# Blind Spot Monitor



## noreserve (Jan 8, 2016)

I wanted to weigh in with my thoughts on VW's Blind Spot Monitor after having the Tig for about a year now. First off, I think that the available safety systems are outstanding overall. The Adaptive Cruise Control advances the art of driving in traffic more than I ever imagined - and I was truly skeptical going in. I will not do without it on future vehicles. VW's implementation of it is not flawless, but it is 8-9/10ths of where it needs to be. Front Assist has earned its space in the barn as well - my wife can tell you about a deer that put it to the test, and I can keep my own story of inattentiveness out of the insurance revenue stream as well - no details today, but I am now a believer. Let's talk about Lane Assist - or actually, let's not. That is the one system I have turned off. It is an annoyance and downright dangerous. The technology and road infrastructure/standardization is just not there. I swear to ya, when I took the test drive, my first thought was that of AWD and something not fully-baked in play as I was going through some twisty backroads.

On to my subject line...

So VW has let us down with their Blind Spot Monitor (BSM - ah, the acronym from my Corvette days - Body Side Mouldings - those things that most of us younger, more "contemporary" buyers didn't option, but I digress). So VW's implementation of BSM has suffered in the design stage to start. Let's begin with the two glaring flaws: 1. No audible alert and 2. Yellow color (had to edit this - I originally put "Yellow color" in yellow highlight and it looked as weak as the VW indicators ). Why there isn't an audible alert option that can be turned on in the menu is beyond me. The lack of it prevents the system from being nearly as useful as it could be. Blind spots are a common problem that, if everyone is being honest, have affected all of us at some point. Those tiny, stylish VW mirrors don't win points in the practicality department. They yearn for a system that will tell you RIGHT NOW with VOLUME if you are about to do something you will regret. Huge miss on not having an audible alert. And the color yellow. Let's talk about that. If I were a design engineer responsible for this, I'd change companies (and my resume). Why on Earth would you design a safety system that has the same little blinking yellow color symbol as that of the turn signal indicator light? To top it off, guess where it is? RIGHT NEXT to its partner in crime. And guess when they flash? AT THE SAME TIME. You know, because if you use your signal to change lanes and you missed that vehicle near your hindquarters, both lights will try to tell you something. What that is is easy to ignore (because it does come on every time you signal) or simply miss because of their location. Also, do we really need another light to tell us something that the big green arrow on the dashboard can't? You can argue - weakly, I will add - that the turn signal indicator is there on the exterior mirrors for other drivers to see that you are changing lanes - mainly for those occasions where they are out-of-view of the rear indicator. Like I said, weak argument.

So what did I do to remedy this? 1. I cut a small rectangle of black electrical tape and put over each of the turn signal indicators (not even my idea - thanks forum!). 2. Made a note to search Google as to whether the VAG-COM (ah, that name! The German translation didn't take into account the cringeworthy English innuendo) has the ability to turn on an audible alert.

I haven't done the VAG-COM searching yet - see what I mean? I can say that the first option of simply taping over the damn things is something I should have done before I left the dealership. Oh well, they are taken care of now and I have a much better driving experience. When I see yellow lights on the mirror, I know to take note. They actually mean something.

A bit more harping on the design side... The yellow lights are not that prominent. If you want to see a system that was designed well and works like it should, take a look at an FCA vehicle - well, at least a Jeep Wrangler with the option. I have a Jeep and drive both it and the Tig, so it's good for comparison. The Jeep has a prominent - there's that word again - triangle for the symbol. It shows up like it should. It doesn't flash like a little faint yellow ant fight on the Tig. It also has the option to turn on an audible indication. And I have. And it's loud and proud. Like I want it to be if I'm about to cost myself money (at the very least). So we have two systems that had the same safety objective in mind. One fails miserably with color, proximity, size, prominence and lack of audible alerting. The other hits it out of the park. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have the VW BSM than not. I'm just disappointed that VAG didn't execute properly here. I would bet that the team responsible for the ACC was on holiday, vacation or out-to-lunch when the go-ahead was given for the BSM. I would bet big. I would also bet that if I were to go into a showroom today and look at a newly redesigned VW or Audi, that it would not have the same poorly designed BSM. I would hope not at least. I would also bet they've taken ACC up to at least a 9/10 by refining the SW to not brake like a mad man as you come up on a car that has just transitioned to a turn lane. Another would be to allow you to PERMANENTLY set the distance bars to your preference and not have to do that every time you get into the vehicle. Like I said, it's a solid system - only minor improvements.

I do appreciate these systems and marvel at the capabilities that you and I now take for granted - things that would have been considered magic in decades past. Did we ever think we would get here? Sometimes it's easy to forget we are.


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## D3Audi (Feb 18, 2016)

I agree with everything you said. For 2020 VW moved the side assist light to the mirror housing like Audi does. This could be retrofitted cheaply if one wanted.










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## noreserve (Jan 8, 2016)

D3Audi said:


> I agree with everything you said. For 2020 VW moved the side assist light to the mirror housing like Audi does. This could be retrofitted cheaply if one wanted.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Now we're talking! That's more like it. They must have replaced that Engineer (or at least put him to work on redeeming himself by redesigning the console and cupholder area - don't get me started )

And how fitting is it that you included the Jeep grille - JK - but points given nonetheless.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

noreserve;114104449.....redesigning the console and cupholder area - don't get me started :-)).....[/QUOTE said:


> That area in my 2016 Golf R is perfect.


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## Vasia01 (Aug 8, 2018)

D3Audi said:


> I agree with everything you said. For 2020 VW moved the side assist light to the mirror housing like Audi does. This could be retrofitted cheaply if one wanted.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


2020 Tiguan has new high power BSM radars. Low power BSM radar has light in mirror glass, high power radars has light in the mirror cover.


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## Diego012 (Aug 14, 2019)

D3Audi "This could be retrofitted cheaply if one wanted"

Agree. The BSM indication on the 19s is the most annoying thing on the car. By retrofitting do you mean replacing the mirrors with 2020 mirrors, using a kit that's available or coming up with a light/connector/wire and cutting a hole?


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## zimmie2652 (Feb 15, 2015)

I don’t know if the word cheaply is accurate. The mirror housings alone are roughly $300+ correct? Then you’d undoubtedly need a new module most likely and the wiring. I’d say this would probably easily exceed $500 to retrofit.

Then of course, if you’re going to do this, I would undoubtedly do the power fold retro as well because, why not? Lol. 

All figures are obvious guesses as I haven’t actually researched but the word cheap carries many different definitions to everyone as well.


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## mattchatr (Jan 26, 2018)

Vasia01 said:


> 2020 Tiguan has new high power BSM radars. Low power BSM radar has light in mirror glass, high power radars has light in the mirror cover.


What do you mean high power. I actually bought the 2020 Tiguan mirror cap indicators and have tried the existing wiring for the mirror led and they don't fire up. I get an error on the dash too until I plug the old bsm wiring back into the back of the mirror glass. I think the voltage is so low on the existing setup that it can't work with the beefier mirror cap modules. I'm tempted now to just try a generic led and see if it works. Than maybe hack the newer cap module with LEDs that will work.


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## dragonpalm (May 9, 2016)

I agree that an audible alert would help some people and that the indicator may be difficult to see for some, but I personally like that there is no audible alert. Many cars such as Subaru and Toyota have way too much beeping going on in the cabin during normal driving and I absolutely prefer the Tiguan's system. The only time the Tiguan will make an audible alert is when the automatic emergency breaking system (AEB) detects an imminent front or rear collision, which is exactly the only time I think it should beep. Too many beeps desensitize you so that you can't identify which is more important. My car has made the AEB beep a few times when the car thinks I'm not paying attention and it's always scary loud. I think the lane assist feature combined with BSM is more than enough driving assistance. I guess placing the BSM light closer to the window or making it more prominent is an improvement, but I just don't think it's difficult to see or use in its current form.


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## VW...vw...wv...WV (Sep 7, 2005)

D3Audi said:


> I agree with everything you said. For 2020 VW moved the side assist light to the mirror housing like Audi does. This could be retrofitted cheaply if one wanted.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


also, the intensity of those lights can be adjusted from the main screen...


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## mattchatr (Jan 26, 2018)

Well, guess I'm the guinea pig. I already tried the new style BSMs wired up to the existing mirror glass wiring and it throws a code until I plug them back into factory. I've now ordered the rear bumper sensors that are a newer model, and the brackets so we'll see if it likes that better. I wouldn't have started this had I not damaged one of my mirrors so I would firstly say that this "upgrade" is not cheap and not worth it unless you can find a kit on Alibaba like they have for the golfs, and arteon's etc. Stay tuned....


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## BAFUdaGreat (May 7, 2021)

Hey @VW...vw...wv...WV: you say that the intensity can be adjusted from the main screen. I assume you meant the infotainment system- I can't find that setting anywhere and Cthulhu knows I've looked! Can you help me out as this driving me nuts??? Or is this available only via OBD11/VAG software....

Also has anyone changed the orange color to red by any chance?


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## BAFUdaGreat (May 7, 2021)

BUMP


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