Hi all,

I have been lurking here for almost two years and really appreciate all the knowledgeable members on this board.

I have a 2012 Panamera with what I thought were all the "right" options. Somehow I missed the section on selecting the auto dimming mirror when I configured the car. Very annoying to have to manually tilt the mirror when hit with bright lights from behind.

Is it possible to retrofit an auto dimming rear view mirror and if so, is any special coding required?

Hard to believe a car that I paid 92k for does not include this as a standard item.

Thanks in advance and aloha from Hawaii.

 

It always bothers me to see obvious features missing on such high end cars. Auto dimming mirrors are standard feature on cars half the price. Car salesmen should also be blamed for not recommending them to the customers. I am sure anyone who can afford a $100,000 car wouldn't mind to have the auto dimming mirrors for a couple hundred dollars extra.
Have you talked to your dealer about it? Assuming the wiring is already there, it should be quite possible. Otherwise, you can probably tap on the 12V power that is already on the overhead cluster, because there are map lights, etc. I don't think you need a software upgrade for it to work as the on/off switch is on the mirror itself.

 

Thanks for the reply. Honolulu is in a one dealer town which makes pricing for parts crazy-high. I'm hoping to get a part number and then shop around the southern California dealers as I travel there often. Maybe the Suncoast guys gan help.

 

This looks like the auto-dimming mirror I have:

http://www.parts.com/parts/2011/PORS...iagram=6950445

$400

 

This won't be a plug-n-play. There are no retrofits for an item like this, and I believe this is a REALLY complex system. I wouldn't recommend this upgrade. Maybe see if you can find an aftermaket kit?

 

Yes it works in conjunction with the outside mirrors on my car. Also looks different than the standard mirrors on the other Panamera's. If you have a dealer with and without the system take a look from the inside.

 

Ouch! Thanks all for the replies. Let me check with my dealer and I will report back on this thread.

 

I own Radar-Mirror.com and this isn't our normal focus but I ran across this thread doing a search. Upgrading to an auto dim mirror in most cars is not a problem but this mirror is unique - the oem circuits won't operate on standard power/ground. I have a plug and play workaround. If anyone wants to covert to an auto dim mirror shoot me an email at scott@radar-mirror.com and I can hook you up.

Scott

 

I upgraded the rear view mirror in my past 996 to a dim-able mirror and it was almost just a swap as the appropriate wires were already there to connect to in those models. The side mirrors were beyond me tho and look to be a more complex undertaking. It seems like the same would be true for the panney that the wires would be there hidden under the ceiling fabric.