Does anyone use fisheye/bubble mirror attachments

A

Armchair Bronco

Member
:
2007 Mazda CX-9 GT AWD
I'm a new owner of a used 2007 GT CX-9. I love the car but both my wife and I feel that the car has big blind spots, especially along the left-hand (driver's) side of the car.

If I push the rear view mirror to the right a little bit, I can see through the passenger-side windows reasonably well, but not so on the left side.

Anyway, to address this I was thinking of buying some of those fisheye / bubble thingy attachments for my side view mirrors, but I'd like to get some positive feedback first from folks who have done this.

Do these things work? And if so, are some brands better than others?
 
I was thinking of something like this:

ipc-sideview-mirror.jpg
 
Armchair Bronco said:
I'm a new owner of a used 2007 GT CX-9. I love the car but both my wife and I feel that the car has big blind spots, especially along the left-hand (driver's) side of the car.

If I push the rear view mirror to the right a little bit, I can see through the passenger-side windows reasonably well, but not so on the left side.

Anyway, to address this I was thinking of buying some of those fisheye / bubble thingy attachments for my side view mirrors, but I'd like to get some positive feedback first from folks who have done this.

Do these things work? And if so, are some brands better than others?
Click to expand...

You don't need smoke or mirrors....

I came across this article one day and cannot drive a car any other way..

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/BlindSpot.htm

You will never have another blind spot in your car ever again!
 
that works very well and I do it on all the cars I drive that don't have a convex driver's side mirror
BUT it sucks for parking

so I HATE using flat side mirrors because of that and your field of view sucks! you still will have blind spots (but reduced) with them too

thanks to bulls*** american laws, 99.9% americans have to deal with crappy mirrors all the time... the solution to this is to upgrade to european-spec mirrors which are convex (and aspheric) on the driver's side (as well as the passenger side, but that has been allowed on US cars since 1984 anyway)... basically blind spot is 99.9% eliminated with these mirrors and I very very rarely have to turn my head to check the blind spot... this allows for SAFER driving because there is less time my eyes are off the road... all the head movement, your eyes refocusing to see takes too damn long... it's a stupid thing when a more efficient solution exists

those non-US mirrors are FAR superior to the silly stick-on "bubble" mirrors... the entire mirror is convex instead of this tiny thing that you can hardly see what's in it


do a search as a few people including myself have done this upgrade
 
I don't have blind spots for three reasons. I adjust the mirrors like those instructions, to a degree, but not quite as far. Second, very early I got into the habit of leaning forward when I want to see to the sides, changing my viewing angle to the outside. Then I turn my head to see the passenger side.
 
The thing is, both my wife and I share the car, so it's not always easy to get a perfectly adjusted side mirror before heading out. Sure, we make minor adjustments but it's easy to forget when you're rushing off to karate or swim team practice.

So, I think the convex stick-on mirrors are a good compromise. They give you an extra view along the side of the car and if they're sized correctly relative to the size of the stock mirrors, they're not too intrusive.

I don't want to swap in European mirrors right now, just looking for a "helping hand" as it were.
 
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the blind spot monitoring system is an awesome feature. I assume you do not have it?

For me there really is no blond spots in this vehicle to the left or right as I am comparing it to my Jeep which had bad blind spots
 
The-9 said:
the blind spot monitoring system is an awesome feature. I assume you do not have it?
Click to expand...

Correct. I have an '07 model and I don't think the Blind Spot Monitoring System was available then. Even if it were available as an expensive add-on, I wouldn't go in that direction. I'm just looking for a smallish round stick-on mirror.

Some of 'em can be twisted/rotated to give you different views. That's probably the direction I'll go in, at least on the driver's side where there's definitely a bigger blind spot than on the passenger side.
 
I agree that adjusting your mirrors properly could take care of the blind spot issue.
However, I have been so used to convex mirrors. I feel uneasy driving one w/o them.
Those are the 1st "upgrade" I did for any vehicles I ever owned. My wife was trained by me like that also. Both of us have never nearly hit other vehicles while changing lanes. Those $2-3 dollars were well spent, IMHO.

BSM is especially usefully at night with heavy rains.
BSM was made standard in 2009 models and a must-have option for later 2008 models (built after 10/2007).
 
ceric said:
I agree that adjusting your mirrors properly could take care of the blind spot issue.
However, I have been so used to convex mirrors. I feel uneasy driving one w/o them.
Those are the 1st "upgrade" I did for any vehicles I ever owned. My wife was trained by me like that also. Both of us have never nearly hit other vehicles while changing lanes. Those $2-3 dollars were well spent, IMHO.

BSM is especially usefully at night with heavy rains.
BSM was made standard in 2009 models and a must-have option for later 2008 models (built after 10/2007).
Click to expand...

Where do you position yours? In the lower left-hand corner as I've shown above (this seems like the conventional location), or somewhere else? Also, what size do you use? 2" or 3" mirrors?
 
hunkjin said:
Is there a potential problem with the heated mirror?
Click to expand...

I've had them on 2 cars with heated mirrors and never had any problem with them coming off. I have had them ripped off my mirrors by vandals. The double sided tape is usually still left onthe mirror.
 
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I use the bubble eyes..and after having them...I couldnt be without them.
They are great once you get used to them.
I have mine locared exactly haw you pistured.....Lower loutside edges of the mirrors....I have them on both sides.

Putting them on the inside....close to you is useless....I drove a car with the there and it is not a good place to put them as it cuts down on the angle you need to actually see out of them where you need them to see.

My shiny nickels worth.....Well worth the $3 per mirror at your local Parts store.
 
TheMAN said:
that works very well and I do it on all the cars I drive that don't have a convex driver's side mirror
BUT it sucks for parking

so I HATE using flat side mirrors because of that and your field of view sucks! you still will have blind spots (but reduced) with them too

thanks to bulls*** american laws, 99.9% americans have to deal with crappy mirrors all the time... the solution to this is to upgrade to european-spec mirrors which are convex (and aspheric) on the driver's side (as well as the passenger side, but that has been allowed on US cars since 1984 anyway)... basically blind spot is 99.9% eliminated with these mirrors and I very very rarely have to turn my head to check the blind spot... this allows for SAFER driving because there is less time my eyes are off the road... all the head movement, your eyes refocusing to see takes too damn long... it's a stupid thing when a more efficient solution exists

those non-US mirrors are FAR superior to the silly stick-on "bubble" mirrors... the entire mirror is convex instead of this tiny thing that you can hardly see what's in it


do a search as a few people including myself have done this upgrade
Click to expand...

Hummm... If I already have an '07 GT CX-9 with heated mirror, is there an upgrade kit available that will give me a convex driver's side mirror that's heated? Who sells these kits? And if I don't install it myself, how much (approx.) do you think it would cost to have a shop do it? Just curious.
 
uhh, did you search?

and you can buy knock offs off ebay but they're not the same quality
 
TheMAN said:
uhh, did you search?

and you can buy knock offs off ebay but they're not the same quality
Click to expand...

After making my post above, I did some more research and tracked down the original thread in which this mod is discussed:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123689094

The catch is that you have to obtain the parts in Europe, but I'm going there in August. I'll be in Hungary, and it turns out that the OP of the thread above also bought his European-style covex mirrors from a Mazda dealership in Budapest, Hungary, so I'm good to go.
 
I have the 2" ones positioned in the top far corner of each mirror, mostly so I can see beyond my trailer when towing. Highly recommended. Don't need them for daily driving I find though as everything is so far away-looking that they're useless in traffic.
 
brightwhite said:
I have the 2" ones positioned in the top far corner of each mirror, mostly so I can see beyond my trailer when towing. Highly recommended. Don't need them for daily driving I find though as everything is so far away-looking that they're useless in traffic.
Click to expand...

I bought a pair of the round 2" convex stick-on mirrors today at the local auto supply parts store. I paid a little over $4.00 including tax. These things are definitely cheap, no-frills add-ons, but they do the trick. They're adjustable and I stuck one of 'em in the lower left-hand corner of the mirror.

I'm going to give this a fair shake for a week or two, but I'm also planning to buy a European replacement Mazda CX-7 mirror later this summer when I go to Budapest, Hungary. (This mod is summarized in the link I made above.)

One problem with both the round stick-on mirror and the European mirror is that the outside edge of the mirror juts out a bit, and this extra plastic intrudes in the field of vision. Oh, well. Even the el-cheapo mirror I bought today is a big improvement.
 
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