Retrofitting electric mirrors

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Phil Peters
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Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Phil Peters »

Hi all,

Is it possible to retrofit electric mirrors on a MK2 hatchback? If so, is it a case of simply plugging into the car's existing wiring harness or am I looking at spending some quality time with the soldering iron?

Cheers,

Phil

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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by KevR »

Pretty sure you should be able to plug into the harness. Easy enough ti find out - if there's a suitable plug hanging spare up behind the switch blanking plate near your right knee, then that's probably a giveaway! Same in the door - look for a spare plug up near the mirror mount.
I wouldn't bother for the driver's side - actually takes longer to adjust than using the manual lever...
1990 BX TZD Estate ('the grey one', 1991 BX TZD Estate ('the white one'), 1982 2CV6 Charleston (in bits), 1972 AZU Serie B (2CV van), 1974 HY72 Camper, 1990 Land Rover 110 diesel LWB, 1957 Mobylette AV76, 1992 Ducati 400SS, 1966 VW Beetle, 1990 Mazda MX-5, 1996 Peugeot 106D, 1974 JCB 2D MkII, 1997 BMW R1100RS, 1987 Suzuki GSX-R1100, 1978 Honda CX500A, 1965 Motobecane Cady, 1988 Honda Bros/Africa Twin, 1963 Massey Ferguson 825, and a lot of bicycles!
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mat_fenwick
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by mat_fenwick »

Dunno if the loom is present on all models, but only the ones fitted with dual mirrors had the capability to adjust both sides separately. The mid range models with a passenger side mirror had the wiring present but both sides will operate simultaneously from the switch, presumably to cost costs by not having LHD and RHD specific looms just for a passenger mirror. It's fairly simple to modify the loom and switch to operate both as they should be - check out the thread in Tech FAQ.
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Tim Leech
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Tim Leech »

If it a car that came with manual mirrors both sides there's no wiring loom so you will have to get one.
Last edited by Tim Leech on Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Way2go »

Tim Leech wrote:If it a car that cane with manual mirrors both sides there's no wiring loom so you will have to get one.
Getting the switch unit and mirrors will be the important part. It's probably easier to make up the wiring new yourself than the aggro of unthreading it and extracting it from a donor.
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Mothman »

Way2go wrote:
Tim Leech wrote:If it a car that cane with manual mirrors both sides there's no wiring loom so you will have to get one.
Getting the switch unit and mirrors will be the important part. It's probably easier to make up the wiring new yourself than the aggro of unthreading it and extracting it from a donor.
Recently removed the entire wiring loom from the scrapper, not a job i would like to do again as it didnt come out easy and the thought of putting it back scares the hell out of me.

Andy
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by mat_fenwick »

Way2go wrote:It's probably easier to make up the wiring new yourself than the aggro of unthreading it and extracting it from a donor.
Very true. Especially as it would have to be a 16v (or GTi?) to work both mirrors without modification. The loom for the mirrors passes diagonally under the driver's footwell and underneath the seat towards the centre console, and is bundled with several other (helpfully also green!) wires...
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Phil Peters
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Phil Peters »

Many thanks for the info guys. Another job to add to the list, albeit under the "Low priority / Shouldn't you do the more important bits first?" section.

Cheers,

Phil

1992 BX19 TGD (aka Maurice), N/A diesel, silver with Zenith trim.
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Defender110 »

I have a drivers side electric mirror I would sell if you need one.
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by BX Bandit »

Mothman wrote:
Recently removed the entire wiring loom from the scrapper, not a job i would like to do again as it didnt come out easy and the thought of putting it back scares the hell out of me.

Andy
Can you elaborate, I have joyous task of removing my TZD loom to put in the TGD!
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by Mothman »

To be honest bud, i just took the entire thing out of my scrapper TXD in one big lump of muddled wires, some of which i had to cut as it resisted a bit and didnt give up easy.

Took a long time to disconnect everything that i could. I suppose it was a bit easier having the body upside down with everything removed, including all trim and insulation but i wouldnt want to refit the damned thing. There were many single wires dissappearing into small holes which were just cut so i dont envy you.It would be well beyond me to take out a loom and re fit it. Why are you doing it?

Andy
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by BX Bandit »

2 reasons really,

1) to convert a TGD to TZD spec
2) to transfer the a/c loom (don't know if this is a separate extra loom (suspect so)) which is in the TZD to the TGD

ergo TGD transformed to TZD with a/c.
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Re: Retrofitting electric mirrors

Post by kiwi »

Not such a daft idea really! Since the TZS is pretty much beyond economical repair. I also have all the parts and a rather boring TXD with no electric mirrors, door warning lights, rear electric windows (not worried about them) and a aircon system. Since I also have the wiring loom going down the path of considering fitting these one day. Saves the parts going to waste.
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