LILBENZ230

It's like my passenger mirror has Alzheimer's now. I love the park assist feature and don't want to have to stop using it but this is getting ridiculous. I put the car in reverse, the mirror tilts down and all is well. I put the car in drive and the mirror has already forgotten that it ever was in any other position. It will do one of two things:

1. Move only part of the way back to the memorized position.
2. Not move at all.

Sometimes - and becoming increasingly rare - it will actually move back where it is supposed to.

This just started randomly pretty recently, out of the blue without warning and nothing had changed. I've tried everything I know to try. The mirror motor isn't sticking because it will move freely all around with the power controls. I've turned the feature on and off, reset the settings, re-programmed the memory settings repeatedly, experimented with key dependency to see if that helped - nothing works.

As of now, I have the feature set to off and I'm not happy because I am so used to it's assistance. I had it in a previous car and loved it there, too.

Anyone know how one might fix this?

tommy

Did you check for threads? I know this has been discussed before here.

If you haven't, how dare you!

91RS

If it were my car I'd be replacing the mirror.

W203E35

I wouldn't even bother replacing anything. Just leave it as is. It's probably a module of some sort. Instead of the mirror moving now you'll just have to move your head

LILBENZ230

I don't think this is a mirror issue, the parts work fine. It has to be the computer.

timmynabenz

i had a bunch of problems with mine not working and then i realized i was the idiot.. sort of. lol in order for your mirror to work, the mirror adjustment switch has to be set to the Passenger side mirror.

LILBENZ230

I know.. mine stays with the passenger side selected. It always moves, it just recently stopped returning to position once I'm in D. I have to manually put it back which is BS.

mleskovar

Not a fix, but a workaround.....mine does the same thing. After shifting gears and going forward I push/hold the seating position select button and it returns to where it should be.

samaritrey

mine did this and the dealer had to replace some module can't find the pn's right now will post if i do.

LILBENZ230

Yep, I did that a few times till I went "This is ridiculous" and disabled the feature. If it requires my intervention it isn't a feature anymore, just an annoyance. It's like having to use the power switches to move the seat and steering column and then calling that the easy/entry exit feature. I guess this feature on my car is dead, so I'll mark that off as the first thing to go @ 84,000 miles. My HVAC control panel is shutting off (when in AUTO mode) with increasing frequency these days. As long as it works in manual mode, I won't fix it. I guess my AUTO climate is the next feature to mark off.

TruTaing

My mirror would sometimes return to the proper position, sometimes return partially, and sometimes the mirror would even return at a funny rate, slowing down and speeding up on its way back to the drive/park position from the reverse position. It was just sketchy. I came to the conclusion that the mirror had to be "recalibrated" just like the windows/sliding roof after you disconnect the battery. Maybe its just a theory (or I read it somewhere on here), but it worked for me. Best part was that it was free.

Method: Put the car in park. Manually tilt the mirror down as far as you can and hold the button down for more than 5 seconds. Then do the same for the up, left, and right directions (ya do something similar to this for windows/roof - heck even the esp/abs uses a trick like this to recalibrate). Hold the memory button to have the mirror return to where it was programmed to be. The mirror should work as designed after this - no weird changes in speed while changing positions and the mirror positions itself fully to the programmed positions.

I did this on my passenger mirror and the mirror has worked flawlessly ever since - I also recalibrated my driver side mirror just in case also.

Good luck.

dynomite05

I have a similar problem. My mirror pretty much has a mind of it's own. When it's in the mood it will move. I always have the passenger switch engaged. I just gave up, named him Fred, and curse him out whenever he doesn't want to move...lol

LILBENZ230

I'm going to try this today and I will post up results!

mleskovar

Same with mine. I always leave it in auto and sometimes I'll look over and see one or both of the lights out on the knobs. After the last time I had the dash apart fixing a stepper/link failure it worked great for a couple of years, now it's starting the turning off by itself again.

mleskovar

Thanks! I'm going to try this as well.....

samaritrey

mine does it too drives me crazy i just hit auto on both sides as i am driving along lol. my friends think i am nuts. i do it without thinking now.

ejsheltra

I have had same issue with both sides wanting to go down further and then mostly not returning. I replaced the left mirror and it made no difference. Maybe tru taing is on to something. Anybody try it yet?

LILBENZ230

The re-synch procedure has worked on my car, at least for now.

zerocover

Wow I wish I had this feature! (which is strange because I have most others)

Can this be activated through DAS?

LILBENZ230

Zero - your car can have it enabled in DAS, these features were inexplicably disabled sometime after 2005. People I've talked to think that the disabling of the features (including park-assist and easy entry/exit seat moving) have to do with trying to pull up the overall reliability. I don't know why, but that's the speculation.

samaritrey

well my seat motor just failed so reliability could be something lol JK if a $45 seat motor is my only issue i can live with that

Glyn M Ruck

Good one Tru - filed away for future reference!

TruTaing

Awesome, I'm glad it has worked for you and it wasn't some sort of crazy fluke. Hope this works out for everyone else who has found this to be an issue.

I am subscribed to a good handful of threads you've commented in

edit:
Did it work for ya?

LILBENZ230

Just as an update this is still working on my car.

Glyn M Ruck

This sort of recalibration applies to so many systems on these cars including BiX auto leveling. Many times a dealer will tell you you need a new front or rear sensor. Frequently all that is required is to disconnect the sensor arm. Cycle the sensor from one extreme to another - and reconnect. All will be well.