How Does The Auto Dipping Rear View Mirror Work?

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Only when mibe went in for it's first service I asked them to look at it as it's never seemed to work. They siad they used a torch and blocked the sensor and it dipped. So I get how the physics work but what actually happens does anything actually move or is it an electronic change? I have noticed a couple of times it appears greem but not sure if that's it. I was on the M42 early Friday am and a fiesta had blinding lights that lit the inside of my car but I couldn't look in the mirror as it was blinding.

Does having the rear blind up effect the workings or even the angle of the mirror if you are tall?

[Parthiban]

From my understanding, it's not an auto dipping, but rather auto dimming rear view mirror, when light falls on the sensor it will darken automatically.

And yes they do go a greeny sort of colour when they darken

[Tango]

From my understanding, it's not an auto dipping, but rather auto dimming rear view mirror, when light falls on the sensor it will darken automatically.

And yes they do go a greeny sort of colour when they darken

Does anyone know if the sensor on the rear view mirror also dims the door mirrors???

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Don't think it does, but as mine doesn't dim the rear view well enough I'm probably not the best to comment.

[The Editor]

As Parthiban says - Think the IS only has auto dimming side mirrors.

The GS has auto dimming AND auto dipping mirrors - when you pop the car into reverse the mirrors drop down so you can see the kerb etc and the rear sun blind lowers (if up) . As soon as you engage drive the mirrors come back up to their original position (as does the blind)

Cheers

The Ed

[gib]

Only when mibe went in for it's first service I asked them to look at it as it's never seemed to work. They siad they used a torch and blocked the sensor and it dipped. So I get how the physics work but what actually happens does anything actually move or is it an electronic change? I have noticed a couple of times it appears greem but not sure if that's it. I was on the M42 early Friday am and a fiesta had blinding lights that lit the inside of my car but I couldn't look in the mirror as it was blinding.

Does having the rear blind up effect the workings or even the angle of the mirror if you are tall?

Yes the mirrors dim but do not dip. The sensor pickes up the light and darkens to green, which doesnt reflect the light back into your eyes. If you press the button on the front of the mirror, you will notice the 'green' colour disappears and you have switched it off. It should also work on the exterior rear view mirrors too.

I miss that on the SE............

[Matus]

with rear shade up it doesn't work at all, but even without it, it is very slow and not too strong. Side mirrors the same. Not full points here, lexus.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Cheers guys, a little bit of what I thought then - a manual mirror works better :(

[gti1]

Only when mibe went in for it's first service I asked them to look at it as it's never seemed to work. They siad they used a torch and blocked the sensor and it dipped. So I get how the physics work but what actually happens does anything actually move or is it an electronic change? I have noticed a couple of times it appears greem but not sure if that's it. I was on the M42 early Friday am and a fiesta had blinding lights that lit the inside of my car but I couldn't look in the mirror as it was blinding.

Does having the rear blind up effect the workings or even the angle of the mirror if you are tall?

Yes the mirrors dim but do not dip. The sensor pickes up the light and darkens to green, which doesnt reflect the light back into your eyes. If you press the button on the front of the mirror, you will notice the 'green' colour disappears and you have switched it off. It should also work on the exterior rear view mirrors too.

I miss that on the SE............

Hi there I believe that the Rear view mirror, electrochromatic (auto-dimming) feature is only available on the se-l and sport models!

[Tango]

As Parthiban says - Think the IS only has auto dimming side mirrors.

The GS has auto dimming AND auto dipping mirrors - when you pop the car into reverse the mirrors drop down so you can see the kerb etc and the rear sun blind lowers (if up) . As soon as you engage drive the mirrors come back up to their original position (as does the blind)

Cheers

The Ed

No, you're wrong, the IS SE-L has auto dimming AND auto dipping side mirrors, and also the rear blind features you describe.

The subject being discussed was auto dimming of the internal mirror, and I asked if anyone knew if the sensor on the rear view mirror was also responsible for auto dimming the door mirrors. Reason I asked is because my SE-L has (as well as the blind) limo tint on the rear glass so there's no chance of the sensor dimming my interior mirror (not that I need it). If the sensor is also necessary to auto dim the door mirrors then I have lost that function, but as it appears to be rather ineffective anyway I'll cease to worry about it.

[Parthiban]

Ahh, so the door mirrors will actually physically move instead of getting darker? How does it know which way to move, and also won't that make side vision a little restricted?

Hang on, just realised you were just talking about the dipping for the kerb

[Paul2002]

I thought I'd bring this topic back from the archives!

I've had from new, an IS200 Sport & a IS300 and the auto dimming mirrors (both interior and door mirrors) worked brilliantly. Now on my IS250 F-Sport, although I have the same function it doesn't appear to work!

I've not had it checked out but from experience (the cars behind me that insist on illuminating the sky) the lights from cars behind have been blinding to the point that I have to drive leaning forward to avoid any contact with the mirror, not good!

I've also noticed that on the IS200 & IS300, when the car was wet and you wound down a side window and then raised it up again the water on the glass didn't streak (the water dropplets remained untouched), however this feature has been lost on the IS250 so that the water now is smeared across the whole surface. I always thought this was a good feature on the IS200/300.

[F.A.]

Sorry for asking, but the feature is turned on isnt it?

I've always found that this function works very well on both sets of mirrors. It gives everything behind me a blueish tinge which prevents the blinding effect

[Paul2002]

yes it's turned on, i've turned it on and off to see if it made any difference.

[F.A.]

Oh ok if there is no difference then sounds like its not working. I would take if back to the dealer. Hope you get it sorted

[LexusForever]

hi

i find that if my rear blind is up the interior mirror doesnt dim and therefore the side mirrors too. i am sure they are all linked to the one sensor on the internal mirror. so if you have tinting on your rear window the internal will never dim and therefore neither will the door mirrors. i find mine work great and dim dark enough that lights never bother me anymore.

also, the se-l does have the dipping mirrors in reverse but you have to make sure the mirror switch is set to left or right rather than central otherwise it wont do it.

hope this helps

[Paul2002]

My IS200 Sport & IS300 both had rear tinted glass and the auto dim mirrors worked perfectly, why doesn't it work on this car when the glass is hardly tinted?

[Tel]

To this very day, I have never experienced being "blinded " by the headlights from someone on my tail even with the mid-grey tint fitted from new & my door mirrors remain clear both of which are key safety features which have been available since the MK1.IS launch in 1999.

Your collective grumbles are a real surprise that deserve resolution!

Tel

[Paul2002]

To this very day, I have never experienced being "blinded " by the headlights from someone on my tail even with the mid-grey tint fitted from new & my door mirrors remain clear both of which are key safety features which have been available since the MK1.IS launch in 1999.

Your collective grumbles are a real surprise that deserve resolution!

Tel

I've had 3 new 'IS' lexus vehicles and have clocked-up 150,000 miles in total with these vehicles and have never had any issues with the auto dipping mirror, until now!

You wouldn't experience being blinded as your system is working correctly!