Building a Frankenmirror - Igor Kessel A full size outside mirror for the right side of a UrS4/S6.
below is my homework and BTDT on the subject. ================================= The '94 - '97 A6/S6 and the '96 - '98 A4 LHD (Continental) market Audis came with the smallish RH side mirror. Coupled with the solid headrests of the later cars they limit the visibility and hinder the right lane merges. This "feature" mirror has compromised the car's safety so badly that it was dubbed the "Suicide Mirror" by the sarcastic folk on the S-Cars List. Fortunately there is a way out. The real, full size mirror can be built using the parts of a later A4 and/or A6. When building a full size mirror for my '97 S6 I ended up using the original S6 mounting triangle piece, the A6 motor bracket, the A4 shell and the A4 mirror glass. Needless to say the same sarcastic folk on the S-Cars List has dubbed it the "Franken Mirror". Here is the detailed project description. The '99 forward Audi A4/A6 RH side USA market mirror is comprised out of three parts. Below is the break down by model, p/n and list price. 1. The shell: a) A4 part: 8D0 857 508 GRU, $66.30 b) A6 part: 4A0 857 508 3FZ, $66.30 2. The mounting bracket w/motor: a) A4 part: 8D1 858 532 L 3FZ, $90.45 b) A6 part: 4B1 858 532 BF 3FZ, $120.50 3. The convex glass: a) A4 part: 8D0 857 536 M, $45.45 b) A6 part: 4B0 857 536 H, $62.95 First you need to decide which parts to use. §1. Keep in mind that the shell and the glass *ABSOLUTELY* have to belong to the same model since they have a slightly different shape. I used the A4 parts coz its glass was cheaper. The more expensive A6 glass listed above is the cheapest convex one available in the USA. The rest of them are of the expensive auto-dimming variety. The second reason behind my choice of glass was that I already had completed the same project on my wife's '98 A4. Her car is painted the same Pearl White colour as my S6 so I decided to keep the things interchangeable just in case. §2. Paint the shell, either yourself or elsewhere. I painted both shells myself with great results and mind you my colour is absolutely the worst to match no matter how you look at it. If you would like to paint the shell yourself read on. If not - skip to §3. Try to obtain the OEM Audi touch-up paint IN SPRAY CANS. The Pearl White one ("Magnolia Pearl Effekt") comes in three cans for three different steps. I can't sing enough praises to the quality of the German paint and of their spray cans. I would strongly advise to buy the universal pistol grip for standard spray cans (costs only a couple of bux at any Home Depot) as it enables the near professional uniformity of spray. If your car is white or Pearl white I would recommend buying a can of white primer and re-priming the shell. The A4 shell comes primed (the GRU suffix comes from the German "GRUNT" - "Primer") and its colour is bluish-grey. If you fail to re-prime the shell in white I guarantee you that the resulting colour will be a shade darker than your white or Pearl white car is. The painting process is straightforward. Degrease the shell with Methanol or your own favourite solvent. Make sure not to wash the "GRUNT" away! Wear latex gloves and a painter's mask. Spray like the pros do (you *DO KNOW* how the pros paint, right? Otherwise don't even attempt to do it, save yourself a lot of grief and delegate the whole thing to a paint shop). Coat lightly in multiple passes, dry for 15min + between the coats, put about 3-4 coats for each stage. Bake 1 - 2 hrs between different stages. That's 4 stages times 4 coats each for us with Pearl cars. I utilised my wife's small electric convection oven and a thermometer. Baked the shell at ~ 60° to 70°C for about 2 to 3 hrs each time. Better safe than sorry. §3. Either shell fits either mounting bracket. In fact the early '98 A6 utilised the A4 shell and glass. In the middle of the '98 m/y the A6 got their own shell and glass. You can use either of the mounting brackets, but the A6 one is slightly easier to adapt since there is no need to Dremel away the front piece of the bracket where the spring sits. The mounting bracket itself consists of three parts: Part "A" - plastic/Aluminium triangle piece that is mounted to the door. This piece is car-specific and has to be replaced with the part off the S6 since the doors are different in the shape and in the glass to door angle. The mounting bracket has a vertical hollow axel onto which the pivoting Part "B" is mounted and it is spring loaded to allow to fold the mirror alongside the body (that click-click sound when you fold the mirror is made by the recesses in the heel of the Part "B" when it jumps over the matching tabs of the Part "A"). This part is a fancy shaped metal bracket that houses the Part "C" - motor. The A4/A6 and S6 motors will have to be swapped since the plug pin-outs are different but that's so easy that I won't even go into details here. The trouble is that the axel in Part "A" in the S6 is shorter than the one in the A4/A6 and that the Part "B" in the A4/A6 piece is thicker than that in the S6. The shorter axel of the Part "A" of the S6 does not clear the thicker Part "B" of the A4/A6 with the OEM spring installed. W/o this very stiff spring the mirror will be loose on the mounting. In fact if you put the OEM locking C-clip onto the shaft all you get is 2 - 3 mm of clearance whereas you need at least 12 - 14 mm to install the spring. This major problem was solved when I realised that I could use several spring (a.k.a. the "Belleville") washers in place of the OEM spring. I ordered them from McMaster-Carr catalogue. §4. Draw the pin-out diagrammes of the electrical plugs of both your original mirror and of the mounting bracket that you have bought. Open the latches on both plugs, pull the contacts out and fish the wires through the hollow shafts on which the motor housings pivot. Unscrew the three long screws that secure the motors to their housings and remove the motors. §5. Disassemble the mounting bracket of your original mirror and of the mounting bracket that you have bought. For that you'll need to fabricate a semi-circular tool out of at least 1mm thick steel ribbon. Shape it up with a mallet over a suitable long socket. With this tool positioned over the top washer, compress the spring in the vise to relieve the pressure on the locking C-clip. Remove the C-clip, the OEM washer and the OEM spring. Repeat for the second assy. *********** WEAR GOGGLES! ************ Note the difference in lengths of the respective hollow shafts. §6. Install the Part "B" of the mounting bracket that you have bought onto the Part "A" of your S6. Put two Belleville spring washers (with their crowns pointing in the opposite directions) in place of the OEM spring over the hollow shaft of the Part "A" of the S6. You may need to adjust the number and/or orientation of the Belleville spring washers on your particular mirror as to see that the Part "B" is not loose on Part "A" yet it can still be "click-click" folded. Once satisfied, put the OEM washer over the packet of Belleville spring washers and compress the washers with the tool described above until the OEM washer clears the two slits in the hollow shaft of Part "A". Insert the C-clip back. You may want to enlist an assistant since you will desperately need a third hand. *********** WEAR GOGGLES! ************ §7. Fish the S6 motor wires back through the hollow shaft of Part "A" and assemble the plug per your drawing. Secure the motor on Part "B" with the three OEM screws. §8. Mount the newly Frankenised mounting bracket w/motor to the door. Reconnect the plugs and reassemble the inner door panel. Mount the painted shell over the assy. Don't forget the small screw that goes inside! Mount the bottom plastic piece that came as part of the mounting bracket w/motor and secure it with the two screws provided with it. Connect the two defroster contacts to the mirror glass. BE VERY CAREFULL! The glass is very fragile. Position the mirror with its big round plastic receptacle on the back against the similar round receptacle on the motor. Position all your fingers squarely against the mirror glass roughly over the round plastic piece and gently press on the glass until it clicks home. Enjoy the safe driving with the full size RH side mirror! Igor Kessel, © copyright 2000 -- Igor Kessel two turbo quattros