 524
RHD right mirror: 4A2 857 536 AB (convex 175x100mm)

As far as I can tell from the ETKA, these are the only parts that differ between LHD and RHD right mirror. But I'm not going to guarantee you this is correct. It looks ok from the drawings anyway, and I can't see why the brackets should be different. Will probably do this myself, if I can't get a pair of nice S8 mirrors instead. :-)

skiracer

Kjell- Thanks a lot for the thorough information! The options available are amazing. If I understand it correctly, the convex mirrors increase the visable area to a greater degree (more convex) than the aspherical mirrors. It is just a matter of how much convexity the mirror has. I think.....

KjellA

I'm not sure.

I have the aspherical left mirror and the convex right. The left one has two separate areas, the outher 1/4 or so is divided from the rest with a thin line. It looks like this outer part has a slightly different angle. It also looks like the inner 3/4 is convex too, but I'm not sure about it.

Hard to compare the two mirrors too, since they have quite different size.

sleeperA8

thanks a lot for the info. I had looked around all over and couldn't find any info. if I remember the mirror stuff correctly(from physics classes awhile ago) The asherical would be similar to what I have on my saab(rh mirror) normal mirror, except for last 1/4 which is bent out to see the far rh lane. The convex would have the entire mirror bulging outward a bit, so I could have both blindspot and outside lane views.

clarke