[IamDave]

Ok so after opinions on what I can do here.

I noticed this morning after defrosting the car (up at 5:30 for work) it was -2°C and the left hand mirror didn't unfold initially (I had to press the L&R buttons to fold them back in and out again.

Is there anyway of preventing the mechanism from freezing up so much? Would spraying some silicone spray into the housing help? (I used to this but now use autoglym vinyl and rubber care for the door seals to prevent them freezing/sticking in winter).

Unfortunately disabling the folding function doesn't really apply here. Reason being is where I park the car at home I have to manually fold the mirrors (as in by pressing the L&R buttons so I can get the car through a tight gap. The mirrors then just stay folded in (no point folding them back out!) until I move back through the gap where I need to unfold them to see where the wall is at either side.

Opinions/advice would be appreciated

Thanks
Dave

 

[Ghedi]

I also live in Yorkshire and had precisely the same issue at 5.30am yesterday morning. Being a relatively new V40 owner I would also be interested in any potential solutions to this.

 

[Xnark]

Not sure about any more technical solutions, but if you give the mirrors a gentle knock before unlocking the car they will move freely. It doesn't take much ice at all to stop them, so moving them manually about 1cm will easily break the part that's preventing them from moving.

 

[LateStarter]

Thankfully not something I'm likely to face unless I head to the snowy mountains in winter to ski but as I only hang around here to try & help fellow owners... In for a penny...
Probably sounds daft but could you guys not knock up some kind of sock type arrangement for your mirrors? Similar to the barrel covers I've seen used on tank & artillery barrels.
Something like thickish tent canvas on the outside with a soft paint friendly material lining on the inside with a drawstring type arrangement on one end?
Just a thought :blush:
On the off chance one of you runs with the idea & makes a killing selling them all over the UK & Europe... A 5% royalty should do very nicely thankyou :wink2:

 

[anixie]

-2 in Belgium too, and unfolding worked just fine.

 

[IamDave]

Thankfully not something I'm likely to face unless I head to the snowy mountains in winter to ski but as I only hang around here to try & help fellow owners... In for a penny...

Probably sounds daft but could you guys not knock up some kind of sock type arrangement for your mirrors? Similar to the barrel covers I've seen used on tank & artillery barrels.

Something like thickish tent canvas on the outside with a soft paint friendly material lining on the inside with a drawstring type arrangement on one end?

Just a thought :blush:

On the off chance one of you runs with the idea & makes a killing selling them all over the UK & Europe... A 5% royalty should do very nicely thankyou :wink2:

All I can picture now is my car with two socks hanging off each side like some floppy eared dog!

-2 in Belgium too, and unfolding worked just fine.

Your cold air must be better than our cold air it was icy this morning though and snow/ice from the previous day had melted and was probably still lurking in the housing somewhere!

 

[anixie]

Had quite some scratching to do... The Swedish thinghy proved to be highy useable

 

[techwatcher]

They aren't a great design and will freeze and refuse to unfold on icy mornings - surprising given the "Swedish" heritage. It doesn't seem to cause any problems; if I bethink myself I pour a little warm water over the housing before unfolding them. Breathing on them also works.

 

[24617]

On the nights where I knew it would be cold the next morning, I sprayed a squirt of de-icer preemptively on the mirrors and the windscreen wiper blades which seemed to help the next morning.

Yesterday morning however I was caught unprepared and had the same issue as you, drivers door mirror wouldn't unfold. It didn't try too hard so no damage done. A squirt of de-icer and the heaters on for a few minutes did the trick.

I use the de-icer from the Volvo Winter packs that were advertised on My Volvo.

 

[Sandy-V40]

Some problems you're having. Not to undermine the inconveniences you may have come across. During winter the temperatures around here can be anything from +10 °C down to –30 °C. As long as your mirror folding mechanism and the piano black parts where the mirror moves are dry, they won't ice and get stuck. So the key here is to get all water off your mirror folding mechanism. Try taking your car to a warm parking carage or similar for a couple of hours to dry it. The only times I've experienced icing problems with the power folding mirrors are usually after 0 temperatures with a lot of slush or melting snow building up around the mirrors. If your mirrors are iced, you could simply give them a nudge with your hand carefully, not applying too much force. Also the mirrors are heated, and I think that could partly help drying them also, if you use the heating function when the weather is wet before a cold night. I wouldn't bother using any chemicals or such. But I do recommend to switch off the auto folding function in the car menu. Hence when you arrive at your car in the morning, you can assess, whether your mirror may be stuck because of ice and not force the motors to turn them in such case. Stay warm and safe despite the winter.

 

[Survyman]

If the mirrors didnt fold out on starting it would be impossible to drive because the visibility looking over your right shoulder (UK) is non existant. Worst car ive had for it. Mind you try turning the headlights on manually whilst driving 'Can you even see the switches !!!! Still love the car though.
Nothings perfect.....well apart from the wife.....so she tells me !!!!!

 

[lancslad1985]

I had this issue once a while back and just slid my scraper into the gap and gently moved it back and forth whilst breathing warm air on it. It then unfolded no problem.

And I'm with you Survyman. Everything in the car seems to be in the perfect place for me bar the light switches, including the fog light. Stupid location but I also love the car!

 

[cas-couple]

Ours did this once drivers side only did not unfold gave it a gentle tap then pressed the buttons and it worked fine as for the light switches my last 3 cars all different makes/models all had the switch in the same place.

 

[motmot]

I'm a little disappointed with the speed/power of the heating in the mirrors.. on previous motors (E46 BMW - Golf) they cleared really fast and left the mirror steaming... seems to take a good 30 secs or more on the V40...

 

[john_goo]

Agree, the mechnism is not winter-proof and the heating is really poor. Did they ever test this in a cold Swedish winter???

 

[techwatcher]

Agree, the mechnism is not winter-proof and the heating is really poor. Did they ever test this in a cold Swedish winter???

They will no doubt have done cold-weather testing but I wonder if they didn't test in a cold, relatively moist climate like the UK...?

 

[john_goo]

Not only UK, also here in Germany it doesn´t work.

 

[Barnsey]

Do the heated door mirrors only work when the rear window defroster is on?

 

[richard.hann]

That is correct on the same system

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[Nurmatsi]

Agree, the mechnism is not winter-proof and the heating is really poor. Did they ever test this in a cold Swedish winter???

Right. Mine did not unfold at -1 C, with just a little frost on the car. The mirrors are definitely not winter-proof. The mechanism also sounds poor. Btw, does Volvo still have something to do with Sweden?