FAQ: Side Mirror Problems (heated, auto-dimming, tilt)

Is it possible to add heated auto dimming mirrors to a car that only has auto dimming?

Michael,
I'm sure if you followed the proper GM wiring diagram for a Riv equipped with heated mirrors and then found a set of heated mirror glass from the junk yards you could do it.

Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to find used working heated mirror glass. The wiring part can always be done if your up to the task.

I have found it difficult to find replacement mirror glass with the heater elements in the past and even though my car came with heated mirrors I no longer have the heaters working due to failed mirrors and the availability of the replacement mirrors.

I haven't looked in the aftermarket for several years, but maybe there is a company producing the heated and tinted mirrors now. I just don't know. Maybe someone else has more current knowledge on the subject.

Good luck and hope someone jumps in with a source for these mirrors as I would be interested also.

Rick

Actually Michael, if you had read the previous pages of this thread, you would know why it is dumb to try to ADD HEAT to auto-dimming LCD mirrors... 20 years later they may have found a way, but there are MANY folks who have the LCD mirrors that have "gone gold" even without heaters.

Rick was being helpful, but if my own car is any proof - a '97 - Buick didn't combine heated & dimmable mirrors. I have 'cold' mirrors and auto-dimming for the rear-view & driver-side. Even without defrosters, my LH mirror is going gold because of years of heating & cooling from the atmosphere. My buddy has a Suburban WITH both heated & dimming mirrors, and that sucker died years ago.

Maybe somehow LEDs are gonna' be the solution? 80)

Eldo wrote:

Actually Michael, if you had read the previous pages of this thread, you would know why it is dumb to try to ADD HEAT to auto-dimming LCD mirrors...  20 years later they may have found a way, but there are MANY folks who have the LCD mirrors that have "gone gold" even without heaters.

Rick was being helpful, but if my own car is any proof - a '97 - Buick didn't combine heated & dimmable mirrors.  I have 'cold' mirrors and auto-dimming for the rear-view & driver-side.  Even without defrosters, my LH mirror is going gold because of years of heating & cooling from the atmosphere.  My buddy has a Suburban WITH both heated & dimming mirrors, and that sucker died years ago.

Maybe somehow LEDs are gonna' be the solution?   80)

My Riv had heated/auto dim driver side exterior mirror. It did not go gold until I had to start parking the car outdoors during the day, in 2009 (where I worked up to mid 2009 had a covered parking ramp) . Then it went pretty quickly.

I got a replacement which I will install at some point. Right now the gold does not seem to be an issue although the autodim would help for night driving.

Albertj

I guess they didn't try combining till '98...
Come to think of it, my friend's 'Burban is a '99.

This seems to be the end of this thread, with the final entry dated from 2016.
I though I'd bring it up to date for those who may or may not have this nagging issue. A lot of those in the thread are no longer here at this point.
So, FYI, elsewhere on this site, I read that Aurora mirror internal housing assemblies are identical and just this week found several Aurora heated mirrors for sale on eBay. Sorry, I don't recall the member who posted the info, but he was correct.
I bought a heated mirror, popped out the heated mirror alone, disconnected the heating wires and replaced my fried and deteriorated dimming/heated '98 mirror-only using the remounting procedure listed in the shop manual with this Aurora mirror. A perfect fit.
It works perfectly and looks beautiful. No dimmiing, but I have working interior dimmable unit with compass and temp, so who cares? This one will heat and it's spotless, making it an infinitely bigger window on the world behind me.
Yes, it's a delicate job getting it aligned and pressed on, best done with the suggested 2'x3' wood block and a piece of double-backed, light adhesive, carpet tape, Thought I might snap the glass but the plastic base helped support the glass.
I did buy a Burco unit to slap over it, but this approach was necessary because the plastic base was in pieces as shown somewhere in this thread from someone else's failed dimming unit.
The Aurora case cannot be used directly on the Riv door. The main mirror pod seems indentical, but the arm that goes directly on the fender has the mounting holes located more narrowly, so forget that. Not sure if the Riv arm could be used instead. All this would require paint, to boot, so no thanks.
Is was $50 bucks, but worth the end result.

Thanks for the tip, Sean. And certainly don't every think any information is obsolete - both our cars and ourselves are obsolete! 80>

I will look into this myself to see if I can get another dimmer mirror... Every time I drive at night with that slow, gold OEM mirror I cuss because I had replaced it with a perfect unit that I broke while trying to fix the memory sensors - using the same block of wood I'd used to press it in originally! (And of course, those damned sensor potentiometers didn't stay clean anyway...)