disable auto-dim mirror?

[anarchy-inc]

Just took my newW203 home tonight and one thing that really annoyned me was the auto dimming rear view mirror and door mirror. Is there any way to permanetly disable them?

I've seen on other forums that people have suggested covering the light sensor, but this seems counter intuitive since less light surley will make the mirror think it's even darker and dim it more?

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
You on tape over the sensor on the mirror glass, not the one facing the windscreen, or alternatively as long as your rear view mirror has no other additional function in it like garage door opener, mic for phone kit etc, you could just unplug it. Either solution will also disable the door mirror dimming too.

 

[SilverSaloon]

as andy says you can cover the sensor or remove the mirror and unplug it. However i'd persevere with it for a while longer - auto dimming, especially if you have wing mirror dimming aswell is great when on long journeys.

i've ensured every daily-driving car i've had for the past 8 or so years have had auto dim. when i drive my wife's car that doesnt have it, i miss it.

 

[C240Sport97]

I love auto dimming mirrors .. one of my favourite features

 

[anarchy-inc]

I love auto dimming mirrors .. one of my favourite features

Forgive me for asking.....but why? I cannot work out why it's a good thing. all I can see is faded headlights, I like seeing everything and have never been dazzled by bright headlights.

 

[camerafodder]

I love auto dimming mirrors .. one of my favourite features

Me too, great on long motorway journeys

 

[tagnut]

Yeah me too. To the OP, why would you want to disable them?

 

[tagnut]

Forgive me for asking.....but why? I cannot work out why it's a good thing. all I can see is faded headlights, I like seeing everything and have never been dazzled by bright headlights.

Should have look more closely
To me it just looks like the headlights behind me are dipped so there is no dazzle. I can see everything else more clearly when someone does have full beams on....

 

[st13phil]

Forgive me for asking.....but why? I cannot work out why it's a good thing. all I can see is faded headlights, I like seeing everything and have never been dazzled by bright headlights.

Noting your location, I could make the (cheap, but mostly true) observation that it's because the American DOT mandate that car headlamps for the US market are cr*p by comparison to the Euro standards. It will depend also upon traffic density and whether or not you're driving in a street-lit area.

Personally, like others have already posted, I would not by choice drive a car without self dimming mirrors.

 

[anarchy-inc]

Noting your location, I could make the (cheap, but mostly true) observation that it's because the American DOT mandate that car headlamps for the US market are cr*p by comparison to the Euro standards. It will depend also upon traffic density and whether or not you're driving in a street-lit area.

Personally, like others have already posted, I would not by choice drive a car without self dimming mirrors.

Well, I have driven cars in Europe (UK and Mainland) with auto dim mirrors and I didn't like them there either. It must just be a personal preference thing but I wish it wasn't forced on us.

 

[C240Sport97]

Porsche auto dimming mirrors can be switched off.

 

[anarchy-inc]

Porsche auto dimming mirrors can be switched off.

Same on our Dodge Durango, there is a button on the under side of the mirror. I guess Mercedes doesn't like adding a button....

 

[crankiejohn]

i didnt like it on mine when first got the car but after a while i got to like it i tried tape on the sensor but removed it

 

[Frankie]

I love the autodimming, didn't realise the car had it til I drove it home.

 

[GP801]

Autodimming is great. Much less stressful on a long night time drive. It was the first upgrade I did to our 124. My sons Volvo has a switch on the mirror to turn the dimming off.

 

[salfordmerc]

Glad I spotted this post,just getting use to our auto dimmer, does seem strange at first and I must admit an hour ago I was looking to somehow turn it off....I'll bow to Mercedes superior knowledge on these things and try and get use to it.

 

[Dieselman]

I can't imagine why you would want to, but if you really don't want it unplug the connector in the interior light housing.

 

[markjay]

I find auto-dimming a very dangerous feature. Too many cyclists in London have no lights at all, and I just cant see them in my O/S wing mirror at night when there are other cars behind them. This is especially a problem when moving to the O/S or when pulling-out of a parking place.

 

[Mercy1]

Well, there's auto-dimming and there's auto-dimming...

All my recent cars have had the feature and I have had no problem with them. However, my new C350 was so dark it was positively dangerous - all you could see in your mirror was moon-like headlights on pitch black. Very difficult to judge how far they were behind, and what speed they were coming up at. On dual carriageways and mways, it was a nightmare judging when to pull out to overtake.

However, I solved the problem by cutting a quarter inch square of black electrical tape and placing over the sensor on the front (ie, facing you) of the rear view mirror. I think there is still a dimming effect, but it's nowhere near as severe and I can now see features other than headlights behind.

Don't forget, it's the headlights behind that cause the mirrors to dim so your theory that covering up the sensor will make the mirror think it's even darker is incorrect (IMO).

 

[snoop51]

I find auto-dimming a very dangerous feature. Too many cyclists in London have no lights at all, and I just cant see them in my O/S wing mirror at night when there are other cars behind them. This is especially a problem when moving to the O/S or when pulling-out of a parking place.

Not wishing to start a cyclist / car driver type argument, but my son got pulled by a PCO a couple of months ago for no lights on his bike (idiot son) and fined £50. Isn't it illegal for no lights on bikes? And stupid on the part of the cyclist too!