Does anyone know more about this.
Charles



Bridger.us/mini

 

This came up on a thread about a month or two ago (search?). Apparently it's something available in the Japanese market. They like to/have to park REAL close over there.

Personally, I think it's sort of weird looking...and besides, if you're into the look, you can always fold 'em back manually. Putting a motor in there to do it is just one more thing to break down the road. IMO.

 

If they're gonna go that far as to put a motorized mirror retractor... might as well go further and add a "trap door" for the mirror.... press a button, secret compartment opens up, mirror retracts into the compartment, trap door closes...and voila, "hey, where did your mirrors go???"

-Joe

 

Last month, while 'Zaino-ing' my VR/W MC, I pressed a little to hard on one of the mirrors, which moved to the side with a loud CLICK. OH MY GOD I BROKE IT, I thought, after years of American cars with fixed position mirrors. No, wait a minute, it DOES pivot, and I pivoted it back to normal position. Very clever, these British - or is it Germans.....?

 

Yes 99% of all European cars (and many home market Japanese products) have folding mirrors. In fact all European spec BMWs have optional electric folding mirrors.

 

Hey
I hit an ATM once with my driver mirror, this could come in handy for dummies like me.
Charles

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I might be going to Japan this dec. and I'm gonna try and get a set from a mini dealer in Tokyo. I really like this feature becuase no one else has it here!

 

It scares me to think that someone would be driving so close or parking so close that i would NEED to fold the mirrors in!!

 

Don't be scared, I won't be in St Pete Beach, FL any time soon.
Charles

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i really like the power mirrors, you can wiggle your ears at somebody (so to speak)

lol

 

maybe whenever we see another mini we can wiggle our ears to eachother with the power mirrors

 

While this may be a new feature to MINIs it's not new to the rest of the world. GMC Envoy's have offered them since the model was first introduced in 1998.

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>>This came up on a thread about a month or two ago (search?). Apparently it's something available in the Japanese market. They like to/have to park REAL close over there.
>>

And they all have sunroof (escape hatches) because if you have to park so close to the next guy that you have to fold in your mirrors you aren't going to open your doors.

 

>>It scares me to think that someone would be driving so close or parking so close that i would NEED to fold the mirrors in!!


Believe it!! I have personally "slapped" mirrors with a parked car because of the oncoming bus that refused to give me room to transit by (not in my MINI).

Roads in towns tend to be extremely narrow, which explains why most european cars are small with fold up mirrors. Always fold your mirrors when parking in town or expect to find them broken/missing upon your return. :???:

Cheers!

 

i think thats a good idea. i've wanted motorized mirrors.. i always push mine in.. i dont trust people.

 

>>i really like the power mirrors, you can wiggle your ears at somebody (so to speak)
>>
>>lol

I'm still wondering though, if they have to park so very close to one another that these are necessary, - how the heck do they get out or back into the MINI?! Really!?

 

After some investigating, the power folding mirrors are new for the 2005 model (per mini.com) and are part of the "exterior mirror package" for other non-US markets. There is a possibility to get the individual parts for this, but not yet confirmed. I'm checking into getting part numbers, and if I get them I'll post.

 

I believe MikeyTheMini in UK sells a retrofit kit... but with conversion to USD, its too much for me I really wanted it tho

 

This was on Roadfly recently. The short version is that you can get the hardparts pretty easily, but the US spec cars have a different wiring harness that doesn't have provisions for this feature.

Anything CAN be done, but you'll most likely need to create your own wiring harness and install it yourself.

Rawhyde