In Chicago, the cool thing to do when you are a drunk loser white college party guy is smash a cars side view mirror. IT not only makes you cool, but it also makes your small ***** slightly larger.

Well, I am glad that some loser got their rocks off last night when they were drunk, but why, oh why, take it out on MY BEAUTIFUL 2008 MAZDA 3! I was soooooooooooooooooooooooo pissed! I am thinking about buying the part online (The whole thing must be replaced because the base is broken. The mirror is still handing on by a chord. It still actually works too.)

$110 for labor and about165 for the part (From the Mazda dealership) This sucks beyond belief. I'm afraid to get it fixed because it may happen again. And a monthly lot cost about 250 per month. But the absolutely worst part about it is that people now look at my car in digust, not admiration. People stare at my broken mirror and shake their heads or whisper to their friends. Its so damn embarrassing.

Has this happened to anyone before? Do i have to go straight to mazda to get it fixed if i get the part online? I feel like ****. Please help

 

I've got a solution for you, although it's probably a bit pricey:

Have your alarm's motion sensor upgraded...with a camera. So if any dicks come near your car, a .50 cal will pop out of the trunk.

 

get it fixed. yea i know it sucks bad.. although it never happens to me.. yet but i park in a driveway but still. if you dont get it fixed everyone is gonna look at your car in disgust. just have to fix it and be upset with it. unfortunately you dont know who did it otherwise you get the money from him. likeVB just said get a camera so no one does that again. and if they do then you got the person on the spot!

 

First off ignore the prices you just quoted. Second off look at this tragedy as a chance for an upgrade. The upgrade I speak of is heated mirrors, which should come in really handy in Chicago. All of the wiring for heated mirrors is present in the US 3 up to the plug in the door.... just not in the mirror-side of the plug..... they just aren't offered as an option.

You can buy an entire new mirror with housing that has the heating element for about $105 from Jason at www.onlinemazdaparts.com and install it yourself. To replace the mirror is literally a five minute job so screw paying someone anything for installation. You pull the triangular sail panel off the inside of the door (where the tweeter is if you have it), unplug the harness, remove 3 bolts (10mm I think). After that the mirror frame just pops off and you install the new one in reverse order. Jason will color match your mirror so you shouldn't have to do anything other than plug up the new one. If he has it in stock you could probably have it in two days. Once in the mirror will heat up when you turn on the rear defroster. You could replace both or just do one for now.

If you ever wanted to get some of the LED turn signal mirror cover replacements this would also be the time to do that. Now once you replace it make sure to fold your mirrors in whenever you park the car. lol

 

WOW!!! What a great solution, Spots!!
The heated mirror comes on thew/the rear window defogger/defroster, right?

 

Spots - Are you saying the mirrors on kevin's are NOT heated now? On mine, the mirrors are heated.

Question for Kevin .. how do you know it was a white college party dude?

 

Yes the heated mirrors come on with the rear defroster.

They shouldn't be, no. The wiring is present up to the plug going to the mirror, however not from the mirror side of the plug to the glass. Apparently yours is the only Mz3 in the US that came with heated mirrors standard. They're not even listed as an option on any mazda 3 according to www.mazdausa.com. Some Canadian models do come with heated mirrors however. A few questions for you. If you remove the sail panel and unplug the mirror harness how many pins are in the mirror side of the plug? If you turn on the defroster does the mirror get hot in about 30 seconds? Have you pulled the glass off to confirm that there's a heating element there? Just curious because it would be cool ( or warm?) if Mazda decided to add this useful feature to their cars finally.

Incidentally for anyone wanting to add them you can also add them by replacing just the glass with the heating element. You then have to run wires from the glass through the articulation and make some pins to go in the plug. If you're handy with soldering then you can have two heated mirrors for about $80. I would have suggested that method except Kevin's entire mount is broken.

 

My 2007 owners manual, page 3-32, references "mirror defroster." I'm not gonna start pulling my car apart to examine wiring (part of the reason I bought a new car was to avoid having to spend my time doing that kind of thing), but I will say I believe I have seen the side mirrors defog when I have turned the rear window defroster on, which is why I posted what I did. Perhaps it was my imagination or some kind of coincidence. I've never felt the mirror to see ifgets warm to the touch, next time I use the rear window defroster, I'll check it out.

If the truth is all the Canadian models have heated mirrors, but none of the cars destined for the USA do, where most of the states do experiencemore than rareperiods of time where there is frost, that would be quirky. A Vancouver, Canada, driver would have heated mirrors, but the Minneapolis driver would not?

 

^^^ Yeah I know it doesn't make any sense. Apparently all Canadian models don't come with the heated mirrors, just some of them.

 

mine doesnt. and either does adam's. its probably the GT and the GT (luxury package)