Heated mirrors stay on all the time!

[Dave777]

Originally Posted by Old smart

Mine was made in June '08, and they get hot from the time the engine is started.

Actually, from the time you turn the key to ON.

That'll drain the battery pretty fast, if you think the only thing on is the radio.

[mdfortwoguy]

Originally Posted by alecadi

8/05 means May 2008.... remember they are made in Europe and the way you put month and year is different.

5/12/08 in europe is 5 december 2008, when in the USA is may 12 2008.

I'm aware of that - I was using US notation however.

It was built on August 5th, and got here on August 29th.

[Westfield 11]

I think that this needs a poll since it seems that at least one poster does not have mirrors that are always on. Let's just ask responders to go out to their cars, turn on the key and see if they get hot. Posting the OAT would be a plus too.

[WilyB]

Westfield: OAT was about 75F (garage is climate controlled) and yes, the mirror (at least the driver's side one) heated on upon turning the ignition on.

Car was built in January 2008: I know because some lady wrote her name and date with a chalk inside the rear panel!

Now excuse me, but I got to go wipe those fingerprints off the mirror...

[kannonvaggon]

DOODS !

The "manual" is NOT in error. It is EXACTLY CORRECT.

It states that the mirrors are automatically HEATED in cool ambient temperature ranges. This is quite TRUE.

Does it ever state in writing that the " automatic heating" is NOT applied when the ambient temperature is NOT "cool" ???? NOPE.

I LOVE this thread. It's even better than the 10 gallon gas tank thread cuz it includes neato stuff like erupting fire and melting mirrors ...

It was cool and foggy out this morning. I asked my wife if her mirrors were clear and she said that having the mirrors fog up has NOT been a problem at all. They are " automatically heated " according to her.... ;-))

By the way, my RV motorcoach in which I carry the Cabrio upon occasion most assuredly does NOT have automatic mirror heaters. It has a nice large switch marked " mirror heat " . This seems to work just peachy too.

:-))

[saronian]

Originally Posted by kannonvaggon

DOODS !

The "manual" is NOT in error. It is EXACTLY CORRECT.

It states that the mirrors are automatically HEATED in cool ambient temperature ranges.

Well not exactly...It say's:

---The exterior rear view mirror heating is
---switched on automatically at low ambient
---temperatures.

I read "switched on" as meaning they are normally off and then automatically switched on because the temperature is below a certain point.

If they were always on the manual should say - mirrors are heated whenever the key is on -

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by saronian

Well not exactly...It say's:

---The exterior rear view mirror heating is
---switched on automatically at low ambient
---temperatures.

I read "switched on" as meaning they are normally off and then automatically switched on because the temperature is below a certain point.

If they were always on the manual should say - mirrors are heated whenever the key is on -

Let's not mince the words too much here. Automatically switched at low ambient temperatures implies they are turned ON at a given *low* ambient temperature from a normal *OFF* mode.

The smart car should have as switch just like Kannon's motorhome and should be marked as such.

[mike-in-sa]

I LOVE this thread. It's even better than the 10 gallon gas tank thread cuz it includes neato stuff like erupting fire and melting mirrors ...

You are right,
I think Chicken Little might just drive a smart car too.

[DFWehman]

So... does anyone know what wire to cut to put in a switch? Being a high-load device, it must be on it's own fuse. I could see a small rocker in the back of the left cubby..?

[SmartDigger]

Could they come on for the first X amount of time after the car is started then turn off unless the temp is below a certain point?