Auto-dimming mirror retrofit

[Reefergeezer]

Hi all,

Further to a previous post about retrofitting an auto-dimming mirror on my CLS, it was suggested that all it would take was a simple swap of the mirror glass. It has been a bit more fiddly than that because the front edge of the mirror housing unit was not thick enough to accommodate the thicker glass of the auto-dimming mirrors which are double-layered (two layers of glass).

I have since found a mirror housing unit (non-dimming) in the right clolour - cream is hard to find (!!) - which can take the extra width, and have the auto-dimming mirror too, both from W211s.

Most of the wiring is fine too, but I have a couple of questions if anybody can help:

1. The auto-dimming mirror had a hole at the back with a glass tube which is presumably to detect light and let the circuitry in the mirror compare light picked up from this sensor to the light picked up from the sensor on the face of the mirror. My non-dimming mirror housing does not have the hole for this glass 'tube' so if I install without it, does it mean it will always work in dimmed mode?
2. My original mirror has 2 cables coming out of the mirror. One is connected to the reading lights and auto-dimming circuit board, which is fine. The other cable is not present in the dimming mirror - it runs to two circuit boards in the top of the mirror and I'm not sure what this is for (see pic) - any ideas?

Having patiently searched eBay for 3 months and got this far, I am determined to get this sorted without paying £500 to MB for a mirror and am hoping this second cable is something for which I have no use such as garage door opener (not much use in central London!).


Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[richard]

You have to replace the whole interior mirror or make one out of parts of broken ones which is what you seem to be doing ???

The housing is different (front and back) the glass is different, the circuitry is different and the wiring is different - unless you put it all in it won't work correctly.

Technically you need to code the OCP for dimming interior mirror also - that way it un-dims when you select reverse (which is what you need to see what is behind you when reversing !!!)

Cheers


Richard

 

[richard]

Remember also, if your car has phone then the microphones are in there so you need one with microphones. And I don't know whether they ever did an electrically adjustable one (so memory function can put it back in right place) - the one in my SL is, but they dropped that in about 05.

 

[richard]

Here we go:

MERCEDES BENZ E 200-500 (W211) rear view mirror - internal - M112.913 - BEIGE - | eBay


This one came from a car (according to the VIN shown) with dimming mirror and phone.

Pretty sure the 2nd connector you mention above is the phone (i.e microphones) - that should be a flat 6 pole black connector if itis

Richard

 

[Reefergeezer]

Thanks Richard - you're absolutely right, it seems to be the mic. I thought it was something else because when I was at your place in Lightwater recently (well pleased with media retrofit and nav updates!! :bannana, Mark suggested that the mic in my car was actually in the OCP - see round perforation in attached pic.

Quick test was to connect everything else up and, sure enough, voice commands were not recognised - back to the drawing board (and yes, it is the flat connector, white rather than black but I think that is just a cosmetic difference).

Having said that, I too found that eBay item just after my previous post - I had always restricted searches to UK previously and widening the search took me to that seller. I have emailed about the colour which is the hardest bit to match - lots of grey ones in the UK, none in cream/beige. I was going to call Mark to search the VIN number for me on Monday - thanks for saving me the trouble

Any chance you can tell what colour the actual interior was from the VIN? The pic they have up looks a different shade to my mirror, but that could just be the light...

Mark also advised about the programming required, and I'll be in touch again with him once I get this all sorted!

Thanks again.

 

[Reefergeezer]

Also, any chance you could check the following two VINs? Same seller has a couple of other mirrors which may be suitable:

WDB2110161A161264 -this might be grey, cant really tell
WDB2112161A360835 - colour looks a better match

Cheers.

 

[sparkydude]

Colour says it is 8J12 also known as pepple on EPC

send me your VIN and will check what was installed in yours


Nick

 

[Smatt]

Have you thought about buying a fully specced grey one & getting it sprayed by a friendly paintshop?

Btw, I retrofitted dimming RVM into my previous CL203. I never had it coded, as I did not realise this was required. I never had a problem with it in over 5yrs. (The dimming works automatically without coding)

This is a very simple but satisfying mod!

 

[Reefergeezer]

Colour says it is 8J12 also known as pepple on EPC

send me your VIN and will check what was installed in yours


Nick

Thanks Nick. Mine is 8J12 too (sticker shows this on one of the trim pieces around my current mirror), so look like the one!!

Just to clarify, though, are you talking about the one that Richard originally mentioned, or one of the other 2 I mentioned later?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Reefergeezer]

Thanks Smatt...no friendly local paintshops near me that I know of, unfortunately

 

[sparkydude]

the code is from the one in the link that Richard posted, the item is in denmark though thats the only problem, and he charges £57 to return the item !!!.


I would email him and ask for some more pictures before deciding.

Nick

 

[Reefergeezer]

Thanks for clarifying, Nick. Yes, I had noticed the £57 charge which is why I sought clarification from you, otherwise it could have been an expensive mistake! Have also asked them to confirm the code just to be on the safe sade - fingers crossed they come back with the same answer you gave - I'll keep you posted.

 

[Reefergeezer]

Can anyone help with the other two VIN nos. at all i.e. did they come with auto-dimming and telephone pre-installed? They are both for sale with the same seller Richard linked to and at least one looks to be in a better condition. The actual eBay links are:

MERCEDES BENZ E 200-500 (W211) rear view mirror - internal - build 2002 - 13169 | eBay

MERCEDES BENZ E 200-500 (W211) rear view mirror - internal - Bj 2003 - 141370 k | eBay

I'm still awaiting their confirmation of the colour codes for all three (these two plus the original item from Richard).

Thanks.

 

[sparkydude]

The first one was definiteley had auto dimming inside and outside mirrors, but no mention of phone install, the second one is not saying it has auto dimming , but had phone installation LoL

Nick

 

[Reefergeezer]

Thanks Mick...typical, eh?! And anything about colour codes? I have asked them to confirm but independent verification is always good!

 

[Reefergeezer]

Thanks Mick...typical, eh?! And anything about colour codes? I have asked them to confirm but independent verification is always good!

Obviously meant 'Nick' !!

 

[richard]

Colour 8K67: Original MERCEDES W211 S211 W219 C219 CLS ELEKTROCHROM Innenspiegel Spiegel TOP | eBay

Above has dimming, and the newer microphone configuration from 2007.


Colour 8J12: Dimming and phone, earlier config 2002-2006
MERCEDES BENZ E 200-500 (W211) Innenspiegel - M112.913 - BEIGE - Bj 2002 - 1208 | eBay

 

[Reefergeezer]

Thanks Richard.

The first one seems to have the same mic configuration as mine - mic in the top of the housing, those 'vents' look exactly the same - but my colour is 8J12 as per the second one. Incidentally, it seems to be the same item as the one you originally posted a few days back, just in German and priced in Euros so a bit cheaper!

Do you know if the older mic config will make any difference? I wouldn't have thought so, but could be an expensive mistake! If the mic being at the bottom of the housing doesn't make any difference, I think I might just bite the bullet and go for it!

Hopefully a mic mounted at the bottom will also work a bit better...

I've also seen this one, but it only seems to have one wire coming out which indicates that doesn't have the mic? Shame if that's the case as it looks in better condition:

http://tinyurl.com/o45pedt

Thanks again, and i'll have to pass by once it's all sorted to get the programming done

 

[richard]

The older mic config has 4 microphones. The newer has 2. They work equally well, but the phone controller *should* be told how many microphones are installed otherwise it records a fault than 2 microphones are missing.

I don't know if the colour of the microphone connector changes between old and new. The black plug will not plug into a white connector without a little adjustment with a pair of cutters (to chop of the index tab)

When you have the OCP coded at some convenient point (as another poster says, it will work dimming even without OCP coded, it just doesn't quite work as intended) then get the phone system coded for the correct amount of microphones.

There is one cable for microphones, and one cable which has the power for the dimming mirror (and the feedback that gets sent to the door mirrors if you have dimming mirrors) and the power for the lighting in the mirror and the garage door opener. There are mirrors with Taximeters built in too, they have lots of connections !

Cheers

Richard

 

[richard]

PS, german is "innenspiegel", so search for that and for "innen spiegel" on eBay !

R