I poste this on a UK site some time back an didn't get a useful answer - when I look in my rear view mirror I see two images of whatever is following me! One is slightly offset and above the main image. The offset is slight - so a car behind appears to have four headlights - two above the others. The second image is also a bit ghosted. it is very distracting!

The mirror is electronic and appears to have a flat clear central section surrounded by a slightly fogged out perimeter. All I want to do is stick a conventional flat (plain) mirror over the existing one - but where can I get one?
(Note - the glass is within the plastic surround so the new mirror must be the same shape as the original).

 

Hi.


The electrochromative mirror is filled with some corrosive liquid. When it starts failing, the liquid will soon start dripping making irremovable spots at your gearshift surround.

 

Yes I had that on one of my XJ's. The door mirror failed, but it cleared from the top as the fluid leaked out. That's different to what I'm seeing on the XK.

 

Jim, can you post a picture? It sure sounds like a fluid issue, but as you have seen it before, I'm stumped what this could be.

As far as putting a simple mirror over it, I'm not familiar with anyone doing that, most seemed to opt for replacing the entire mirror with a simple one if they don't want to fix or replace the original. An Acura mirror also fits, but requires some rewiring. I believe there is something in the FAQ about it.

 

K Westra - the trouble is the mirror has the light sensor + the wiper sensors in it so changing the whole thing could open up ANOTHER can of worms! I will try to take a pic but the effect is so subtle I'm not sure it will show up. Unfortunately the car is in the 'shop right now (having the dampers replaced and heater fixed), so it could be a few days.

I have two XJ8's with similar mirrors, but they don't have the ghosted surround effect so they don't have the ghost image effect. Looking closely I can see a very fine black line around the plain section of the mirror before the slightly fogged surround starts.

When my door mirror failed it went a kind of bronze colour that slowly moved towards the bottom of the glass. This is totally different. I was hoping some-one else had noticed the same effect!

 

Finally snappe a pic - you can see the clear section in the middle.

 

Jim, looks like the defective mirror to me. I replaced mine last year, I previously posted the price and source to swap it with a new one you can search for it if you like.

If you look into this, you will find many many warnings about the mirror swap procedures. Some of us have cracked the windshield. I followed the instructions posted elsewhere in this forum all went well.