A8 - D2 Auto Folding Mirrors
 

Dunno if anybody would still be interested in this, I've had my A8 now for about 12 years and for about the last 11 found it annoying and dangerous at times when trying to get out of the car (having already folded them).

So I having finally got around to having look at several different ways of how to do this with the least amount of work / wiring hacking etc.

In my case I wanted the mirrors to fold when the locked but not to unfold until the key was in the in ignition. I also wanted it to be totally dead when off. I.e no constant draw of any mA at all..

In my case I fitted a switch to the rear door the detects locking and a relay and two mini timer circuits in the pass footwell near the mirror fold unit.

If there is any real interest in this please let me know and I will follow up with more info.

I would expect once you have all the bits, it would take less that a couple of hours to install (including making cuppa's) and costs about £20

And I guess it would also work for any car that uses the same folding control relay.

I just need to get out of the habbit of reaching for the folding knob before getting out lol

Daz

Sounds interesting. +++ I'd be interested in the detail of that if you have time to write it up.

It's all quite difficulty, logically.
My ideal would be:
Able to fold mirrors in while driving, and unfold obviously, for tight situations.
Able to decide before exiting whether mirrors fold on locking.
Unfolding I'm not too bothered about, but on balance I'd probably prefer that this wasn't automatic. I'm thinking of winter conditions especially.

There's a circuit that is live for a just short time after the ignition is off, used to allow window closure etc. - I used it on my PF for the add-on dimming mirror.
Ideally a "fold" process would be triggered if: door switch is in the "fold" position, ignition is off, that "delay" circuit is live and the car is locked.

So, the way I would use it is: Ignition off, key out, mirror switch to fold, get out, lock car. Mirrors fold.
If you were slow exiting, just unlock & relock the car with the remote.

Yes the windows do remain powered for about 12 mins after the key is removed, however this is on the providing that the drivers door is not open / closed as once it's been closed power is lost.

You can power the mirror unit all the time, however on my tests it was using something like 0.012 amps unfolded and 0.025 folded... (annoying as uses more when folded).... both readings are low but still add up and I don't wanna add more constant drain, than is already there.

This is exactly what im planning on doing i hate having to do it manualy,

idealy id like mine to open out when the car is unlocked and close when its locked would also be nice to keep the functionality of the door control

I've wired mine to fold on shutoff and fold back out when the car is started. I maintained use of the switch as well.

Thats what I would want. Do you have a schematic for how you wired that?

Getting there
 

Right, I wanted the following 5 things to happen regarding the Auto folding.

01. Basically I wanted the door mirrors to fold once the alarm was armed via remote or maybe by manually locking the door with the key. * So I could fully exit the car still being able to look in the mirrors to assist with my exit.

02. Mirrors only to unfold once the key was in the ingition. * So if I was to simply go back to the car to retrieve something they would not need to open and therefore refold.

03. That the original mirror control would still function as it should. * So when in the car wash or tight squeeze I can still control them as I did before.

04. Not to be a constant drain on the battery

05. A de-activate switch to disable the auto-fold option.

The first 4 I have done, while the 5th would be easy, however I've not really found a suitable switch I like the look of as I would like it to look stock rather than some hack. (But have not spent a great deal of time looking) and was thinking I might wire it into the seat memory on / off ... maybes...

Parts required

1 x 5 Pin Relay (with 87a, also sometimes called a change over relay) £2.50
1 x Sec Timer board £1.50
1 x Min Timer Board £12.50
1 x Mini project Box £2.50
1 x Micro Switch £1.00

Some wire of course and connectors for relay and switch etc but could be soldered directly I guess.

As you can see it's about £20 in parts

I already had the switch and relay, but I did buy both timer boards from e-bay. I can supply the auction item numbers (if required), one is in China and the other was Bulgaria.

The reason for 2 timer boards is , one will keep the power live once key removed (can be set for upto about 12 and half mins), mine is set to about 3 mins. The second timer pulses for just a second when the ignition is turned on. This triggers the unfold.

There is a load of different ways this could be done, including a quick dirty way of just feeding the mirror control unit power all the time or from the window power and a simply changer over reply with the ignition power is removed

I've basically done the write up, however my lovely phone (which has the pics), is not playing ball when I connect it to the computer. So I will address this issue and upload in one go.

All I can say so for is works great and never fails to fold / unfold (I'm just about now getting out of the habit of reaching for the mirror fold knob before removing the key).

Couple of quirks to note.... due to the way the circuit is powered on when auto closing the windows (i.e. via the alarm or keeping the key held in the door lock), this will delay the folding of the mirrors (no biggie)... Also if you unlock the car again before the timer has run out (in my case 3 mins) then the mirrors will unfold, or course they will still auto fold again assuming the timer is still running (again no real biggie).

I know I could have messed with a circuit and done it all in one but for the price of the timers I didn't see the point.

Anyway very easy to do and I will be happy help anyone.... let me know if ya need them ebay no.s

Daz

P.s. Will try and get the write and pics up by the weekend.

Sergey discovered a while ago that the PF switches fit the small blanking panel to the right of the ignition switch in the FL '8s.

Even better, if you want a simple on /off switch (avoiding relays), then you can use the hazard warning switch and change the cover plate with one from another switch. That's going to look as 'stock' as you'll get.

I'm using that space for a switch (in situ but not yet wired) to control video-in-motion on my DVB-T tuner.

I'm using a latching (push-on-push-off) switch (think it was a hazard warning initially) but with the cover from the rear blind switch as that looks more appropriate. They pop off and swap over very easily.

I've read write-ups of people (in the USA) also using a PF switch there to control a garage door opener.