Auto Dimming Mirror With Compass

[Brooklyn]

Click here: Auto Dimming Mirror with Compass and Temp
Check this out, do you think it will fit on the Thunderbird? What do you think of the price?

[kenrhack]

Brooklyn:
Click where? Auto dimming mirror w/ compass sounds great!

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T'BIRD RUNNER

[Gobird]

I sent them an email to see of this would fit our Birds. Will let you know if they get back to me.

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02 T-Bird 9293
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
Live Long and Prosper!

[DavidA]

I did that several months ago and was told that a mirror to fit our cars with a compass, and interior lamps as well as the auto dimming feature would be available within a year. Don't forget the interior lights ... they are the only lights inside the car and are an important feature.

[Brooklyn]

Web address for mirror with compass is

www.mitocorp.com/nvsct.htm (http://www.mitocorp.com/nvsct.htm)

hope this will work if not let me know

[TbirdTim]

The mirror looks great, I just wish that it had the interior lights on it, like David A mentioned. Without those lights, the interior would get fairly dark at night when opening the door.

[BotNew56]

I looked at this site. They are selling one of the mirrows from the Gentex co. Gentex (according to their website) manufactures a variety of "smart" mirrors. It has been awhile since I looked at their site, but I dimly remember one with the interior lights. However, I could find a reseller who handled their whole line. It sure would be great if someone would make a mirror which fits our needs. I notice that this mirror also has the exterior temperature reading, which duplicates a function we already have, and would seem to me to make the installation more complex.

I would surely go for a replacement mirror with auto dimming, compass and interior lites (left and right) which would honor the dimming commands as the existing lites do.

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel

[TBirdBoy]

It's sad that we even have to concern ourselves with this matter. My Chrysler that cost $13,000 less than my T-bird came with this standard along with a good sized mirror....one that let's me see the WHOLE back window. When I drive the T-bird I always feel like I am missing something and adjusting the mirror. I relize Ford cut cost to keep the price down, but they seem to have picked some very noticable areas in which to cut. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my T-bird, it just surprises me the number of nice features that came with my Chrysler that weren't even available on the 'bird. We are a picky bunch of people...aren't we? http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Premium Black w/Red partial
VIN - 1FAHP60AX2Y113877
sq#4044
build #14004
Delivered 3/29/02
2000 Chrysler Sebring Conv.
1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula

[This message has been edited by TBirdBoy (edited 06-07-2002).]

[tbird]

Yeah, but the Fords come with transmissions. :-)

[JR66]

Just a reminder that the Crown Victoria has mirror with compass and a dimming feature. The sun visors also have mirrors with lights as well as a garage door opener built-in. I love my T-bird but it seems that these features could have been borrowed like many of the other features. PS My Crown Vic cost $15K less than my T-bird.

[JimmyFitz]

Don't forget to add in the coolness factor of the T-Bird. It compensates for a lot. What other car on the road elicits spontaneous smiles from ear to ear from unsuspecting witnesses. I see them all the time.

[LON O'CONNELL]

Also remember for what it is this is a heavy car, a great car but a heavy car. If Ford kept adding on all the features everyone is talking about, this car would weigh over 4,000 pounds as it already weighs over 3,900.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

[TBirdBoy]

I would gladly take the extra hundred pounds to not have to carry around my clunky garage door opener in a car with already limited storage space. Don't get me wrong guys...like I said I love this car and would choose to drive it over my Chrysler any day. There are just some features I miss alot. On the other hand, being 6'2" I REALLY appreciate the T-bird's "get the hell out of my way" steering wheel. I am forever hitting my knees in other cars...not this one. It's a beautiful morning here...guess what I'm gonna be doing? http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Premium Black w/Red partial
VIN - 1FAHP60AX2Y113877
sq#4044
build #14004
Delivered 3/29/02
2000 Chrysler Sebring Conv.
1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula

[BotNew56]

I too would like to have the auto-dimming rear view mirror, and I think the compass would be helpful. I was wondering if there was some design difficulty with including these features with the cabin lights. Then I got to wondering if there are other cars (convertibles perhaps) which also have the cabin lights in the mirror. If not, it might be possible that it would have been quite expensive to innovate that feature with the dimming/compass electronics, especially for a small production run like the TBird. I get the impression that the Gentex Co. is only interested in a large population of vehicles for their products.

Also, when comparing the relative features of the Tbird with other cars, I think it might be true that the cost of providing the removable hard top/convertible may be a significant part of the costs. True, other cars provide this capability, but the TBird seems particular well done.

This is all speculation on my part, and as others have pointed out, the pleasures of driving and displaying this car far outweigh these small details.

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel

[rlstonejr]

my jag S-type (cousin to our t-birds) has the auto dimming mirror w/ compass and lights. the visor is very nice and includes the home-link garage door opener. my last one also had retracting steering wheel w/ wood/leather like the bird.(the one I have now is all leather). I have not been in an LS but there are many similarities between the Bird and the jag interior.

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neiman vin#00035
delivered October 4, 2001

[BotNew56]

That's interesting about the mirror on the Jag.

About the garage door opener, I'll report what I did. It may not be useful to many, but...

First I just laid the opener in the driver's door pocket. However, it slid forward and back in the pocket as the car moved. So I took a small slab of soft packing foam, about 3/4 inch thick, and cut it so it was just slightly wider than the pocket and about an inch longer than the door opener. Then I cut a retangular hole in the foam to fit the opener. The foam with the opener in it fits snugly in the door pocket, with the button facing up. In this case the foam was charcoal black and is unobtrusive.It is just necessary to reach down into the door pocket to open or close the garage door.

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel

[TBirdBoy]

I was hoping to find a keyfob remote for my garage door but haven't had much luck. Anyone know of such a thing?

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Premium Black w/Red partial
VIN - 1FAHP60AX2Y113877
sq#4044
build #14004
Delivered 3/29/02
2000 Chrysler Sebring Conv.
1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula

[sauernote]

I have the remote for my garage door velcroed to the side of the center tunnel about where my right knee is. My other remote for my gate is velcroed to the other side. Not the greatest solution, but it works and they don't get in the way.

[DavidA]

I velcro'd mine to the inside of the door pocket. It never moves and is totally hidden from view that way. Of course, homelink on a decent visor would be great, but that's another story.

[Howlee]

i velcroed my opener under the stearing column. it cant be seen and is out of the way.

[NMJeff]

My opener is in the armrest. Not much else fits in there anyway.

[TBirdBoy]

sounds like I need to get some velcro http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Premium Black w/Red partial
VIN - 1FAHP60AX2Y113877
sq#4044
build #14004
Delivered 3/29/02
2000 Chrysler Sebring Conv.
1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula

[jawill2000]

My '98 Lincoln Continental has the auto dimming mirror with what Lincoln calls map lights (cabin lights?) in addition to the interior lights and a compass. The wires are neatly covered with a plastic channel. The visors have the home-link and the vanity mirrors are lighted (2 levels yet). The other feature that Tbird could use is the computer to calculate mileage etc. The hardware is available at Ford so the cost must have been a factor, a few ounces of weight wouldn't have mattered.

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Jim Williams
red/red/std blk premium #2 of 2 VIN 1FAHP60A62Y111592
Mass. tag JWBIRD

[WJR1007]

TBirdboy

The good news is yes. I have a key fob garage door opener for my bird as well as my truck which gets parked in the driveway.It sells for 29.95 each and is programmable for just about any brand door opener.
The bad news is that I'm at work and dont remember the car magagzine that I ordered them from, but,when I get home today (3:00pm cst).I will look for it and post the info for you.


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Blue/Blue Premium
Full Interior Accent
Production #3944 VIN#103847
" Gotta Love It "
TX Lic# " BLUBRD "

[This message has been edited by WJR1007 (edited 06-11-2002).]

[whvt01]

Thought you might find this comment of
interest on the mirror.

I mentioned to a Ford salesman at the
dealership (not the one we used) that
the mirror was of the wrong level for
me to see to the right clearly.

He said just twist the mirror around
180. (Yeah that would do it now the
lights point to the ceiling.)

He was serious not joking. All said was
OK I'll think about it. Maybe on some
cars this will raise it up some.

[Gobird]

http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif whvtO1, Is this guy allowed to sell new cars??? http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/frown.gif Sounds like the used car dealer that my dad bought my 1955 Studebaker from.Dad told him that the trunk leaked. His answer, Just drill a couple holes in the trunk pan and that will solve the problem. http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/mad.gif

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02 T-Bird 9293
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
Live Long and Prosper!

[BotNew56]

I have been looking into replacing the rear view mirror. In my Tbird the mirror is made by Donnelly and is connected to the wiring harness with three wires into a 7-pin connector. It measures 9-3/4 wide by 2-1/2 high.

Donnelly (www.donnelly.com) makes and sells mirrors with auto dimming, compass, outside tempurature display. Their model 21000 ($219) has the autodimming mirror with compass and lights. The very helpful sales person at Donnelly emailed me a pin diagram for that mirror. It also connects with (apparently) the same 7- pin connector as the existing mirror. I believe that connecting the existing connector into the this new mirror would cause it to act just like the original as far as the lights are concerned. To activate the auto-dimming I think it would be sufficient to connect a wire between pins 7 and 1 on the connector. However, it might be useful to run the cable supplied to the fuse box because you could attach the pin 1 wire to the ignition power which would turn off the dimming circuit when the car is off. Also, there are some other optional connections to the auto-dimming feature. How those are used was not immediately obvious from the diagram.

Running the cable from the mirror to the fuse box does not look too difficult.

However, there is a problem which may be troublesome; size. The 21000 mirror is 10 in. by 3-1/2 in. That additional 1 inch in height may be too much. I taped a 1 inch piece of paper to my mirror and went for an 80 mile trip, city and freeway driving, both daylight and night. It really did not bother me, but I am not sure I wouldn't sometime be in a situation where that increased blind spot might be bad.

This may be the reason this mirror is not supplied with the car. I wonder what the size of the mirror with the Jag convertible is and who makes it. TBirdTim has connected new stuff into the fuse box. Perhaps he could give us some guidance there.

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel

[TbirdTim]

In answer to the question to me about connecting stuff to the fuse box...the only thing that I have hooked up to the fuse box have been my heated seats. I probably spent 2 hours (of my total 6 hour installation time for the seat heaters) just trying to find a place to connect at the fuse box, including the fuse boxes in the engine compartment, the one in the trunk and the one inside the passenger area. It was a BIG challenge. I couldn't find a fuse that would cut on and off with the ignition switch. I tried almost every fuse and finally found that the fuse going to the wipers were the only easy one that did turn on and off with the ignition switch. This was important because you don't want to have to worry about leaving something like seat heaters on while the car is parked. You would probably have a dead battery very quickly!

[KYbluebird]

Three wires go the t-bird's mirror, a hot wire (interior fuse 2.31, goes dead 30 minutes after the car is left alone), a ground wire, and a wire that's grounded whenever a door is opened.

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Ron

VIN #7729, seq. #7505
partial blue premium, no top

[This message has been edited by KYbluebird (edited 06-17-2002).]

[BotNew56]

That's good to know. I thought the hot wire (pin 7) might be from the battery saver circuit. Seems it would be OK to connect the mirror dimming power (pin 1) to that same wire. Still, there are those other dimming controls, don't know yet what they provide.

Does anyone have words of wisdom about replacing the existing rear view mirror with one which is 1 inch taller?

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel

[This message has been edited by BotNew56 (edited 06-17-2002).]

[DBBird]

Just curious...I contacted Donnelly yesterday and have not received a reply yet. I happened to stumble across their website before I searched this forum.

Has anyone replaced their mirror yet with an auto dimming from this company? (or any other?) I had some concern on whether it would be to big, and whether or not you can utilize the existing wiring?

Let me know, any information appreciated.

Thank You

[DBBird]

I no more finished posting above and received this e-mail from Donnelly. Thought I would share this with you. I will keep you posted. Again if any on here has done this, let me know....

From Donnelly:
"We have in fact sold a number of these to T-bird Owners. We know they work
but we arent sure if the lights are capable of dimming after door closure.
I referred a customer to an installing dealer for that. I will contact him
to find out what happened.


Best Regards,

Dave Breslin
National Sales Manager - Consumer Products
Magna Donnelly"

[BotNew56]

I am the Tbird owner Dave Breslin referenced in his note. I expect a local auto add-on installer to have one of the Donnelly mirrors early in December and plan to check it out.

Donnelly does make a mirror which we could purchase to replace the existing Donnelly mirror which came with our Birds. It even uses the same connector. It has the map lights, the auto dimming mirrors, and compass. You can also get one with the outside temperature as well. These extra functions do require some additional wires, but I have looked at that and it doesn't look to bad to do, at least running the wires down to the fuse box.

The question I had, and Dave didn't have the answer, are the map lights capable of honoring the controls which we presently have which dim and slowly raise the lights in certain circumstances (such as unlocking the door remotely), or are they just on/off capable? I hope to resolve that by getting one in hand and trying it out.

For me, the only other issue with this replacement mirror from Donnelly is that is it about 1 inch taller than the existing mirror (That additional space holds the compass display and the map light switches). I have concluded that that is not much of a problem.

[jimjet]

Please repost that Link; I would like to see that auto dim/compass mirror

[BotNew56]

If it is the Donnely mirror you are referring to, it is
http://www.donnelly.com/shopdonnelly/complightedmirror.asp

[DBBird]

BotNews56:

Thank You for the information!

You obviously have the same concerns. Thanks for doing the research.

Please let me know what you find out when you get your mirror. I was hoping to get this as a x-mas surprise, but I think this one will have to wait.

Thanks again!

[jimjet]

Did I read the Donnelly web site correctly? You can either have an auto dim mirror with the compass and Thermometer or you can get you an auto dim mirror with map lights and a compass, but no thermometer. If you are going through all this effort; it would be nice to have,compass,thermometer, and Map lights......


'03 Vin 00192
Mountain Shadow Grey/Saddle

[BotNew56]

You know, I had been looking primarily looking at the CompLighted mirror (with map lights, compass and dimming), since we already have external temperature capability . I had thought that the one with the temperature sensor also had the map lights, but now I am not so sure.

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel