Auto dimming rear view mirror for w208 clk cab?

[ChrisW]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forums... and I'm going to be buying my brothers 2003 CLK final edition cab very soon! I don't if anyones familiar with the final edition, it's the last lot of the W208's they produced with the diamond cut 17's, chrome strip round the roof etc.

Here's a pic of it:

Anyway... the question i was wondering if any of you could kindly help me with is if I can retro fit an auto-dimming mirror at all and if it was an option on the w208?? Because I got quite used to it on my New Beetle cab...

And... how much would it set me back to fit the Merc sat nav in aswell?

Any help much appreciated!!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Shude]

Welcome to the forum Chris

Anyway... the question i was wondering if any of you could kindly help me with is if I can retro fit an auto-dimming mirror at all and if it was an option on the w208?? Because I got quite used to it on my New Beetle cab...

Fitting a dimming rear view mirror to a w208 CLK is easy! Finding one second hand can be tricky but if you want to buy a brand new one they're about £150 from a stealership parts dept (I think) and take about 10 minutes to fit, the w208 has a socket in the back of the dome light for it.

To fit, take a look at my instructions for fitting illuminated visors, as they cover the same area and both my dome light and dimming mirror were removed during this mod: Visors with illumination

It is a lot easier to fit than the visors, just pull the old mirror off (by the base!) remove the dome light, run the cable for the mirror through the hole where the base fixes in and thread it into the hole where the dome light is now hanging out, plug it into the socket provided in the back of the dome light, then push the base of the mirror into the slot where the old one was mounted, now put the dome light back. Easy eh?

If you want oem satnav (COMAND) it requires a fair amount of work, here is a thread describing how to fit comand to a pre-facelift w208 CLK: COMAND in a 208 CLK

Comand can be controlled in your car using the buttons on the steering wheel, and the navigation instructions can be sent to the instrument cluster display screen underneath the speedo. Although there may be cheaper aftermarket satnav devices available, comand is the factory option model, it works as well as the rest of the car's features and looks perfect in the dash because of the oem styling. I also went to a lot of trouble to fit the same system to my own car, dispite it never being an option for mine (w202 c-class). A brand new comand unit is about £2500 from a stealership, second hand prices start at about £750ish, the rest of the parts come to about £200. Here is the thread that describes how I fitted comand to my own car (has a few details the clk thread may have missed): HOWTO: Comand in a w202

Have fun! Let us know what you decide to do, nice car btw!!

P.S. I am moving this to the electronics section...

 

[MBenzNL]

Nick,

The dimming mirror in a W208 conv is a bit different then in a W208 coupe/W202 or W210...the mirror is not secured in the bracket on the roof but has a bracket on the window in which it sits...
I swapped Matthew's mirror for a dimming one as well when I installed comand in his CLK conv and as you said - it is very doable but the 10 minutes do not count for a conv...that will take a bit longer.

greetingz,

 

[craigyb]

I would really like one of these for my CLK (facelift model). Anyone know the part number for the auto dimming rear view mirror.

I suppose I will have to buy one from my stealership.

Craig

 

[Shude]

I would really like one of these for my CLK (facelift model). Anyone know the part number for the auto dimming rear view mirror.

I suppose I will have to buy one from my stealership.

You can get lots of different options on the dimming mirrors, you can get them with homelink (or whatever it's called) mic for carphone built-in, all kinds of stuff. The catalogue I have only shows the basic ones:

 

[ChrisW]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and massive amount of help i've recieved in my first post! I can see myself coming on here quite often!

So even though MBenzNL said it's a bit differrent for the clk cab to fit the auto dimming mirror, is it still the same concept as Shude described for the coupe?

Thanks for all the help once again

Chris

 

[didgit]

auto mirror

I`d really like one of those mirrors in my 98/W202 is the procedure the same, will i have to find power supply?
oh yeh when asking dealership about that they rekon not much change from £1000.

 

[sym]

I`d really like one of those mirrors in my 98/W202 is the procedure the same, will i have to find power supply?
oh yeh when asking dealership about that they rekon not much change from £1000.

£1000 for a dimming mirror ?!?! I think your stealership are being a bit creative with numbers there !

They are about £150 new . . picked mine up from a breakers for about £50.

Power is all there in the dome light - just needs to be plugged in !

S.

 

[fuzzer]

I`d really like one of those mirrors in my 98/W202 is the procedure the same, will i have to find power supply?
oh yeh when asking dealership about that they rekon not much change from £1000.

I will personally come to your house and fit a Dimming RVM for £1000. !

price as above with Sym

 

[Shude]

The prices are actually on the little pic I posted .
It is possible to spend up to about £300 on a dimming RVM if it comes with the homelink remote-control garage-door-opener, the mic for the carphone and all the other toys. I think Guy has the posh one in his C32

 

[mapleleaf]

Am I right in deducing that all the dimming mirror needs is a power supply to make it work? ie is it a self contained unit . I ask becasue the one on my previous E55 was also linked to the drivers door mirror. In that case would the rvm be controlling the dimming feature of the drivers door mirror?

 

[fuzzer]

Am I right in deducing that all the dimming mirror needs is a power supply to make it work? ie is it a self contained unit . I ask becasue the one on my previous E55 was also linked to the drivers door mirror. In that case would the rvm be controlling the dimming feature of the drivers door mirror?

Yes , i believe that the RVM does control the outside mirror , however its got to be down to some trickery in the lighting dome . As the Dimming RVM came out a W203 with a dimming drivers mirror and was just the standard plug

 

[Shude]

As the Dimming RVM came out a W203 with a dimming drivers mirror and was just the standard plug

IIRC there was another plug for the dimming side mirrors, I had to pull it apart to wire in both sides as by default only the driver's side dimmed.

 

[fuzzer]

IIRC there was another plug for the dimming side mirrors, I had to pull it apart to wire in both sides as by default only the driver's side dimmed.

Not on mine , just the one plug. Ive got a pickie of the plug and the cluster.

Might be diferent on the W203

 

[MBenzNL]

There is a dimming difference between all the MB models and modelyears...the early W210 dimming mirrors did not have the outgoing wiring for the dimming sidemirror for example...
the 97up dimming mirrors are all suiteable for controlling a dimming sidemirror (or better yet - controlling 2 dimming sidemirrors ) ...
The W203 dimming sidemirror is connected to the control unit in the door which varies per whatever option the car came with...

As for the dimming sidemirror - most MB models require a different connector that is combined with the heating feature...not as easy to swap as just the dimmed rear view mirror.

greetingz,

 

[mapleleaf]

so, Could a 209 cabriolet dimming RVM be stuck onto any car windscreen then so long as there was a power feed from the dome light . Is the power via the ignition switch or is it perm 12v?

 

[MBenzNL]

Is the power via the ignition switch or is it perm 12v?

either switched power or power from illumination...as long as you can make the mirror fit - you can install it where ever you want...and make it work

greetingz,

 

[mapleleaf]

Cheers Steve

I'm just waiting on a price from AM works services as they do a retro fit for the DB7 , but if its way to expensive which I suspect it may be then I'll see about fitting a merc one . Now that would be different!

 

[Tan]

Cheers Steve

I'm just waiting on a price from AM works services as they do a retro fit for the DB7 , but if its way to expensive which I suspect it may be then I'll see about fitting a merc one . Now that would be different!

Do Jaguar do a dimming mirror for the XK8? if so that might work. Actually saying that, there is a good chance that the part would be derived from Ford anyway.

 

[Shude]

Do Jaguar do a dimming mirror for the XK8? if so that might work. Actually saying that, there is a good chance that the part would be derived from Ford anyway.

Prolly comes from a Ford Mondeo... oh the shame of it!