Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Friday March 29, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC General > Interior & Exterior Modification

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-08-2003, 01:53 PM   #1
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default Power Folding Side Mirror Install

Just wanted to share what I have encountered so far from attempting to install a set of power folding side mirrors on my GC8. I acquired a set of these mirrors from an older model year JDM GC8 so maybe this won't apply to you if you get your mirrors from a more current model. Just had to add this project would've still been stalled if Gravel-Fun (Roy) hadn't helped me with some advice on how to get these mirrors disassembled. THANKS ROY!

I began disassembling the motorized mirror and folding assemble from the housing. First fold the mirror in and pry off the black piece of plastic. It's the only black piece unless your housing is black. Make sure you have the mirror folded to the out position before you start to disassemble otherwise you will not be able to remove the inside from the housing. Then you remove the part that bolts up to your door but removing the 3 screws on the bottom. Then you unsecure the harness from the wire and loosen the wire so that you can string it through the triangle piece.

Now for the hard part. The only way to remove the mirror from the plastic holder is to pry it off. I used a small putty knife. After doing 3 mirrors, I managed to break two of them already. This is no easy task. The mirrors from my 2000 RS was held on by super sticker black double-sided tape, almost the texture of black silicone. Needless to say, I broke that mirror. The older model mirrors were held on by foam double sided tape, yet with my lack of patience, I managed to break the second one. I suspect the mirror glass on these were aftermarket since they have a curve to them.

After you get the mirror off, you will have to remove a small screw with a spring under it. Once that is out, you can yank the plastic mirror glass holder off. Don't worry about the sound it makes while you yank. Once out, look for the 4 big phillips screws and remove them. Once the screws are removed, you can slide the entire unit out.

Here's the snag I ran into. Once I put the power motor assembly into my MY00 housing, everything fit until to try to mount it onto the triangle part that goes onto the door. It seems that the metal part that seats into the triangle is slightly bigger than the hole in the triangle. This can be easily fixed with a dremel or if I just paint the housing and triangle of the JDM unit.

I am currently looking for harnesses so I can run the wiring to the switch. If there in any interest in this thread, I will post updates and possibly pictures to the project.
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

Last edited by nizz; 01-08-2003 at 06:13 PM.
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 01-08-2003, 02:31 PM   #2
il96
Gone... But not forgotten
 
Member#: 13082
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Philadelphia
Default

I fond it much easier to remove the mirrors from the plastic frames if you submerge them in hot water (from the tea pot). The plastic becomes softer, and the double sided tape that glues the mirror inside looses its strength. I used a couple butter knives (knifes?) and started prying at the corners. That seemed to be the easiest way.
il96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2003, 02:41 PM   #3
Bobalouy
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 827
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Bel Air, MD,USA
Vehicle:
99 2.5rs,BDP,
02 WRX, 09 Legacy

Default

Wow I want some, where did you guys find these? how much? did they come on all the sti's?

Please post pics, Im interested to see how they work (mechanically)?
Anthony C
Bobalouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2003, 10:59 AM   #4
Bobalouy
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 827
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Bel Air, MD,USA
Vehicle:
99 2.5rs,BDP,
02 WRX, 09 Legacy

Default

bump.

do you have a switch, can you please take a picture of it. I havent been able to find any subaru folding mirrors, but silvia ones are pritty common. since alot of the electronics on our cars are made by nissan I think they might be the same. the silvia switch looks almost identical to our mirror controll with an extra button to fold the mirrors in.

S13 switch..


Anthony C
Bobalouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2003, 11:12 AM   #5
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

The switch looks similar to that. If you can picture our exact same mirror control with the same rocker switch to the right of it, that's the switch I have. I will post a picture this weekend.

nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2003, 11:15 AM   #6
Bobalouy
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 827
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Bel Air, MD,USA
Vehicle:
99 2.5rs,BDP,
02 WRX, 09 Legacy

Default

cool, maybe I'll try the nissan mirrors, the are only $99. I'm sure subaru mirrors will be twice that price.
Bobalouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2003, 02:59 PM   #7
Bobalouy
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 827
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Bel Air, MD,USA
Vehicle:
99 2.5rs,BDP,
02 WRX, 09 Legacy

Default

is this the switch?

Bobalouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2003, 03:38 PM   #8
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

That's the switch. And I see wire hanging from the back. I am currently looking for that connector so I can add the wiring to it and solder on the connections.

I ran into a snag with the triangle piece that bolts the mirror to the door. It seems that only 2 of the 3 holes align with the motorized unit. Now I have to get them painted. Pictures to come this weekend.

nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2003, 03:44 PM   #9
Bobalouy
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 827
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Bel Air, MD,USA
Vehicle:
99 2.5rs,BDP,
02 WRX, 09 Legacy

Default

cool, thanks. Can you snap some pics be for you assemble everything.

Are there any part #'s on the motors? If there are can you please give them to me.

Anthony C
Bobalouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2003, 09:15 PM   #10
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

Here are a few pics.

This is the two insides. The left one is the stock manual folding mirror. The right is the power assemble. Notice where the motor is housed. Also, notice the 5 connector contacts as opposed to the 3 on the manual assembly.

Here is the assembly installed without the mirror glass. This is what you will be prying against to get the mirror off.

This is the two bottoms, notice how one of the holes are in a slightly different location, prompting me to reuse the old triangle to mount these.


nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2003, 09:32 AM   #11
Bobalouy
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 827
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Bel Air, MD,USA
Vehicle:
99 2.5rs,BDP,
02 WRX, 09 Legacy

Default

Thanks, for the pics, unfortunatly they look like they are completly different than the silvia motors.

So where did you get yours?

Anthony C
Bobalouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2003, 12:15 PM   #12
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

Got mine in Hong Kong from a scrapped GC8. Seems almost all of the JDM GC8's came with this option.

nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2003, 05:25 PM   #13
Imhotep
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 31103
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Washington
Vehicle:
2000 RS

Default probably not aftermarket

Quote:
I suspect the mirror glass on these were aftermarket since they have a curve to them.
Most countries require some type of curved mirrors, at least on the driver side, to increase their field of vision. This is VERY slowly starting to catch on in the US.
Imhotep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2003, 09:53 PM   #14
dead-eye
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 43
Join Date: Jun 1999
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Naperville IL
Vehicle:
1999 2.5RS no T
RBP

Default

Part #'s for the motor assembly and switch please?
dead-eye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2003, 12:46 AM   #15
Ikonosin
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 5914
Join Date: Apr 2001
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Oregon
Vehicle:
2010 Legacy 3.6R
White

Default

Quote:
Originally posted by dead-eye
Part #'s for the motor assembly and switch please?
Yes, please post the part numbers for what you have
Ikonosin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2003, 01:51 AM   #16
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Angry

Sorry but I do not have any part numbers or can identify anything marked on any the assemblies as part numbers. My set was purchased from a wrecked JDM GC8.

nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2003, 06:17 PM   #17
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

This install process is going very slow for me due to the extremely cold winter we are having here.

Here is what's new:
This should have been obvious to me but I did not notice until I had the mirror triangles painted. I installed the driver side mirror and then attempted to wire it. After looking at how difficult it would be to run the wires into the door, I just left the mirror mounted and didn't run the wires yet. When I went for a drive, I discovered that the mirror did not angle out sufficiently for me to get a side view. Even after adjusting the power mirror fully outwards, I ended up seeing my car in half the mirror. Turns out that if you compare your passenger side and driver side mirror, there's a good 10º-15º difference in the angle. Needless to say, I had to go back to my USDM mirror triangle and hack it up with a dremel to fit.

As for the wiring, it should be a simple job if you can find metal contacts for inside the connectors. No junkyard wants to sell me any so I will have to fabricate my own. There are two wires that need to be run to each mirror and all four wires terminate at two terminals at the switch. The good thing is you won't have to tap any power. The switch is powered and the two lines only supply electricity to the motor to go either direction and the circuit is closed through an existing connection that is used for the power mirrors. Did I make any sense? Basically, if you hit the switch, one of the wires are lit so the motor will fold the mirrors in or out.

This is what my dumb a$$ finally determined, the USDM mirrors are a mirror image of the JDM mirrors. Our left and right mirrors are different, with the one being on the driver side having a more open angle than the passenger side. Even the metal mount on the bottom of the motor is different on either side and is mirrored for LHD and RHD models.

I will attempt to keep the more open angle mirror on the passenger side and see if it would be useable. I usually use my wide view panoramic to look passenger side anyway. I'll update this thread if I get get around to putting these in.

This is probably very boring information for a lot of you but it will sure benefit the few who will attempt this install.
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2005, 10:07 AM   #18
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

I just got a PM about this so I think this post deserves an update.

What I ended up doing with this is using the USDM driver's side mirror triangle (the part that mounts to the door) for my driver's side and the JDM driver's side mirror triangle for my passenger side. Both the USDM and JDM driver's side mirror triangles have a more wide open angle so on the passenger side, I had to adjust my mirror all the way towards myself otherwise I would be seeing across 2 lanes instead of the lane next to me. The JDM mirror mirror mounted straight up to my passenger side since I was using a JDM mirror triangle. The JDM mirror which houses the motor that I mounted onto my USDM driver's side mirror triangle only matched up on 2 screw holes. I also had to dremel out a part of the mount because the shape of the mount did not match. When using only 2 screws to mount the mirrors, be sure to lock-tite the screws. I think that about covers everything. I sold my car about a year ago but I still have access to it on occasion if anyone needs anymore information.

nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2005, 11:51 AM   #19
ofay
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 69621
Join Date: Sep 2004
Chapter/Region: TXIC
Location: CLC
Vehicle:
05 mines wrx RIP
still hatin ROTAS

Default

Can they be hooked up to the ignition, that way when you turn off the car they auto fold?
ofay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2005, 01:52 PM   #20
nizz
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 188
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: New York
Vehicle:
2004 Forester XT
24k gold on white

Default

I'm sure there's a way to do that but how, I don't know.

nizz
nizz is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
jdm power folding side mirrors install fourage20 Interior & Exterior Modification 12 05-23-2008 10:38 AM
WTB: 02/03 JDM power folding side mirrors prelude/2.5rs Private 'Wanted' Classifieds 1 04-26-2006 07:57 AM
JDM GC8 power fold back mirrors gr8wheels Vendor 'For Sale' Classifieds 19 03-10-2004 11:29 AM
Part number for JDM power folding side mirrors? mikkyo Interior & Exterior Modification 6 01-23-2003 10:57 PM
Folding side mirrors AlfredWRX Newbies & FAQs 1 10-18-2002 01:31 AM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.