I always leave mine in the heated position - they help the mirrors stay clean when it rains!

Car is five and a half years old and they still work

From what i understand the heated mirrors have a timer on them to stop them burning out. I think it's 20 mins..

I tend to try and only turn mine on when needed, but if i do forget and leave them on i dont mind..

Kev

From what i understand the heated mirrors have a timer on them to stop them burning out. I think it's 20 mins..

I tend to try and only turn mine on when needed, but if i do forget and leave them on i dont mind..

Kev

Rear screen is on a 20min timer, But the mirrors are set to infinite heating.

Maybe they're on a thermostat?

Or maybe only weak ones (every batch of everything has some) burn out?

Either way, I tend to keep my kn0b on the left mirror as I always dip it to park.

Worked a treat this morning as actually has misty mirrors! Did notice my left side works notably quicker than my right though, strange.

Just looked at VCDS specs.

Looks like cars after 05 2002 the heating time is set infinite, but cars before them were 29 mins.

Possibly a reliability update after that period meant that they could be left on for as long as you like?

Kev

yes they do heat on their own, they work totally independantly of the heated rear screen

Both Fabia vRS's I have owned only work when the heated rear window is on.

Right, further to my post above I was sure mine only worked when the rear heater was also on, sure I read that somewhere.

So this morning I found I had misted mirrors but a clear rear window so an ideal time to test! After starting the car I did notice a faint click from the dash (like a relay) when the mirror switch was turned to the heater position, even with the rear heater off, and lo and behond, the mirrors cleared very quickly. Without the rear heater on.

So I have now moved the switch to the left position and not the heater - and am glad they have not burned out, as they've been on for two years

On the Octy vRS the positions are:

1 o'clock - adjust left

3 o'clock - off

4 o'clock - adjust right

9 o'clock - heater elements on.

On the Octy vRS the positions are:

1 o'clock - adjust left

3 o'clock - off

4 o'clock - adjust right

9 o'clock - heater elements on.

That's for the Octavia, the Fabia only has 3 positions.

I noticed if you put it on R (drivers side mirror) both mirrors move, but on L (left one) only moves itself. I guess this is a feature of the system, can you change it by VAG-COM?

So, have we worked out that the Heated mirrors are on all the time if the switch is left, not on a timer like the rear screen?

I normally leave mine on L, so the heater is not on all the time and if you knock it, by mistake, it does not matter that much. I use the drivers one more.