michael10128

can the side mirrors on my 03-E500 be folded back manually, i dont want to push them and break them.

Anyone know if they do or not?

bmms8

i dont believe they dont, they can fold a little bit, but it pops back to the normal posistion

codex57

ack. double negative. So you're saying that they can NOT fold back?

jim256

They do not fold. They just flex in case of an impact from either direction and as bmms8 said they snap back. Electric folding mirrors are an option some places outside the US.

Gethen

E-class in US has mirrors that cannot fold. They have springs (to avoid pedestrian injury), but don't lock in that position.

I heard that Australians have folding mirrors on their Es

marksatex

Other than restrictions deemed by Federal or State regulations- I am at a loss as to why MB offers some optiuons in the USA and not in other locales, and visa vesa. These mirrors are and example- Or the front cup holder- is not a standard feature in European units I understand.

codex57

damn. how come the US doesn't get it? We have cramped parking spaces too. I can think of several parking garages where a folding side mirror would be helpful. Some streets too.

glojo

Electric folding mirrors are standard on UK spec vehicles, unlike cup holders which are optional. I suppose it might be down to priorities

One of the settings you can have is to set the mirrors to fold whenever the vehicle is locked.

Visually there are differences between European vehicles and those exported to the US.

Regards,
John

stevenW211

Someone in the parking lot folded my side mirror with force and now the side mirror is folding with some mechanical noise.

glojo

I would be more than one I hope there is not to much damage. Does your car have the option to fold the mirrors when locking the vehicle?

Regards,
John

alewifebp

While it would have been nice to have the electrically folding mirrors, it is disappointing that the US mirrors do not even fold, only bounce back. I mean, we do have tight spaces too. And it is even more disappointing when you see cars that are a 1/3 of the price have this feature.

Double Eagle

I certainly wish we had folding mirrors here in the US. On my earlier '97 E-320, someone or something hit it hard one time and broke the spring attachment point. They had to replace the mirror and it cost me $435 for the mirror ($394) and labor ($41). At that time, my service advisor said they replace several of these each month.

It appears like they may have modified the design slightly to minimize the probability of the spring attachment point to break but I'm not sure. I now AVOID parking in any spot that is likely to cause someone to hit the mirrors when walking between cars.

Since they have the folding mirrors elsewhere, we appear to be getting a bad deal here in the US, assuming that the non US mirrors have all of the features ours have.

glojo

It seems strange that it is not a standard fitting. It would need someone to write to MBUSA to answer your query, but I cannot think of any differences in wing mirror specs. Ours do the reversing 'thingie' and have the different memory settings which I believe the US has. I would have thought the glass .specs would be the same BUT!!! different countries have weird ideas.

Regards,
John

NuBenz

Definitely non-folding. I realized this when I parked next to an S-class with his mirrors all nice and folded up. I thought, "Hmmm. Let me give this a try..."

LOL. Too bad!

The real nuisance is that part of your view out of the side mirrors is obscured by the A-pillar since the mirrors are so close to the window.

stevenW211

Hi John,

No, I need to push on the buttom to fold the auto side mirrors.
My car is imported from UK to Hong Kong so we are in the same boat.:p

Steven

glojo

Hi Steven,
Our car has gone back to the dealership today so I cannot access the manual, but on UK spec Elegance, Avantgarde models, there is an option to set-up the mirrors to fold whenever you lock the vehicle.

When we get the car back I will e-mail you the relevant 'bits'

I am sorry to hear about the mishap and hope it will not be to expensive to repair.

Bye for now
John

stevenW211

Hi John,

Dealer fixed the side mirror for free and it's back to normal, tks!!
Now I am a bit worry abt the outside force whenever I park my baby in public places.

B.Rgds.,Steven

MBenzNL

ow - please...the best equiped cars from factory go to the US where everybody else has to deal with bonestock - no nonsens crap like manuall adjusteable seats and non auto dimming mirrors (and I am not even talking about the US spec standard memory seats and homelink)...
The US spec cars are almost prewired for every single possible audio related feature...any idea what the rest of the world has to change in order to get an incar phone or Voice Recignition?

Nevertheless - I don't understand why power folding mirrors - or even convex shaped anti blind spot glasses aren't an option in the US - but then again...in the US cars the control units in the door are folding mirror compatible which makes the folding feature an easy upgrade - where as the rest of the world with manual seats is due to replace the control units in the doors as well in order to get power folding mirrors.

Last time I was in the US we installed power folding mirrors on my friend's US spec 2003 E55...and after setting the power folding mirror feature to present he is able to auto fold the mirrors when locked as well.

link 1, link 2 and link 3.

greetingz,

glojo

Your photographs are excellent and the third one highlights something that I personally don't like. When the mirrors are folded, it exposes a portion of the hinge assembly.

I would have preferred it if they could have somehow kept the assembly concealed. I suppose this is mainly from a cosmetic view because I have never had a problem with water seepage etc.

Nice pictures that highlight the fact that the modification can be done.

Regards,
John

moa4r

hello benzml...will you be visiting us here in US anytime soon???!!! Can you please send me info re: W211 command retrofit for 2003 models, with and without euro tv tuner & dvd player,,,, also, info on the folding mirrors...

thanks

monakh

Wow--that's a great upgrade. Well done too! Wonder how much that costs.

MBenzNL

On the 203s and 211s it already is a lot better then on the older 202s and 210s...ever had a look at those?
link here

@moa4r - mail me at Steve@MBenzNL.com

greetingz,

SUNILP

I got my folding mirror units from Steve and they work great! Very easy upgrade and no need to add or change wiring at all. Just the switch and the folding mirror frames themselves. The rest can remain the same. Here's a link to my site if you want to see them. MY SITE

W210

How much approximately would it cost for a US W211 E?

Much thanks in advance.

glojo

Totally agree with what you are saying. When the 211 has it's mirrors in the 'folded' position the hinges etc. certainly do not look as exposed as my previous E320CDI, but I still believe they could do a much better cosmetic 'cover-up'

When you look under the bonnet of the 211, it looks stunning, yet no one can see this work of art. However when the mirrors are folded back, the workings are still exposed.

Regards,
John