I had my mirrors replaced at the dealer this morning. It took them 90 minutes to replace two mirrors. I had them measure the resistances on the old and new mirrors. Drivers side measured 7.8 good - 30 bad. Passenger side measured 11.2 good - 180 bad. Measurements are in ohms. <p>For what its worth they are still on all the time.<p>The tech then called me the fussiest owner he has ever seen. Rude.<p>David

Just because you have taken an interest in understanding how your car operates in order to insure it is operating properly from and educated standpoint, you should not be scoffed at!<p>Because of un-educated owners, we continue to have problems with fraud in the automobile industry. For instance, insisting on performing work that is not required, replacing parts with rebuit parts and charging for new parts, etc.<p>If all owners strived to be more educated about their automobiles, we might eliminate some of the problems that give service stations a bad name.<p>TGB 1999 1.8T qMS (On train)

I can't remember if you said your mirrors felt warm to the touch before, but how about the replacements?<p>Also, your understanding is that they are not in any way controlled or modified by outside temperature or the defroster switch?<p>Thanks for the updates on this, David. Sounds like I will have to do battle with the dealer as well. <p>Erik<br>98 1.8t with "heated" mirrors stone cold under every condition so far -- though it hasn't been below 40 degrees F here yet.

I have had 3 mirrors replaced (2 driver, 1 passenger) due to noticing they were not working. Since reading these posts I've checked (by touch) and mine ARE noticably warm all the time, even in the 50-60 degree weather we've been having lately. (1997 A42.8Q)<p>I think (with this breakdown record) I'm going to rewire mine to the rear defrost circuit.

I noticed driver side barely warm (they were VERY hot when new in summer) and the passenger side was dead.<p>On my 10K service, they replaced both but the new one on the driver side was warped so bad that I could not use use it!<p>Back to the dealer, they put in another one with "less" distortion. I told them I wasn't satisfied and we went to the new car lot with the service manager until I found one that wasn't distorted. It wasn't an easy task. Finally, we found one and they snapped it on.<p>After I got home, I realized that the mirror was stone cold!<p>Back to the dealer, and finally they put another mirror that heats up (not as much as the passenger side, but at this point I am just happy to have a "distortion free" mirror!)<p>My car is only 6 months old! The mirrors are ALWAYS ON. So I'm sure that I will be back in another six months replacing the mirrors!<p>If the mechanic would have made the comment that I was the fussiest owner that they have, I would have answer that is EXACTLY the reason why I bought this "higher quality" car and not any other, so get it fixed!<p>Sergio.<br>98.5 1.8TMS / Pearl / Warm mirrors again!

I noticed a tremendous distortion on a replacement driver's side mirror, and insisted that the dealer replace it. The second one that they put in was also *slightly* distorted, but I decided to accept it anyway. This was almost a year ago. Interestingly, after I was playing around with my mirrors one day (I removed them to test their resistance), I noticed that the distortion was gone. It seems that these mirrors are somehow just "flexible" enough (at least on the back) that by pulling the mirrors out or pressing them back in you can either cause or eliminate the distortion. So it may not be a problem with their manufacture, but how they are handled.

Actually, the third mirror I got was also "warped", and the tech kind of "snapped" in the corners and the warp was gone.<p>I think the backing is made of plastic and very flexible. I never thought that the glass itself was so flexible.<p>How did you remove your mirrors?<p>Sergio.<br>98.5 1.8TMS / Pearl / Straight Mirrors

Try the link below from the archives.<ul><li><a href="http://www.pinkpank.net/a4org/9808x5/messages/1249.shtml">Mirrors</a></li></ul>