So a deer decided to jump in front of my Audi on a back road and wrap its neck around my driver side mirror. The impact cracked the mirror housing, shattered the glass, and slightly scratched the side window. I have yet to determine which brackets, electrical components, and moving parts within the mirror housing are damaged.

So far I've found that my mirrors are equipped with heating and self dimming features as well as motorized adjustment and folding capabilities. Are there any other features my mirrors may have that I'm unaware of?

My other question is which side mirror upgrades are available for our cars? I've looked into the RS4 and Haugus upgrades, but not sure if I want to go that route. I was thinking carbon fiber or just painting the whole housing to match the rest of the car (bottom part included). Cost is somewhat of a factor, as I don't see myself paying dealership prices for something unless I can't find it anywhere else.

Also the glass on my passenger side mirror is severely discolored from aging, so I'd like to buy both glass pieces as a set if anyone sells them like that.

 

The heated/autodimming glass is tough to come by. The stock it on blau parts or ECS (can't remember which) but every time i've checked its out of stock.

As for the mirror housings, I'm a big fan of the S4/RS4 chrome mirror caps. Those can be had on the cheap and are pretty easy to find.

Any other damage from the deer?

 

That's all the damage my insurance appraiser and I could find. If anything else is broken it will be something inside the mirror housing, he just included the replacement of the entire mirror assembly in the estimate.

I looked at the chrome and aluminum RS4 housings but just don't think they would look right on a silver b5. I'm guessing my opinion here is with the minority, but they just don't look like they would blend in with the rest of the car the way they should. Does anyone have any pics? Also what's the size difference between the stock A4 housing and that of the RS4?

I haven't ruled out the bare metal look yet, but think they may look better painted or wrapped in carbon fiber. I'm prepared to get flamed for that one, but seriously let me know what you guys think.

 

ImTheDevil has the same color as you and me and he rocks them, you might try his photo album for pics.

I think CF would look sweet.

 

I forgot to mention I already have a CF hood, so I think wrapping the mirrors with CF will help it blend in a little better. I'll either wrap the whole mirror housing or just the black part that mounts it to the side of the car. What's the best way to do this? I'm down with anything as long as it's durable, long-lasting, and looks good. It doesn't even need to be real CF.

I looked at ImTheDevil's album, but his mirrors looked painted. I couldn't see a difference between the color of his mirrors and the rest of his car. Is the bare aluminum really that close in color to the factory silver paint?

 

I seem to recall seeing a thread on here someplace about a guy who does carbon wrapping on the cheap. You send him whatever it is you want wrapped and he sends it back covered with CF. Lemme look around and see if i can find it..

 

That would help a lot, thanks.

I've been looking to get my interior trim pieces wrapped too, depending on price.

 

That member has the screenname Jiggleo. I know him personally and have seen his work - it's quality. If you're set on CF wrap, talk to him - I think you'll be pleased with the results. I'll post pics soon of my center dash panel which was wrapped in his dry CF, and he's put up pics of his interior as well - search his screenname to find those.

As for the mirror, I'm loving my chrome S4 side mirrors. Also, as I found out when I replaced my browned glass, the mirror glass from both the A6 and the B5 Passat will snap directly into the A4 housings with zero modifications - it's a direct replacement in fit and shape, although the Passat glass doesn't always have the lettered etching that the A4 glass has, and the passenger side A6 glass is slightly smaller with a rubber lip around it, and is slightly convex for a greater angle of visibility. Personally, I like having that on the mirror - it makes right-merging a little safer. Bottom line though, when it comes to the glass, don't feel that you're limited only to A4 glass - you can search for it from a B5 Passat or (in my case) a 99 A6 as well.

 

I looked at some of Jiggleo's work and requested to see some more, but was impressed with what I saw. Depending on how much it will all cost, I may have him do the exterior of my B-pillars and the rear side door trim too. That should cover every black trim piece on the sides of the car, including the mounts for the side mirrors with CF. I think all that would look sick with the chrome mirror housings, what do you guys honestly think? It looks good in my mind, but it's kind of hard to imagine exactly how it will look until it's on the car.

 

I recently traded my blue A4 for a Silver one and it also has the chrome S4 mirrors. I really dig them.