# How-To: Yet Another Gentex Auto-Dimming Mirror Install



## Anthony_A (Feb 1, 2013)

Hey there.. I know this has been covered already (just a few times) but here is my take on the install I completed a few days ago. I must give credit to Farnsworth, my inspiration for tackling this job on my own. 

Please see his post here: 
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...melink)-Mirror-in-Beetle-Mission-Accomplished

Model: 50-GENK45AM - Gentex Auto-Dimming Mirror with Homelink and Compass

Ordered From:Sports Imports

Additional Adapter: 50-VWAudiBrkt - VW-Audi-Porsche Adapter 

Wire Cover: Short Wire Cover

Replacement Mirror Bracket Screw: #10-24 3/4" (the stock one is way to small)

Tools Needed:








Camera Shy:
Cable snake
String - strong enough to pull attached wires
Ratchet set
Heat-Shrink tubes and torch
Phillips / Common screwdrivers
Drill (no bits needed)
Clamp or lock pliers, 
Black Spray Paint (optional)
1/16 Allen wrench

Note: that's a T20 Torx bit in the driver handle. BlueTooth keyboard at the top of the photo is NOT required. =) 




Below is what came in the mail, ALONG with 2 Add-A-Fuses from AutoZone. 
*Please note that the 10 amp fuses that are pictured will ultimately be replaced with 20 amp fuses that you pull from fuse box in later steps. They are only there for illustrative purposes! *









Add-A-Fuses










Adapter and Short Wire Cover










Wiring Harness with gigantic molex connector and inline fuses (don't worry those won't be there for long.)










Mirror











Ok, here is where the party starts.... 


Here is a picture of the fuses in the in-line fuses that came on the harness along with the add-a-fuses. 










The first thing I did was remove the 5amp fuses and put them in the Add-A-Fuses









Next, I clipped off the inline fuses from the harness


















Then, clipped off the huge molex connector. 








Here is a good time to describe the wiring.
Red - Switched power (Mirror)
Yellow - Constant power (HomeLink)
Black - Ground
Green - Temp sensor (not ordered)












I taped off the 2 green leads coming from the mirror (those are for the temperature sensor which I did not order.)









Then I soldered the wires together and used heat shrink to cover and insulate (not pictured)
*When soldering wires please make sure that the mirror is NOT connected to the adapter on the other end. The heat transfer could damage the mirror.*









This leaves you with a pretty clean harness. One end is the connector for the mirror and the other end should be clean cut un-stripped wires along with the ground wire.

What I like to do next is optional. I like to use a drill to twist all the wires together.
On the end of the harness with the mirror connector, either clamp or use lock pliers to grip and hold all the wires together about 1 inch from the connector. 
*If you do not clamp the end with the mirror connector you run the risk of twisting the wires right out of the connector.*

On the other end. Feed the 3 wires into the drill chuck and tighten it down. 
Next, keeping tension on the wires and with the drill on SLOW start to to twist the wires together until the harness is completely spun together. 

Now you have a neat little bundle of cable to run.


Now it's time to run the cable. I chose to run my cable in headliner and down the A-pillar trim into the fuse box. I chose this method because it's easy to fix/remove + gets independent fuses. 

The hardest part of the run was down the A-pillar trim. I first tried to remove the trim but after moderate pressure and wiggling it would not come off. My only option was to pry it back enough to get the wire down it. So, using some plastic pry tools I pulled the trim back. I was able to get the trim pulled away enough to send a wire snake down the trim piece and into the drivers side dash end cap. I then connected some string to the snake and pulled the string back up the pillar trim. I removed the snake from the string and attached the end end of the wire harness and pulled the wires down the trim piece into the end cap. 

The 2 pictures below are "after" photos. 

This picture is how the wire harness looked before I pulled it tight from down below and before I pushed it up and around to the front of the windshield. I was able to completely tuck the harness up under the very corner of the headliner and under A-pillar trim. Even if you knew where to look you would not be able to see it. 









This photo shows where the wires come out of the A-pillar trim and into the drivers side dash end cap. 
I moved the end cap with plastic pry tools. It's helpful to have the door completely open when you remove / re-install this end cap piece. 










tie-wrapped to look neat










Unbundled the ground wire and attached it to the metal chassis. Because of the awkward position of the bolt I used a ratchet with an extension to loosen / tighten it. One other thing to note is that I removed the "ring" end on the ground and soldered on a "Y" end. 










Open the drivers side lower storage compartment (located about knee high) and press / flex the sides in and pull towards you. The door should pop off the hinge and out. --The fuse box is located behind here.. 

Locate fuse 55 and 30 and pull them out. They should be both 20 amp fuses.
55 controls the high-beams and 30 is the cigarette lighter / power.

Here you'll notice I replaced the 10 amp fuses in the Add-A-Fuses with the 2 20 amp fuses from the fuse box.









here I soldered the Add-A-Fuse assembly to the wires and used a heatshink wrap for insulation. 
*Again, please make sure the mirror is NOT connected when soldering.*









Here I added the Add-A-Fuses into the fuse box. Yellow wire in slot (55) and Red wire in slot (30)









Here is a good time to wire up the mirror and test it out to make sure it goes on... 

Next I removed the stock rear-view mirror. First I pulled the mirror into the down facing position and then pulled towards me and it popped right off the mount. To remove the mount I simply turned it clockwise by hand (with moderate pressure). You're left with the mount










Using some black spray paint I sprayed the adapter and replacement screw.









I installed the adapter onto the mount and tapped it lightly with a rubber mallet to get it seated nice and tight. Using the 1/16 Allen wrench the little set screw gets it extremely solid. 

Next, pulling the headliner down slightly, I ran the rest of the wiring harness up in the headliner over to the mount. 

I attached the harness to the mirror and then attached the mirror onto the mount. 

Using the replacement screw I screwed in the mirror to the mount.

Using the wire cover, I attached it to the mount and ran the wires in it up to the headliner. The wire cover has little extensions on it to hold it in place at the headliner. 

And that's it. 

I'll see if I can add some photos of the latter steps, honestly It was getting late and I stopped taking pictures in order to finish.


----------



## Slo.Mo.Shun (Jan 13, 2010)

Great write up :thumbup:

Any updates ?

I had one of these in my Jetta and loved it. Want to see how it looks on the beetle.

Also, does it vibrate ? I had to change my windshield mount to fix the issue on the jetta.


----------



## Pelican18TQA4 (Dec 13, 2000)

Slo.Mo.Shun said:


> Great write up :thumbup:
> 
> Any updates ?
> 
> ...


I was going to ask the same thing. My experience in the past with a similar adapter and Gentex mirror is that the adapter didn't secure the mirror securely enough and it vibrated like crazy, to the point that it was almost useless for actually viewing what was behind the car.


----------



## Anthony_A (Feb 1, 2013)

Slo.Mo.Shun said:


> Great write up :thumbup:
> 
> Any updates ?
> 
> ...


Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I haven't had time to check here as much as I'd like. 

well, I've had the mirror up for a long time now (since i posted the instructions) and I haven't had to tighten the adapter at all. The mirror has been working flawlessly. I'll try and get some pics later today.


----------



## shundal (Aug 11, 2013)

I followed this write up just over a year ago, and it has worked flawlessly until now. My mirror won't turn on. It keeps tripping the fuse immediately after the switched power turns on. Any suggestions? I've looked over the wiring and there doesn't appear to be any exposed wire that would cause a short. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Anthony_A (Feb 1, 2013)

shundal said:


> I followed this write up just over a year ago, and it has worked flawlessly until now. My mirror won't turn on. It keeps tripping the fuse immediately after the switched power turns on. Any suggestions? I've looked over the wiring and there doesn't appear to be any exposed wire that would cause a short.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hey sorry it took so long.. I don't really visit the forum much anymore. I hope you've figured it out by now. If all of the wiring checked out then I would say it may have been an internal problem with the mirror?

-anthony


----------



## shundal (Aug 11, 2013)

Hey, no worries. Yea I was able to get it fixed. Not sure what happened, but I just disconnected and reconnected all the wiring and unhooked the battery once and it's been fine since. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## WeakestLink (Sep 13, 2015)

I have the same VW mirror adapter and also had to use a hammer to lightly tap it over the original mirror mount. I did so until the adapter slide down as far as it could go. The concern is the the little tightening screw does not reach the mount (meaning it does nothing to secure the adapter). Was I not supposed to tap it down that far? The adapter is super tight and I'm sure will hold without the tightening screw. Just concerned that the adapter might be putting too much pressure on the windshield and/or the original windshield mount.

Any feedback appreciated.


----------

