# 2021 SEL Side View Mirror Defrosters?



## Boriquaman (Oct 12, 2020)

I see older models have a knob to switch over to turn on defrosters on the side mirrors; however, my 2021 doesn't have that. I put the max heat settings that are supposed to turn on the defrosters, and although the inside cabin gets super hot and the front windshield gets defrosted, the side mirror was not. Also, the AC turns on with it as required.

Is there another setting I'm missing?


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## *DesertFox* (Sep 26, 2017)

Boriquaman said:


> I see older models have a knob to switch over to turn on defrosters on the side mirrors; however, my 2021 doesn't have that. I put the max heat settings that are supposed to turn on the defrosters, and although the inside cabin gets super hot and the front windshield gets defrosted, the side mirror was not. Also, the AC turns on with it as required.
> 
> Is there another setting I'm missing?


I'm just curious. What was the outside temperature when you tried this?


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## reefshark (Dec 17, 2019)

Ha, just posted the same question yesterday in an earlier thread.


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## hoczero (Nov 2, 2012)

I’m having the same issue and off you read the manual it show the switch but no CS has the switch, I was told by the dealer under 70* but it’s been down to 64* and nothing 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## dr. pimento (Nov 22, 2006)

Reese at Bommarito VW in St Peter's MO says the side mirror defrosters are activated when using the rear defroster button...check out the video below...jump to time index 2:30 for the relevant information...

https://www.bommaritovwstpeters.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaj7FK9NlPs


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## Boriquaman (Oct 12, 2020)

*DesertFox* said:


> I'm just curious. What was the outside temperature when you tried this?


61 degrees


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## Boriquaman (Oct 12, 2020)

I pushed that button also and nothing as well.

The car is back at the dealer and they are trying to figure it out. I'll keep you all posted on what they say and any tips I can get out of them.


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## albuh99 (Nov 6, 2020)

Boriquaman said:


> I pushed that button also and nothing as well.
> 
> The car is back at the dealer and they are trying to figure it out. I'll keep you all posted on what they say and any tips I can get out of them.


Hi, I have the same problem, my mirror control has only R-O-L, no heater, when I turn on Rear defrost, rear door glass warm, but mirrors cold, I pulled mirrors, checked wiring, wires in place. Actually, I broke passenger mirror and replaced with new, didn't make any changes, still cold. Let me know if you'll get fixed this problem. Thanks


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

albuh99 said:


> Hi, I have the same problem, my mirror control has only R-O-L, no heater, when I turn on Rear defrost, rear door glass warm, but mirrors cold, I pulled mirrors, checked wiring, wires in place. Actually, I broke passenger mirror and replaced with new, didn't make any changes, still cold. Let me know if you'll get fixed this problem. Thanks


How hot was it outside? It probably has to be below a certain temperature

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk


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## albuh99 (Nov 6, 2020)

Sorry for late reply BsickPassat, Outside was around 34F, pretty chilly, one of this days when temperature drops very fast over night and mirrors become foggy.
I try to find wiring diagram, but no luck so far. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.


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## albuh99 (Nov 6, 2020)

Boriquaman said:


> I pushed that button also and nothing as well.
> 
> The car is back at the dealer and they are trying to figure it out. I'll keep you all posted on what they say and any tips I can get out of them.


Hi Boriquaman, 
Did you get your car back from the dealer? Did they fixed it? What was a problem? Thanks


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## Van_AE86 (Dec 8, 2017)

dr. pimento said:


> Reese at Bommarito VW in St Peter's MO says the side mirror defrosters are activated when using the rear defroster button...check out the video below...jump to time index 2:30 for the relevant information...
> 
> Volkswagen Dealer in St. Peters, MO | Used Cars St. Peters | Bommarito Volkswagen of St. Peters


This is the correct answer. it comes on and turns off with the rear window defrost.


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## CDNATLAS (Aug 24, 2020)

albuh99 said:


> Hi, I have the same problem, my mirror control has only R-O-L, no heater, when I turn on Rear defrost, rear door glass warm, but mirrors cold, I pulled mirrors, checked wiring, wires in place. Actually, I broke passenger mirror and replaced with new, didn't make any changes, still cold. Let me know if you'll get fixed this problem. Thanks


So I have been watching this thread, as I too have a 2021 SEL and am concerned the exterior mirror defrost is not working. I have a IR thermal camera so decided to try a couple test to see if I could detect the mirror heating at all. The camera is very handy - you can see the tubing in your in-floor heating, what radiators are working, which circuit breakers in your panel are working hard, etc., so let's put it to use on the Atlas.

Two tests in, and there is no significant heating on the mirrors whatsoever. I have attached two reports with the images and data I collected. The positive - the rear window defroster heats up quickly and gets nice and toasty. The inside heater does the same. The bad news is the side mirrors don't heat up at all. This is all with pressing the defrost button on the dash after the Atlas sat for hours and hours in below freezing temperatures. The first test the Atlas was left outside and covered with a skiff of snow, the second after it spent the day in the garage.

Going to call the dealer in the morning and arrange for another warranty service claim......


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## Veenmachine (Dec 24, 2020)

CDNATLAS said:


> So I have been watching this thread, as I too have a 2021 SEL and am concerned the exterior mirror defrost is not working. I have a IR thermal camera so decided to try a couple test to see if I could detect the mirror heating at all. The camera is very handy - you can see the tubing in your in-floor heating, what radiators are working, which circuit breakers in your panel are working hard, etc., so let's put it to use on the Atlas.
> 
> Two tests in, and there is no significant heating on the mirrors whatsoever. I have attached two reports with the images and data I collected. The positive - the rear window defroster heats up quickly and gets nice and toasty. The inside heater does the same. The bad news is the side mirrors don't heat up at all. This is all with pressing the defrost button on the dash after the Atlas sat for hours and hours in below freezing temperatures. The first test the Atlas was left outside and covered with a skiff of snow, the second after it spent the day in the garage.
> 
> Going to call the dealer in the morning and arrange for another warranty service claim......


Any word on the issue. Had the same problem today with my 2021 SEL Premium Atlas


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## Nateafowler (Dec 24, 2020)

Yes please! Any updates? I also have an SE with the same problem, I’ve checked with a touch pyrometer and no increase in temp at all.


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## bboshart (Aug 6, 2012)

I have a ‘21.5 and needed to turn them on the other day. I figured they would turn on like my past cars with the rear defrost button and that worked (as mentioned higher up).


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## Notabiker (Mar 30, 2019)

Our 2021 SEL awd turns on with rear defrost too. Maybe something isn't coded correctly in the vcds.


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## flinndc (Jan 8, 2021)

My 2021 Atlas SEL "heated" mirrors do not work either while on defrost. Dealership said they couldn't find any codes and did a hard reset on the system and fixed them. That did not fix them. Next morning was very cold and frosty, entire car defrosted well except no defrosting or melting away of the ice on the mirrors. I cycled through the defrost twice, gave an entire 20 minutes to see if they would defrost anything. Nothing was defrosted. I hooked up my $99 low consumer grade Blue Driver code scanner and did the complete system scan and came up with these two codes that have no description. Does anyone know what they are for? I have to take this back to the dealer with my new evidence.


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## jozzy (Feb 10, 2011)

Similar story here. I have a 2021 SEL - made in the earlier part of 2020 so I'm guessing it is not a 2021.5. I brought it to the dealer and they tested for voltage at the mirrors when they turned on the rear defrost. They confirmed they got 17 volts (or whatever it was supposed to be) and said everything is working fine, even though i know its not. I now have the car back and they asked me to bring it by again when the mirrors are frosted so they can see it not working - which will be impossible as I live a 25 minute highway drive away and I wont drive with my mirrors unusable. 

I'm not sure why they cant just turn them on and touch the mirror and feel it never gets warm but 🤷‍♂️. I'm hopeful someone here gets to the bottom of it so we can all get it fixed. I think my next step is to call VW customer care and see if they have any ideas.


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## bgc996 (Aug 27, 2004)

Having the same issue here. 2021 SEL, heated mirrors do not work. Definitely listed on the sticker as being on the car. Interestingly, when I was going through it, I noticed that under Interior features, the last line lists 'Metal Front Door Sill Scuff Plates'. They are definitely not on my car. Can anyone else confirm on theirs?


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## greggmischenko (Mar 21, 2011)

Anyone have luck with service department finding/fixing something?

Previously, I never had any issues with the exterior mirror defog/defrost function. However, Iarmed up my car this morning and then drove for about 20 minutes and the exterior mirrors would not melt the snow and ice. The mirrors did not seem to have any fog on them, but there was snow and ice buildup that would not melt, even after a half hour of having the rear defroster switched on (turned it on a couple of times after default timer turn-off). I could see the mirrors and they were not foggy, but they had little dots of ice frozen all over. Exterior mirror knob was in the neutral position (indicator line on knob pointed up at 12:00). I also tried turning the knob to L or R and it made no difference.

I checked the manual and it does say that the exterior mirror heating only works below 60 degrees F (it was 26F, so no issue there) and (paraphrasing here) that primary heating only works for the first 2 minutes; then exterior mirror heating is based on outside/ambient temperature. So it's possible that my (and others') mirrors are working as designed - perhaps VW designed them with intent to simply defog but not totally melt all ice/snow? Completely ridiculous if true, but VW has made other dumb decisions on this car too.

This would be in contrast to my wife's 2019 Tiguan, as well as my previous 2016 and 2011 Tiguans: all would melt the snow/ice completely within 5-10 minutes of turning on the rear defroster.


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## CDNATLAS (Aug 24, 2020)

I was playing with my ODBEleven yesterday and was able to test the driver mirror heater. The mirror heats up actually quite quickly, like 5-10 degrees F in 30 seconds. It was 34F outside and I monitored the mirror with a thermal IR camera and the mirror got to 65F when I stopped the test. 

I am still baffled as to what initiates the heater to go on, as I could not see any parameter in ODBeleven that seemed mirror heater related that changes when activating the rear defrost button on the center console.


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## golfgen3 (May 6, 2003)

Hey everyone, so I have the same issue with my 2021 vw atlas se with tech. When you turn on the vehicle with remote start, and the temp is below 60 the side view mirrors do turn on automatically, they are hot as we speak. I do think there is a software issue. I told vw in Tacoma, wa. There is also another issue, if you start the vehicle remotely and proceed to drive, the ACC gives you an error unless you turn the car off and restart (assuming you use ACC on your journey of course). I believe the side view mirrors only work when the car is remotely started. I hope this helps someone. I was shocked when I saw the water dry off the mirror!


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## CDNATLAS (Aug 24, 2020)

I


golfgen3 said:


> Hey everyone, so I have the same issue with my 2021 vw atlas se with tech. When you turn on the vehicle with remote start, and the temp is below 60 the side view mirrors do turn on automatically, they are hot as we speak. I do think there is a software issue. I told vw in Tacoma, wa. There is also another issue, if you start the vehicle remotely and proceed to drive, the ACC gives you an error unless you turn the car off and restart (assuming you use ACC on your journey of course). I believe the side view mirrors only work when the car is remotely started. I hope this helps someone. I was shocked when I saw the water dry off the mirror!
> View attachment 64517


I have noticed that the mirrors have been warm when remote start was used as well. It is just weird that there doesn't seem to be a direct way to engage the heater; almost like the 2021 new mirror adjustment switch w/o the heater selection didn't leave us with a reliable alternative to turn on mirror defrost.


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## golfgen3 (May 6, 2003)

CDNATLAS said:


> I
> 
> I have noticed that the mirrors have been warm when remote start was used as well. It is just weird that there doesn't seem to be a direct way to engage the heater; almost like the 2021 new mirror adjustment switch w/o the heater selection didn't leave us with a reliable alternative to turn on mirror defrost.


Yeah it makes no sense. I told the dealer and they took notes while I spoke, but other than that no one knows anything. Maybe VW will write back to us one day.


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## jozzy (Feb 10, 2011)

Interesting, I wanted to try to see if my mirrors heat up with remote start but oddly enough remote start is no longer working - I've tried from both the app and the keyfob  it was working before I brought it in for the dealer to look at the mirrors not heating...go figure.
I'll be bringing it back to the dealer in a week or so to continue the mirror troubleshooting and now also to fix remote start.


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## bboshart (Aug 6, 2012)

jozzy said:


> Interesting, I wanted to try to see if my mirrors heat up with remote start but oddly enough remote start is no longer working - I've tried from both the app and the keyfob  it was working before I brought it in for the dealer to look at the mirrors not heating...go figure.
> I'll be bringing it back to the dealer in a week or so to continue the mirror troubleshooting and now also to fix remote start.


My remote start stopped working at around 500 miles. I scanned with VCDS and had an evap fault in the engine module. Reset and it works again. It didn't trigger a CEL and I'll wait to see if it returns and needs a dealer visit. Sorry, off topic...


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## thomatron (Jan 29, 2021)

Yeah, we just bought a 2021.5 Atlas and our mirrors are definitely not defrosting. I'll try the remote start, but this feels like a recall is brewing. I'm also noticing the intermittent wipers go haywire when I set them to low. Hopeful, this can be a firmware update.


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## bsamoul (Feb 5, 2021)

Hi everyone. Bought my first VW 4 months ago and am having this very issue. However, I have narrowed it down. My Atlas' side mirrors ONLY defrost when using remote start. Pushing the button inside does not activate them.


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## jozzy (Feb 10, 2011)

Thanks for the info! My vehicle is at the dealer now for this issue (2nd time, this time they need to keep it until it works properly) and I have a case open with VW. I was not able to test with remote start (i mentioned a few posts above that remote start is not working right now for me), they are fixing that too. Will respond back once they figure it out!


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## CDNATLAS (Aug 24, 2020)

I made the appointment for mine to get looked at next week. If they find something I will post it.


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## jozzy (Feb 10, 2011)

Alright, so here it is. The problem has been identified and it is fixable via software config. When you bring in the vehicle mention Tech Tip 662003. Its something to do with reconfiguring modules. Once they do that, it should work with the defrost button!


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## golfgen3 (May 6, 2003)

jozzy said:


> Alright, so here it is. The problem has been identified and it is fixable via software config. When you bring in the vehicle mention Tech Tip 662003. Its something to do with reconfiguring modules. Once they do that, it should work with the defrost button!


That's awesome, now the funny part will be trying to explain this to the receptionist. I can already see it, "tech tip??" No sir no tech tip here. Thanks for sharing.


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## CDNATLAS (Aug 24, 2020)

jozzy said:


> Alright, so here it is. The problem has been identified and it is fixable via software config. When you bring in the vehicle mention Tech Tip 662003. Its something to do with reconfiguring modules. Once they do that, it should work with the defrost button!


Got the fix done at the dealer today. Jozzy your tech tip was spot on!

Checked when I got home and the driver mirror went from 1'F (yep, a little chilly here) to 40'F in like 30 seconds.

I attached a photo of the service note, and the driver and passenger door ODBEleven info if someone wants to try this themselves rather then go to the dealer.


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## SRTopDog (Jun 22, 2016)

Wonder if Canada vs US version means anything different....?


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## BWB8771 (Jul 9, 2007)

Came here as I'm seeing something similar on my 2019 SEL-P. Here's the NHTSA filing of the "66-20-03TT-Exterior Heated Mirror Inoperative" tech tip:


https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10183412-0001.pdf


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