2004 Subaru Forrester Rear View Mirror - Problem

P

PA4Reel2Fish

Hello! I have a 2004 Subaru Forrester and I'm having difficulty with the
rear view mirror. Although it is set to auto-dim lights from the rear, it
doesn't seem to do it. Anyone else having this problem? If so, what have
you done about it. Thank you!
 
AUSTRALIA

Auto dim..... what do you mean exactly???
Is it electronic?
Here in Australia, I have never heard of that function.

Don't mean to be rude... but FFS.... why not just move the dimming lever
manually? Or does this mirror NOT have the lever, being an automatic
thing???

Spinifex
 
here in USA, automakers sell electro-chromic autodimming
rear view mirrors. these mirrors have sensors on them
to detect bright lights coming from a vehicle behind.
then they do some polarization or other trick to effectively
reduce glare in your face from the bright lights.
Since they are electro-chromic, they have no lever.

The only time I've noticed my Acura auto-dimmer not
working is when there is also lots light coming at
me from the front. Then i think the mirror system assumes
it is daylight and does not dim the mirror.

try blocking the forward-sensing port with your finger
and see if that doesn't improve the operation.

mikey
 
One of the first things I did on my LLBean
was to swap the auto-dimming mirror for a
standard one. The auto-dim function rarely
worked well enough to prevent an annoying
glair, and it just hung down too far preventing
me from seeing out the windshield properly
when I looked out and to the left.
 
GOOD GOD !!!

Sounds like an innovative idea...... but not entirely successful, going
by some of the responses.

Wonder why we haven't heard of them here in Oz???

Maybe our standards boards would not pass them for use due to their
design or function???

Spinifex
 
We do have these auto dimming mirriors in australia.

Just havnt seen any on any subies yet.. the bmw ones are very good and in
my expeirence
when i get a chance to grab mum's X5 after dark, i find that they are as
good as a manual one.
Even better because you dont have to click the lever which usually moves the
mirror from where
you last set it anyways.

just thaught id let yas know.
James
'98 Impreza GX
 
Agreed, the one on our Acura does very well.

My subie ('03 Forester) doesn't have one, but
I was thinking of getting it added...maybe now I won't.

mikey.
 
First, test the thing:

During the daytime, block the photocell on the windshield side of the mirror
with your finger. If the mirror is working, it should dim very obviously
within a few seconds.

IIRC, one of the buttons on the lower rim of the mirror will disable the
autodim function. See if tapping those buttons makes a difference.

On my 2001 Forester, I found that the rear seat headrests cast a shadow on
the "headlight" sensor (the photocell facing the back of the car), which
often prevented the mirror from dimming when I needed it. Try removing at
least the middle rear seat headrest.

Frankly, I was never very happy with mine. It didn't dim enough for my
tastes; nor was the dimming response rapid enough. When it failed
completely, I replaced it with a conventional manual day/night mirror.

Joe
(e-mail address removed) remove double-z's to reply
 
Grug! said:
We do have these auto dimming mirriors in australia.

Just havnt seen any on any subies yet.. the bmw ones are very good
and in my expeirence
when i get a chance to grab mum's X5 after dark, i find that they are
as good as a manual one.
Even better because you dont have to click the lever which usually
moves the mirror from where
you last set it anyways.

EARTH

The auto-dimming mirror in my Forester also works just fine. In fact, I've
come to like the fact that the amount that it "dims" the mirror is
proportional to how much glare is coming from behind. A car right behind
you will put the mirror to full dark, but one a mile or two back will only
result in a partial "dimming" of the mirror, so that you can see other stuff
behind you better than with the mirror set to complete dark. I was
uncomfortable with it at first (this is my first car with an auto-dimming
mirror), but now I've come to really like it. In fact, I'm wishing that
they'd put auto-dimming mirrors on the doors, as well. (Some newer
higher-end cars have auto-dimming outside mirrors -- Subaru just hasn't yet
moved that far "upscale" apparently.)

- Greg Reed
 
Greg,

This is my 2nd car with the autochromatic mirror. (The first was a 2003
Toyota Camry.) The one in the Forester XT isn't as good as the one that was
in my Camry, but it is still better than not having it. I also agree that
the technology needs to be applied to the side mirrors as well.

What about applying the autodimming technology to the windshield? Any
thoughts? I see some dangerous minuses, but it would help with bright
sunglare & oncoming head lights.

Niels
 
Greg,

This is my 2nd car with the autochromatic mirror. (The first was a
2003 Toyota Camry.) The one in the Forester XT isn't as good as the
one that was in my Camry, but it is still better than not having it.

What about the Camry's mirror made it better than the Forester's in your
opinion? Did it just react more quickly? (Asking because I have no frame
of reference from which to judge the mirror in the Forester.)
What about applying the autodimming technology to the windshield? Any
thoughts? I see some dangerous minuses, but it would help with bright
sunglare & oncoming head lights.

It would take a *lot* of convincing to get me to buy a car with a windshield
that has the capability of turning itself opaque (or nearly so). The
ramifications of a malfunctioning autochromic rearview mirror aren't quite
as severe as a malfunctioning autochromic windshield! I think I'll stick to
polarized sunglasses.

- Greg Reed
 
Yes, the Camry's mirror had a faster response time, and I think a wider
sensor angle. (Yes, I removed the back headrests.)

One nice thing about autochromatic mirrors that is that you can turn the
feature off. Put that feature on an actual window, and I agree, you could
have a problem.
 
'05 Outback is amazingly good! It works very quick and completely cuts the
glare

This is the best feature to my opinion.
 

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