Heated mirrors not working?

Hi - just bought a X reg (2000) 1.4 SE and I believe it should have heated mirrors (they are electrically adjustable) but they don't appear to be defrosting.

Any suggestions? would the heating be on it's own fuse? (I can't find a fuse for electric mirrors anything in the handbook).

Or has something "gone"?

Hi Neil,

Heated mirrors were an optional extra. Some owners have retro fitted them, since the wiring required is present in the mirror housing regardless of car spec. Have you tried taking the mirror glass out? There is guide on here somewhere (try the search fuinction) to explain how to do this. The heated mirror glass has a visible "copper" coloured heating element stuck to the back and 2 small pins connectors for the wires. If those aren't there then the mirrors are just standard glass.

The heated bit comes on when you switched the heated rear window on, and in the cold, the mirror housing with be hot enough to "steam" which is very impressive!!

To retro fit they cost about £100 for the pair from the dealer, and are pretty easy to do yourself.

Hope that helps,

David

Welcome!
Electric adjustment doesn't mean heated mirrors by default.
If you have heated mirrors, they should come on automatically if the outside temperature drops below 5C. Also if you switch on the heated rear screen they should come on too.

However, I suspect it's likely you don't have the heated elements as they were an optional extra (like most things on Audis). But that's not the end of the world! Audi very kindly put the heated mirror wiring into the wing mirrors anyway, so if you want heated mirrors it's just a case of buying the heated glass parts and connecting them up.

Fitting is a 5min DIY job.
You can buy the geninuine Audi heated mirrors from your Audi Dealer but they are quite pricey - about £80 for the pair!

There are also ebay non-Audi versions which have a rather poorly designed backing plate, but they're about £15 and others on this forum have fitted them with minor adjustments to the backing plate to make them fit.

Beaten to it, ha ha!

I did the heated mirror install myself this winter using the Audi mirror parts by the way, and as mentioned above they actually produce steam when they defrost, which is always fun to see

I fitted mine but neither of them ever both work, sometimes the right one works on its own and sometimes the left on its own!

Chris

Thanks!

Thanks everyone - I was going by the handbook which says "The mirror surfaces are heated according to the outside temperature when the ignition is on" - however I've just noticed that the symbol which indicates that "this feature may be an optional extra on some models".

I'm guessing it hasn't got them - will double check and consider retro fitting some.

Plenty more questions coming your way....watch out for more posts!

I think Audi make two variants of the mirror.. one has a thermistor on the element to make it only work when the rear view is switched on and the temp is below a defined level and the other does not have this...

... from my S6 days I had the temp dependant ones and they kept failing (the thermistor would corrode and blow) and in the end Audi asked if I would mind them just replacing with the non intelligent ones.. did this an all was well.. of course it does mean they heat up when you hit rear demist on a non icy day but at least they work..

not sure if this is the same for the A2 but it could explain why some are experiencing mirrors with their own personalities

Hi,
My mirrors are not heating anymore, although the heated rear window is ok.
I've checked the connections, and the fuses, and it seems to be ok.
Suggestions will be appreciated.
Regards