cracked drivers mirror

[mk6gti]

Hey guys,

I was driving along the other night and noticed something funny on my rear view mirror. It had been raining, and windy, so I figured something had blown off on of the nearby trees and stuck to my mirror... but on closer inspection it turned out to be a large crack across my driver's side mirror.

It seems like some sort of chip in the corner, and the crack spreads from there, all the way across.

I'm told these mirrors are heated, and basically I'm wondering if there is some sort of defect with the mirrors, that anyone has hear/ knows about?

I would have assumed that it was hit by a bike or another car, but there is ZERO damage to another other part of the mirror.

lastly, does anyone know if it is possible to just replace the glass bit, and not the whole mirror?

Cheers

Lloyd

[Corey_R]

Hey guys,

I was driving along the other night and noticed something funny on my rear view mirror. It had been raining, and windy, so I figured something had blown off on of the nearby trees and stuck to my mirror... but on closer inspection it turned out to be a large crack across my driver's side mirror.

It seems like some sort of chip in the corner, and the crack spreads from there, all the way across.

I'm told these mirrors are heated, and basically I'm wondering if there is some sort of defect with the mirrors, that anyone has hear/ knows about?

I would have assumed that it was hit by a bike or another car, but there is ZERO damage to another other part of the mirror.

lastly, does anyone know if it is possible to just replace the glass bit, and not the whole mirror?

Cheers

Lloyd

Heated mirrors have been a feature on Europeans cars for decades. Even the Polo has had it for years. So it's extremely unlikely that there is a fault which causes the mirrors to draw SO MUCH POWER that they get so hot that they'd actually crack!

So it would just be an unlucky case of the mirror has been hit by someone or something... it happens - and it can happen without causing damage to the mirror casing.

As for replacing the mirror glass on its own, it most certainly can be done.
ECS Tuning in the USA has them for US$65, but they're currently out of stock.

I'm sure your local VW dealer's service dept can also get them so give them a call. Let us know how you go (and the price they quote).

[Corey_R]

I'm told these mirrors are heated, and basically I'm wondering if there is some sort of defect with the mirrors, that anyone has hear/ knows about?

Oh, btw, it also just occurred to me that you have to turn on the heating. To do that, you have to turn the mirror adjustment knob from the L, O, or R position, around to the 'Heat' position (there is a bit of resistance there when turning past the L or R point, but it will go). Either way, the heating is barely even warm to the touch, let alone enough to cause a crack.

[elephino]

I can say that a mirror can be broken without damaging the surround. My cousin broke the mirror on an old car of mine with no damage to the casing. They also didn't tell me they'd done it, so suddenly I looked the the left side mirror and I could see a huge crack down almost the middle.

[mk6gti]

thanks for the responses guys, I've never owned a car with mirror heating before and just wondered if it was something that could happen. I know it was highly unlikely, but thought I would ask anyway.

I'm glad that it's not expensive to fix though... I was worried that i would have to replace the whole thing.

thanks again.