Rear view mirror failed

[ChrisA]

Well this could have been a lot worse...

I jumped in the car and noticed what looked liked water drops on the gear selector surround.
The kids had been playing with the hose earlier and my initial though was they must have got a bit through the window even though they were playing along way away from my car.
On closer inspection the fluid wasn’t clear, then I started to worry. I tasted a little of the fluid and straight away I thought whatever this is its corrosive!
I took a quick picture (just in case I needed to ask you guys what might be going on) and got to work cleaning it up.

Unfortunately I was right, it was as corrosive. Thankfully, and very straggly, whatever it was looked to have only just happened. No damage had been caused to the piano black and gear selector surround nor the leather or leather look trim. Some damage has happened to the window adjuster and menu surround but they’re very easily replaced.

With no idea what might have caused this I was undecided as to weather or not I should drive the car. My initial thought was that maybe it was a hydraulic fluid but nothing I thought of made any sense.
Sod it, let’s start the car and brace myself to be engulfed in a fire ball or hosed down in hydraulic fluid. NOTHING!

So I decided to drive it, before pulling away I check my rear view mirror and I see a shadow. The mirror must have got hot in the and burst. I think a drip must have formed under the mirror and as I jumped in the car and closed the door the drip fell.

Has anyone else had this issue? I honestly think this could have been so much worse with the corrosive fluid taking out a lot on the interior. Currently I’ve got the mirror wrapped up until I find time to remove it. Hopefully not too hard to replace.

[steve2003rs6]

WTF Never heard that one before. A while ago I got a price for a new one. I think it was £380 from AMD.
Bought a replacement from grizz for a very reasonable price.
Not a very good idea to taste unknown fluid Chris. Having said that I think we have all done it on occasion.
I think I read somewhere about a layer of mercury ?
Taking the old one off and fitting the new one is fairly easy. But you will need a pair of grips to get it to turn. I watched a technik video mate.

[Puggie]

I've had 2 go like that. VW Sharan ones are identical but beige/grey casing if you want a cheaper alternative. Think mine was £15 from a breakers. You can swap the mirror into the black audi casing, but they are a sod to get into without doing any damage.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[Shoppinit]

In China they’ve all got rear view mirrors with screens in them. Rear view with picture in picture. Lots of info. Seems like we’ve missed a trick with our leaky, corrosive, boring mirrors.

[ChrisA]

Thanks for the info guys.

I’ve already got the old unit out and have my feelers out for some new used parts to replace damaged units.

[Human Joist]

Update the thread with what you finish with mate as mine has failed as well. Think the cost is silly for what they are

[ChrisA]

Will do.
Looking into it most people tend to stick a none dimmer back in but I’ll be putting OEM back in. Probably go for a used unit for now and keep my eyes peeled for brand new as soon as I’m confident that there’s no other issues lurking around the corner (is that possible with the RS6? )

[Weiß-sechs]

Just had this happen too. I'm thinking that it's due to the recent hot spell as the headlining has gone south pretty much same time....sigh

[ChrisA]

Oh dear. Looks like we could do a group buy on new rear view mirrors. I’ll see what’s possible.

[srichards]

Lots of modern cars have auto dimming rear mirrors. Is it possible to fit any of them that physically fit or is there some gubbins that they talk to in the car as well?

[ChrisA]

Lots of modern cars have auto dimming rear mirrors. Is it possible to fit any of them that physically fit or is there some gubbins that they talk to in the car as well?

I’m happy to take mine apart as it’s currently off the car and no good to me any more. I’ll let you know how it goes...

[ChrisA]

So essentially the mirror breaks down into four part after taking it off the windscreen.

I’ve now got the mirror separated and will see what options are available from here. Any ideas where to start are more than welcome.

[ChrisA]

My research has come up with a few possibilities.

1, Buy a new unit. They’re still available but cost around £350.
2, Buy a used unit. Will probably fail under the same sort of stress. (£70-£120)
3, Buy a used non dim mirror. (£15-£25)
4, Buy a replacement auto dim mirror glass.

Now to me number 4 makes sense, the obvious problem is finding the auto dim mirror glass. As luck would have it I’ve found someone who does this kind of work and oddly enough they’re members of the RS community, MirrorJohn (although he’s not been here for a long time).
I’ve contacted John through his eBay store, briefly explained the situation and invited him to visit this post and hopefully find a solution for us.
Here is a link to his eBay store.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224040938436

Fingers crossed we get a result.

[steve2003rs6]

Nice one Chris. hope this option bears fruit. He might also be able to do wing mirrors?

[Human Joist]

Mate that’s good work. From reading his advert I’m sure he will be able to provide what we need. If we can then get him back on here and buy direct thus cutting out eBay he will save the fees they charge and may be able to offer them at a cheaper price while still clearing the same profit