[kin]

Every time I reverse in the dark, I struggle to see clearly, and I assumed its darker than standard due to dimming mirrors, it just never occurs to me the door mirrors could be faulty!

From previous experience, if there's no light dazzling you, the mirrors should be clear, it only turns darker if dazzled. But mine seem to remain dark all the time!

I have attached 2 pics, parked up with DRIVE selected, the mirrors turned dark, you could see a dark film appeared, but when I selected PARK, mirrors clear up.

Does everyone door mirrors remain dark at night all the time?

 

[Mofo]

On my 'S', they're clear, they only go dim when I've got a car with light on behind me.

 

[dunos]

The auto dimming is another feature (like the windscreen wipers) that kinda works but kinda doesn't. I am experiencing the same as you whereby once the mirrors have decided to go dim, they stay dim even when reversing. Equally sometimes when I want them to be dim they are not.

 

[kin]

On my 'S', they're clear, they only go dim when I've got a car with light on behind me.

That was the way it worked from my previous cars.

 

[kin]

The auto dimming is another feature (like the windscreen wipers) that kinda works but kinda doesn't. I am experiencing the same as you whereby once the mirrors have decided to go dim, they stay dim even when reversing. Equally sometimes when I want them to be dim they are not.

I've heard that Tesla uses various photos of rain intensity stored in the Model 3 memory, so the wipers would activate accordingly, obviously to save cost of having an actual rain sensors fitted.

I guess they might do the same with dazzling light?

 

[i-s]

The mirror dimming on the model 3 is not based on sensors - it is based on time of day. There is a scheduled time (which is slightly different each day, as it moves to take account of changing sunrise/sunset times throughout the year) at which the mirrors dim in the evening and then brighten in the morning. There is no sensor, there is no user control of this feature.

 

[cnixon]

The mirror dimming on the model 3 is not based on sensors - it is based on time of day. There is a scheduled time (which is slightly different each day, as it moves to take account of changing sunrise/sunset times throughout the year) at which the mirrors dim in the evening and then brighten in the morning. There is no sensor, there is no user control of this feature.

Really...All those @#&#* cameras and it cannot tell when its getting dazzled!

 

[kin]

Wow, thanks, guess it go dim at the same time the central screen goes into night mode.
( I wonder if I turn off the night mode on screen, would it also turn off the mirrors as well)

They might consider its a small inconvenience(and tough luck) to those who might need to reverse in the dark.

 

[EarlyDays]

I didn’t even know I had auto-dimming door mirrors. ?

 

[EarlyDays]

This got me intrigued, from page 45 of the manual:

“The driver’s side mirror automatically dims in low lighting conditions (for example, when driving at night or through a tunnel) in proportion to the level of glare from the headlights of a vehicle behind you (except when in Reverse).”

@kin looks like it thinks that garage light is a headlight when you have it in D.

 

[dunos]

This got me intrigued, from page 45 of the manual:

“The driver’s side mirror automatically dims in low lighting conditions (for example, when driving at night or through a tunnel) in proportion to the level of glare from the headlights of a vehicle behind you (except when in Reverse).”

@kin looks like it thinks that garage light is a headlight when you have it in D.

Interesting. When I reverse into my parking spot there are no lights behind me... and yet the mirrors will (as far as I remember) remain dim.

I wonder if this is a software or hardware issue.

 

[Paulo]

The mirror dimming on the model 3 is not based on sensors - it is based on time of day. There is a scheduled time (which is slightly different each day, as it moves to take account of changing sunrise/sunset times throughout the year) at which the mirrors dim in the evening and then brighten in the morning. There is no sensor, there is no user control of this feature.

My experience matches this.

 

[kin]

@kin looks like it thinks that garage light is a headlight when you have it in D.

There are a couple of places I reverse into do not have lights, and my mirrors remained dark. (And that was in REVERSE gear)

Edit: It would make sense for the dimming function to be disabled once its in reverse.
I'll select REVERSE tonight and see if it clear up? If it did, then it would mean that every time I select reverse, I would have to wait a few secs for it to clear !!

 

[AMP_it_up]

Won't the door mirrors appear dark at night anyway if there isn't much light around? The reversing lights don't light up the sides of the car.

 

[kin]

Ok, I've made an observation tonight of how the dimming mirrors work.
The centre screen went into night mode at 17:16 tonight, but the mirrors remained clear, probably due to there was still some ambient daylight, but when its dark, the mirrors dimmed regardless.
When I selected reverse, the dimmed mirrors deactivated, but it took around 15secs to clear.

 

[dunos]

Ok, I've made an observation tonight of how the dimming mirrors work.
The centre screen went into night mode at 17:16 tonight, but the mirrors remained clear, probably due to there was still some ambient daylight, but when its dark, the mirrors dimmed regardless.
When I selected reverse, the dimmed mirrors deactivated, but it took around 15secs to clear.

15 seconds? I’ll have parked up and be plugging in by the time they have cleared! Thanks for working that out though... if I am having difficulty seeing I just need to be a bit less impatient!

 

[PaulD]

I use a combination of wing mirrors and the reversing camera. I live in Scotland so I have my fair share of dark, rainy nights. The reversing camera is the game changer for me. It is brighter in the dark than the wing mirrors.
what do you think?

 

[Paulo]

Just reversed a couple of times for testing, and it seems like the mirror dimming is deactivated as soon as reverse is engaged, but it takes some 15 seconds to totally clear.

 

[SteeveeLeevee]

I use a combination of wing mirrors and the reversing camera. I live in Scotland so I have my fair share of dark, rainy nights. The reversing camera is the game changer for me. It is brighter in the dark than the wing mirrors.
what do you think?

The reversing camera is better than wing mirrors, but why can't the camera lens be hidden behind the Tesla badge and pop up when reverse is selected like my 11 year old VW Passat CC? The lens was always clean and visibility was always perfect. The rear of the model 3 is always full of muck & crap and the lens is always dirty and has to be cleaned frequently and water droplets hanging from the ridge above the camera also interfere with visibility.

 

[dunos]

The reversing camera is better than wing mirrors, but why can't the camera lens be hidden behind the Tesla badge and pop up when reverse is selected like my 11 year old VW Passat CC? The lens was always clean and visibility was always perfect. The rear of the model 3 is always full of muck & crap and the lens is always dirty and has to be cleaned frequently and water droplets hanging from the ridge above the camera also interfere with visibility.

I wonder if it is used (or going to be used) as part of the FSD to keep watch on everything going on around the car including the rear. Although that isn't going to work well if visibility is impaired all the time by dirt.

I had similar when driving an Audi Q7. The reversing camera was next to useless after a long motorway journey.

I have thought that the cameras need some sort of "blink" feature, although care may need to be taken to prevent dirt from scratching the lens.