I go out to drive the turbo today and notice there are tiny droplets and specs of a black type substance all over my painted center console and on the leather shift plate and on both front seats! It looks as if the mirror has some stuff inside it to auto dim it and it has failed and leaked this crap all over my console. Has anyone ever encountered this and if so what in the heck did you use to remove the junk? Goo gone and bug and tar remover have done nothing! Any experience or suggestions?

 

that stuff is very corrosive. most likely, it's ruined what ever it sits on.

the fluid is most likely to leak when car gets hot parked under the sun repeatedly. if you decide to get another, make sure you get a windshield screen to block the sun.

 

DUde you always give the worse case scenario diagnosis..lol

 

I just replaced mine, luckily, it didnt leak. They seem to be a wear item on these cars as I know of a few others.

 

Well, maybe you'll like this alternate reality

"It'll buff right out"


Actually, the mirror design is shared between VW, audi and Porsche. It's a well documented issue. Lambo also uses the mirror which ruins many infotainments and control panels costings $$$

 

BMW too...Known failure mode with the same result- destroyed consoles

 

If you have not replace your mirror then I suggest you get on it fast. This crap seems to have dripped down on the console but also splashed a little onto both seats and some of the lower radio surround. It is a painted silver console with grey seats. The black drops are pissing me off! Oh well I can have the console repainted, replace the carbon tip shifter surround but the seats...... may be time for some new seats, rollbar and harness set up.

 

Check out the thread I posted on a source for mirror repair.https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...im-mirror.html

 

Odd- mine just failed last week as well. Sounds like I need to replace before it eats a hole through my car. Thanks for lead on new one SmithK

 

Rearview Mirror + leaking oil = useless blurred mirror ...

Been there done that ... I think there's a company you can send it to to have it "refurbished" ... I was in the same boat ... went on ebay to get one for $75.00

it was a 5 minute swap...

 

There was a period where the manufacturer covered the replacement on the E46. BMW covered under my CPO and replaced the entire console. That stuff will eat through anything.

 

Well great news! After trying many different things you will not gues what finally did the trick. A pocket knife! I had a swiss army pocket knife and took the very tip of it to see if any would scrape off. I found that it would I just had to be carefull not to marr or scratch the leather or the painted console. I used some quick detail spray as lube on the console while surgically scratching each dot with the tip of the knife and used some leather conditioner as lube while doing the same with the seats. The seats came out perfect and the console is a 9.8 out of ten. The tip shifter surround is a lost cause but that is the easiest to replace. It took a litte over an hour or so but came out great. Thanks for the replies guys and now I am happy again as the interior of my car was pretty flawless for an 01 with 23000 miles.

 

If your mirror goes bad you should pull it out of the car asap.. the stuff that leaks out is toxic. These mirrors can be fixed by autodimmingmirrorrepair.com