A couple of years ago my wife took her time looking for - and eventually found - a very nice, well cared-for, v well maintained 2004 A4 Avant 1.8T .. it was one of those no-brainer finds that can happen if you take your time and don't jump too early.
Additionally it was originally specified with a deal of high-spec additions/upgrades such as full leather, special entertainment system, other things that sometimes we had wrongly assumed were regular-fit but discovered later they were neat little added touches ...
And it is one of these, though not so little!, that I need some input about please from someone more knowledgeable than I am.
Apparently the driver's door mirror/pod is some kind of style/function upgrade according to my Audi folks. Its mirror glass was gently discoloured at the edges when she got the car, appeared almost like anti-glare. ... wasn't of any concern.
That was picked up however as an advisory on a subsequent MoT (Audi/VAG indie that I have no problem with), and ditto on its latest MoT but with the guidance that its further deterioration - which has gradually become more evident - rendered it now borderline and it would clearly be an MoT fail next year.
A poor blind-spot mirror is an MOT fail? They are safety essentials of course these days, but actually within MoT requirements?? Apparently!
I understand that the whole thing is in some way special, including the use of sandwich construction mirror glass with a liquid or gel (?) core that does something nifty I guess ... auto-dip anti-dazzle? Heated maybe? But there's no switch/button internally to operate such a function.
Can't actually think of much else a blind-spot mirror might be upgraded with/to/by.
Anyway, it is £300+ for a new one! Really.
I checked and did some digging too, and a second-hand/salvage glass alone is £80-90.
So then,
If someone has come across this and found a relatively painless way to deal with it I'd welcome their input .... right now I am planning simply to get a conforming/standard mirror-glass and bond it to the failing/failed one ... hey presto, a perfectly acceptable blind-spot mirror again with very little messing around! It won't be heated or whatever admittedly, but neither is the one that's on but we didn't know it was supposed to be and that's been fine anyway!
Any advice/recommendations/etc welcomed however.
Cheers,
Howard
Additionally it was originally specified with a deal of high-spec additions/upgrades such as full leather, special entertainment system, other things that sometimes we had wrongly assumed were regular-fit but discovered later they were neat little added touches ...
And it is one of these, though not so little!, that I need some input about please from someone more knowledgeable than I am.
Apparently the driver's door mirror/pod is some kind of style/function upgrade according to my Audi folks. Its mirror glass was gently discoloured at the edges when she got the car, appeared almost like anti-glare. ... wasn't of any concern.
That was picked up however as an advisory on a subsequent MoT (Audi/VAG indie that I have no problem with), and ditto on its latest MoT but with the guidance that its further deterioration - which has gradually become more evident - rendered it now borderline and it would clearly be an MoT fail next year.
A poor blind-spot mirror is an MOT fail? They are safety essentials of course these days, but actually within MoT requirements?? Apparently!
I understand that the whole thing is in some way special, including the use of sandwich construction mirror glass with a liquid or gel (?) core that does something nifty I guess ... auto-dip anti-dazzle? Heated maybe? But there's no switch/button internally to operate such a function.
Can't actually think of much else a blind-spot mirror might be upgraded with/to/by.
Anyway, it is £300+ for a new one! Really.
I checked and did some digging too, and a second-hand/salvage glass alone is £80-90.
So then,
If someone has come across this and found a relatively painless way to deal with it I'd welcome their input .... right now I am planning simply to get a conforming/standard mirror-glass and bond it to the failing/failed one ... hey presto, a perfectly acceptable blind-spot mirror again with very little messing around! It won't be heated or whatever admittedly, but neither is the one that's on but we didn't know it was supposed to be and that's been fine anyway!
Any advice/recommendations/etc welcomed however.
Cheers,
Howard
