While driving home from San francisco tonite, with my rear view mirror in the auto dim mode, I suddenly heard a loud cracking sound and thought my windshield had been hit by a good sized rock. It turns out it the loud crack noise was the rear view mirror. The mirror immediately looked like it was covered with water, but the liquid was all internal in the mirror. Over the next minute or so, the liquid inside the mirror moved around randomly and finally settled inside the top half of the mirror. That part of the mirror now has a distorted reflection, like someone smeared vasiline on it. The lower half of the mirror is fine.

I'm sure it has something to do with the auto dim feature. Any ideas what may have caused this? Any ideas how much a new rear view mirror costs?

 

no and no. But, it sounds like something out a horror movie. Don't look directly into it!

 

I just checked on Ebay and there's 5 of them for sale if you look under 'xk8 mirror'.

Looks like the lowest 'buy-it-now' price is $99.

 

They fail all the time, but have never heard anything as dramatic as that... search this forum for "Auto Dimming Rearveiw Mirror Replacement" and it seems to say you can get a replacement for $75. You then have to send them your old mirror. Wish I knew that before I spent $145 on Ebay. Note, the misspelling is a copy and paste from the post I think you have to spell it that way to find it.

 

The FAQ sticky above has all the info on the mirror; how to order and how to install.

Great documentation by Gordo.

 

When mine let go last year it dripped all over the console. Took me a few minuted to figure out what the heck was going on!

 

If you unplug the mirror the goo will neutralize and you can see again. That is until you decide if you want to get it fixed. Mito (www.mitocorp.com)may be able to supply you with a new one for about 100.00 They are the folks who are doing the mirrors with heads-up display and camera's in the rear views of new Fords. Its the mount point that is the question.

 

Go to my page and select the how to link you will see information on the mirror repair. I have additional info but have not posted it. If you have a question I will try to answer.

 

Gee, I hope mine never explodes...or implodes for that matter. What a nightmare. At least the fluids are contained, unlike the green goo from the hydraulic failure above.

What, we've got no smiley for a green shower? That'd get used quite a bit.

 

Here's an update - I contacted Sybesma Electronics. They can provide a rebuilt replacement mirror. The cost is $75 + $75 for shipping and handling, + a $200 refundable core charge.

 

$75 for shipping and handling??? Where are they shipping it from??

 

Oops! My bad. I read the Sybesma email wrong. $150 for Canada and Mexico. $75 + S&H for U.S.

 

After posting a problem, I was trolling on this site and saw your post on your mirror imploding. Same thing happened to mine, except I parked my car outside in 98-100 degree weather at the airport of a week. Hadn't noticed any goo leaking on the console perhaps might have dried in the hot sun. However noticed the cracked mirror when I was driving home.
What did you end up doing? How much was your replacement mirror?

 

One of the items changed by my previous owner was the rear view mirror.

I'm wondering if keeping it on all the time has anything to do with it?
Does it make sense to turn off the dimming feature?

 

If your mirror has failed I strongly advise removing it from the car - the liquid is corrosive and will eat its way out of the mirror and damage the centre console.

Mine was bad when I bought the car and I just replaced it with a non-dimming one from an X308.

 

Absolutely right, no time to wait,
i changed my mirror 3 weeks ago with this one:

05-08 ACURA RL REAR VIEW MIRROR | eBay

The newer mirrors, labeled Magna not Donnelly have a Gel inside, no risk for leaking.

 

Is that Acura mirror a straight plugnplay swap for the Jaguar mirror or is there rewiring to do?

 

Many thanks to batroute and Dale Meyer: page 10

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...acement-17719/

 

Sybesma Electronics did a fast repair and turn around for a reasonable price on my rear view mirror. The new mirror has been on the car for over a year and a half and it works perfectly.

 

Probably not everyones cup of tea but I replaced my knackered XK8 mirror with one from a mk4 Mondeo Titanium. It cost £13 from ebay and a few connections and a little engineering change and it was in inside 1 hour
Works a treat.