Heated Mirrors on the 2000 ML. are they both heated
 

I have the later model ML 2000 the one one with the 4" inch scream.

On my sticker it said that I have heated mirrors. And I notice when I turn on the deforster the driverside mirror will melt and deforst ice and snow but not the passanger side.

I want to know if both of the mirrors are heated and has anyone confirmed it (like seeing ice and snow melt from the mirror(s) when the defroster is on)

I am planing to take my ML in for maintanance It would be nice to have them fix that too while it is in the shop.

blau

Yes, they are both heated on all models. This is temperature dependent, not dependent on the rear window defogger switched on. If it is cold enough, (I believe under 35 f? may be warmer than that even) they are on all the time.
Gilly

Gilly,

I am scheduled to take my benz in for them to take a look, along with the scheduled A maintanance. I curious how would they check to see that it is working??

Thanks

ben

If one is working and the other one isn't, i would check for power at the connector on the inop side. If power is there but the glass isn't warming, it's the glass. If no power is there, they're going to have to get out the wiring diagram and find where the problem is.
Gilly

Gilly, I got a phone call from my service advisor
 

I just got a phone call from my service advisor. He said that his their mechanic took a look at my passanger side mirror and it is not equip with headed passanger side mirror. He said they took it apart and can't find any heating component there.

My problem is on my window sticker it saids heated mirrors (plural). Is there a way I could find out if My ML is suppose to be equip with headed mirrors (plural) or just heated driver side mirror.

Could I check it against the vin??

thanks
ben

Blau:
I sent you a PM, so make sure you look at that.
In regards to what is going on, here's my take on it:
I have a 98 ML320 owners manual, and in the section for "Exterior rear view mirrors" it states "The exterior rear view mirrors have electrically heated glass. The heater switches on automatically, depending on outside temperature.".
They've always been heated as far as I know. I can research this a little and let you know if I come across some other info. I can't believe they made it standard on 98 and took it away in 99 or 2000, if anything they made them fancier, although the early models seemed like they always had a trip computer, and later on you saw less of them. But still, if it was on your window sticker.....
And you could also check your owners manual too. For example the trip computer, if I look that up in the owners manual, it says Trip Computer (Optional), but the heated mirrors it doesn't say (Optional). So look in your index and find the page for exterior rear view mirrors, and see if it mentions the heated glass as being optional or not. I think it's standard. I can't be there to hold the dealers hand and show him what's wrong, so maybe there is another dealer you can take it to, or you need to talk to someone else at this dealer, like the manager, or the shop foreman, to get this squared away. If you want, I can spend a little time researching it to see if there is a logical explaination on why they don't see the heater connection.
Gilly

Gilly, thanks for you help.
 

Yesterday. While my car was still at the dealer. I called mercedes usa. They said My 2000 ML had heated mirrors (driver side and passanger). They suggested that I contact the service manager and said if they have any question they could call mercedes usa.

I called back the dealer and talked to the service advisor with the information. He said he will get a 2nd opinion. He called me back later and said it was fixed. Apparently the mirror was "timed out" a software thing, but it was fixed.

But we will see. I am going skiing this weekend.

So, thanks.

I guess the lesson learn is information is key and king. What is why this forem is so important and helpful.

Blau:
I had a chance to research mirror heating a little, here is what I have learned:
The connectors are on the "inboard" part of each mirror. If you run the power mirror so it's tipping out away from the body, you will see the 2 power wires, they are both blue.
Power and ground are always provided to the glass provided the ignition switch is on. There is a bimetallic switch in the back of the mirror, you can see the housing it is in if you have the mirror off. If the bimetallic switch is cold enough, it will close circuit and warm the mirror. Once the bimetallic switch is warm enough, it will open circuit and the glass is no longer heating. There really isn't any where in the circuit that I'm aware of that software would be an issue.
If you start the truck when it's cold outside, and wait even half a minute or so, you will feel that the mirror glass is actually getting quite hot.
As long as the blue wires are providing power and ground with the ignition "ON" the heaters should work providing it's cold enough. If not, I'd suspect the bimetallic switch is bad, and a new mirror glass is needed.
Gilly

gilly, thanks for the research.
 

My service advisor did said it was fix. They did do a good job on the other things, like turning on my fog light switch.

Like I said I will going skiing this weekend. I could pack the mirror with snow and we will see.

thanks again

blau

On going story.
 

Gilly and all,

After it that was all said and done. I came the conclusion that the mirror is still not heating on the passange side.

I guess I have to take in the ML again.

Gilly thanks for the information from your last posting. Another question. How do you take the mirror off to see if the switch is bad??

I am planing to take it to the dealer. But I jsut want to know.

ben

I just tested one of these yesterday, what a coincidence!
I used one of the picks from my pick set, an "L" shaped end on it. There are 6 tabs that secure the glass to the motor assembly, arranged in a circle. I used the pick to lift up on the tabs, once you get 3 of them unclipped, it'll pull off nice. I then disconnected the 2 heater wires and put the mirror in a freezer in the break room for an hour while I did other stuff on the truck. I was testing it because I was doing a Starmark inspection on the truck. I thought the temp outside was borderline on if the heaters would work or not. Only the drivers side seemed to be heating. It worked fine after freezing it, so I am assuming there is a minor difference in the temp switch in the mirror.
Gilly

just to clairfied. Did the passanger mirror heat up?
 

Did the passanger mirror not heat up at all or at different temp? I assume that there were power to the heators to the passanger mirrors?

Just for future references. Are there a seperate set of wires for the mirror heators and another set of wires for the mirror motors, or are they both power from the same wires.

Gilly,

You would check the mirrors heated for a starmark inspection. I wish you were my mechanic.

blau

Blaumeister:
Yes, it heated up fine after cooling it. I think the outside temp was just borderline on the temp switches in the mirror closing contact. After releasing the mirror clips, there are 2 seperate wires that conect to tabs on the back of the glass itself, that's for the heat. The power and ground are constantly there when the truck is running (or key on even, I think),it's up to the temp switches in the small housing on the back of the glass to turn the current on and off to operate the heater.
But I did get some funny looks in the break room when i put the mirror in there (they think I'm a goofball anyways). "Now what Gilly, you don't want the mirror to spoil?"
Gilly

gilly, how did you know the mirrors heated up.
 

gilly,

How did you determined the mirrors were heating up. Do you notice it getting hotter by touch or by another method??

blau

thanks
again.

But the way have you consider just getting a ice pack instead of taking it to the freezer??

You can feel it work, doesn't feel hot, just nicely warm.
No ice pack available, lucky if there is ice in the ice trays in the break room. I'm not sure if that would be effective or not, it may be more of an air temp thing, as the switch is in a housing behind the mirror.
Gilly