Ls400 Wing Mirror - Differences Between Rhd And Lhd Cars?

[DevonNick]

Hi

Someone smashed my near side (passenger) door mirror. Not wanting to pay a Lexus main dealer £350 for a new one I sourced a 2nd had unit in the US and had it sprayed when it arrived. I then went through all the door panel removal and fitted it. However, when I went out in the car there were two issues:

1/ The mirror won't adjust in enough to set it correctly for a right hand drive car. So, did LHD cars have the motors set up differently as they do not need to turn in as much for the drivers side as the passenger side? Or, is there a way of setting to mirror so that it will adjust enough?

2/ The mirror will not fold in. Did Lexus make any mirrors for the US market which did not fold in or is this a fault with the mirror I have purchased? It is the correct 11 pin (auto dipping for a 1999 Mark 4) unit

If anyone can help with the above I would be very grateful,as I can't live with either problem for long!

Thanks

Nick

[mikeyv]

The only bit I can help you with is that my car is a 99 registered MKIV, but doesn't have self folding mirrors.

I may be wrong, but I think only the very last of the MKIVs had the folding mirrors, but whether the US cars were the same, I don't know.

[steveledzep]

Door mirrors from LH and RH drive cars do not interchange.

It's not to do with the extent of movement of the mirror glass, it's the angle of the housing to the door.

On a RHD car, the passenger mirror housing is roughly 45 degrees to the door as a 90 degree viewpoint is required from the driver's seat to see rearwards. It is the opposite way around on a LHD car.

The driver side mirror housing is not far off 90 degrees to the door.

Can't help with the folding in bit.

[ambermarine]

The Mark IV did not have folding mirrors.

[Cotswold Pete]

The Mark IV did not have folding mirrors.

My Mk4 (2000) has folding mirrors, so it must have been the very last of them that had it fitted in UK. I have not looked to see if the near and offside mounts are different.

[DevonNick]

Thanks for the responses. The summary is that I have bought, had sprayed and fitted the wrong mirror!! :(

Mine is a March 1999 car and definitely had folding mirrors - promise. I am now going to see if I can find a UK folding mechanism and transfer the rest from the one I have bought and sprayed.

[ambermarine]

I stand corrected.

[alien1974]

mine fold in manually, which i always do to save this sort of incident

[keybasher2]

My 99 mk4 has leccy folders :D

[rynd2it]

The US mirrors are totally different from UK spec ones - one has a convex glass and the legend "Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear" and the other side has a split view to give a wide angle as well as normal. 

FWIW

[DevonNick]

Thanks David. I have found this out by experience! I now have a UK passenger mirror which makes everything look miles away. I need to sort out whether I can exchange the mirror glass for the correct type, but at the moment am glad to be able to see out of it. My first challenge is to find time to change my front and rear discs and pads and fit my newly delivered Moog front upper wishbone arms - as well as numerous jobs on my two 80 Landcruisers.

[39buss]

Early MK 4's 'R' reg,  did NOT have electric folding mirrors.  They were on later 'V' reg models onwards.  I looked at a 'V' reg a couple of weeks ago near Durham and it had electric folding mirrors and a price tag of £3000 and   " I  wont give it away for less than £2600". 

[thatfatbloke]

Funny how we still call them 'wing' mirrors innit. I think the last car I had with the mirrors on the wings (where I personally prefer them) was a Triumph Herald.

[rynd2it]

6 minutes ago, thatfatbloke said:

Funny how we still call them 'wing' mirrors innit. I think the last car I had with the mirrors on the wings (where I personally prefer them) was a Triumph Herald.

Don't start that, took me ages to learn all the bits on an American car, now I'm back in the UK after 20 years and relearning everything I forgot. But door mirrors are much safer, try driving something now with mirrors 4 feet away.