Jul. 5, 2006 - Mirror change
Here's an "upgrade" that I'm guessing not may people know about: Installing a European spec driver side outside mirror glass on their US spec car. Take a look at the before and after shots and then scroll down for the explanation.
[Before]
[After]
No, it is not an optical illusion. You can see more with the European spec glass.
Because of FMVSS 111 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for Outer Mirrors), the US government requires a flat glass on the driver side and allows a convex glass on the passenger side (with the text "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR"). Even though a convex glass on the driver side increases the field of view, the US government thinks this would confuse all of us in America because we won't see other vehicles with a 1:1 ratio.
However in Europe, where their drivers are "smarter", they get convex glass on both mirrors without the "OBJECTS IN MIRROR..." text stating the obvious.
The installation only took 10 minutes, and the majority of that time was spent looking for my Bentley Manual. I had also done this change on my old E36 with the same minimal effort.
So, if you want an OEM upgrade that nobody will notice, but you will benefit from every day, this is it.
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I need somewhere to document my car modifications. Who knows where it will go from there.
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