Just come back from another pan-European road trip taking us to to Timmelsjoch Pass http://en.wikipedia....iki/Timmelsjoch (altitude 2509m above sea level).

Then a few days swimming in Italian lakes.

Then across to Trieste and Croatia, a few days in Dalmatia. Then down the Croatian autobahn to Monten3gro (the auto filter blocks off the full name of the country LOL - so had to replace E with a 3!).

Was a very good road trip. The only problem the car developed in the baking hot sun in Montenegro was the rear view mirror has gone all murky and the film/liquid has detached and sort of moves around very slowly - and of course it doesn't dim any more, which was a bit of a pain on the way back as I drove all night catching a 4am Eurotunnel train and was constantly blinded on the Bahn. Has anyone had this problem develop before? WOuld I need to buy the complete unit or just the glass?

Edited 2 September, 201213 yr by oh_superb

I saw something similar on wheeler dealers a few days ago on an M5, the only solution was to replace the whole mirror unit.

Monten3gro, our neighboors :giggle:

Wheeler dealers best show in the world

I agree with Gizmo :think:

Monten3gro, our neighboors :giggle:

Wheeler dealers best show in the world

I agree with Gizmo :think:

Yes. Fantastic grilled meat was enjoyed in Serbia too near Kragujevac!

Have sent a few enquiries to used parts dealers on fleebay.

Shame, you should send me pm, we could meet and go for a beer, or chill out or something.(or race with our superbs)

Never mind,this time next year...(Del Boy)

Sorry for off

This subject has been covered before, I think both on here, on ukpassats and on passatworld - maybe use search here and on ukpassats forum. Bottom line is - get new mirror assembly, costs a lot, but just how long will a used one last for a bit less. Mine, on a B5 Passat failed, probably due to a very cold winter, when the car was around 8 years old. The only one I could find secondhand on ebay was in USA and not too cheap and so not worth it when adding on postage. I was a common complaint with cars in very hot and very cold countries, originally, in USA, a refurb was offered at a resonable price from the mirror manufacturer, but no longer as that business was sold on.

The auto dim failure has been annoying for a while and being too tight to pay big bucks for a new one, or even IRO £50 on ebay for a used one off a Passat, I have found the most economically viable way of addressing this and wanted to share my experience with the fellow briskodians!

I have found that due to the fact that a lot of people want to retrofit auto dim interior mirrors on their Polos, Golfs and what have you the usual Passat mirrors fetch a good price.

However, the auto dim mirrors off Ford Galaxys (which are VW Sharans under the skin of course) are not wanted by many people and they go for a lot less money. They are also made by Donnelly, have the same size, same wiring layout, the only difference is the bracket itself.

I bought one for £13. I considered transferring the glass unit from the new one to the old housing. However, this destroyed the old glass. So I dared not touch the good one!

Instead, I swapped the brackets.

To do this you will need to remove the black connector of the loom poking out through the bracket by disassembling it.

Remove the snap ring holding the ball joint of the bracket onto the mirror housing.

To disassemble the plug, take the cover off the plug, make a note of what colour cable goes in which pin, and using the tip of a Stanley knife disengage the 8x individual tabs and pull the wires/pins out of the black connector.

Once all 8x wires are out the cables can be carefully pulled through the bracket.

Repeat on the other mirror unit.

Swap brackets, pull the cables through, then re-assemble the black connector as per the colour coding noted before disassembly.

Install into the car, and have a few beers! Only took 30 mins, and as added bonus the glass is tinted blue/green, while my original was clear.

Do not try to disassemble the unit, it is put together really tight, you will break something. I hope this helps someone.

Now that's a good update, well worth knowing. Nice one Oh S! :clap:

Gaz

saw this on ebay this morning

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/skoda-superb-rain-sensor-rear-view-mirror-with-built-in-light-2004-/350767462784?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item51ab5eb980#ht_44wt_1008

saw this on ebay this morning

http://www.ebay.co.u...80#ht_44wt_1008

That won't fit mine, will it fit yours??

In case anyone is worried about replacing a basic one with no ON/OFF switch with a later one with ON/OFF switch and red LED ambiance downlighters, don't worry, I gambled and bought a late B5.5 Passat one new when my late B5 Passat one failed - it fits okay and works as intended including the red LEDs! Wife has a 9N Polo with one and it has a switch,so, when I replaced mine I sort of HAD to get one with a switch as it is very handy to be able to switch it off when in town at night.