Auto-Dimming Compass Mirror with HomeLink

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PsychoJim

Member
:
MS3 GT '08.5
I just bought my MS3 GT and it rocks! I have been reading the forums for the past couple weeks and I couldn't find any posts regarding the Auto-Dimming Mirrors that Mazda sells...(trust me, I searched!)

What's the going opinion on these bad boys? Likes/Dislikes?

Anyone try installing one?
 
I love mine, but I made sure the one I picked out already had it. Sure comes in handy -- my Ram and 300C both have it.
 
I used to have this on my toyota and loved it. That said, the cost for it on our car is far higher than it's worth. I could understand anything up to $100, but once your hitting $280 for just the parts, thats a tad nuts.
 
I love mine and it works well. The only thing I don't like about it is there's no manual switch to let you dim it when there's still ambient light around you (i.e. when you're driving away from the sun on the horizon, or the jacked up truck behind you with HIDs) In either of these situations the mirror won't dim because it figures it's too bright out. All that being said I don't think any auto-dim mirror does this.
 
Its nice, but I wouldn't have paid for it. It was already on the car I bought so I didn't pay extra for it since I didn't want it.
 
I installed mine and it wasn't difficult - about 45 minutes. I really like it. I have it set with the buttons to open/close the garage door and the other two to turn the garage lights on and off. The dimming feature works OK; I have seen better, but I am still pretty happy with it.
 
I negotiated to get mine w/ installation when I bought my car. I love it! I couldn't imagine driving without it at night. I agree with everyone that it is way too expensive but you could always ask for a discount if your local dealer doesn't already have coupons on their website. The standard is 10-20% off. Negotiate that price w/ a discount on installation as well.
 
marine66 said:
I negotiated to get mine w/ installation when I bought my car. I love it! I couldn't imagine driving without it at night. I agree with everyone that it is way too expensive but you could always ask for a discount if your local dealer doesn't already have coupons on their website. The standard is 10-20% off. Negotiate that price w/ a discount on installation as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies everyone!

The Internet Sale manager at the dealer I bought the car from said he can get me 20% off. However, I have a friend who works for Mazda that can probably get me an even bigger discount. (cabpatch)
 
Rotus8 said:
I installed mine and it wasn't difficult - about 45 minutes. I really like it. I have it set with the buttons to open/close the garage door and the other two to turn the garage lights on and off. The dimming feature works OK; I have seen better, but I am still pretty happy with it.
Click to expand...

That's good cause I read that someplace charges $120 to do the install.

What kind of wiring is involved though? I wonder if there is any documentation on the install any where...
 
The dealer told me that its an expensive install because the rain sensing wipers sensor is involved...
but this was from the dealer so don't know how true it is...
 
Installation is not hard. If I remember correctly it is something like this:

Carefully pry off the plastic cover over the rain sensor.
Loosen set screw on OEM mirror and remove
Remove left A piller trim
Remove left kick panel trim
Snake wiring harness from mirror location, behind headliner above windshield and down A piller, behind dash down to lower kick panel
Crimp connectors onto a couple of wires behind the kick panel
Install new plastic cover over rain sensor, with wire inside
Install new mirror and tighten set screw
Put panels back together.

The only problem was that the instructions are for 04-06 NA cars, and the speed has one wire a different color than the instructions say. If you are going to do this, I'll dig it out and tell you the colors you need.
 
I think the auto dimming sucks; I would much rather have a manual control. So, I manually move the auto dimming mirror up at night to keep it tolerable. The auto mirror is not sensitive enough and I get blinded on a regular basis if I don't move it. Really a pain because I have to move it high enough that I don't get a good view.

The garage door thingy works great though.
 
The auto dimmer was useful until I got the tint done.
The compass is useless when you've got the NAV system.
Homelink does nothing when you live in an apartment.

It was on the car I wanted, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.
 
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