We need to talk about Side Mirror Controls

This one of the parts sourced from Mercedes. It's identical to the one in my C-class, so I felt right at home with how the side mirrors are adjusted.

I dont think the control was ever intended to be used for perpetual adjustments in the fashion you use them ....

I fully understand and appreciate the current setup - it keeps unintended adjustments from "happening" ... I rely, better yet, TRUST, that my mirrors will keep their adjustment. I've spent plenty of time at traffic lights and such setting them up to ensure no blind spots.

That being said, I do see where you are coming from, but disagree with your "use" of the control settings ....

steve841 said:

I dont think the control was ever intended to be used for perpetual adjustments in the fashion you use them ....

I fully understand and appreciate the current setup - it keeps unintended adjustments from "happening" ... I rely, better yet, TRUST, that my mirrors will keep their adjustment. I've spent plenty of time at traffic lights and such setting them up to ensure no blind spots..

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+1, I have my mirrors set just right and rely on them showing me the same area every time. I do not think they were designed to use as a sort of periscope to look around via a joystick.

I just set 'em and forget them. They tilt down when I'm in reverse so I can see where the car sides are, and I use the camera for orientation.

On the contrary, no one position of the mirrors is ever going to be universally useful. Not even two different settings for forward and reverse cover things like backing up a humped driveway, where the useful downward viewing angle can vary widely. So I'm with brianstorms: the mirror controls are needlessly difficult to use. My favorite design is the one in my old Acura: a single, knob-shaped joystick: twist-click the knob left or right to select a mirror and adjust the selected mirror with the joystick; twist-click to the center position to lock the settings. This is a direct and obvious control mapping with good tactile and lexical-level feedback (sorry for the jargon; I used to design user interfaces for medical equipment).

brianstorms said:

Ok, I give up. It must just be me. :-/

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I haven't found the buttons to be unreliable, but like the others I pretty much set them and forget them. What I'd suggest is to put the car in reverse and try to set the mirrors at an angle where you can barely see where the curb is, but also get as much coverage of the side of the car as you can. Then leave them there. Combine that with the rear camera and avoiding tight spots as best you can .

brianstorms said:

I think we have a disconnect here.

I'm not talking about normal highway driving, where one leaves the mirrors set at some reasonable setting. I am talking about in parking situations, mostly.

And here is an example of a better, simpler design, in my opinion, from a Lexus. A set of controls one can use entirely by feel:

View attachment 43024

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That is not really any easier to use than the Model S. There is a left and right side selection which you can do by feel, and a left/right/up/down rocker, where you just press in the direction you want it to move.

The center area between the left and right selector on the Model S control is for folding in/out the mirrors, which you can also do without looking.

You have the tech package--do you have the mirrors saved in a "reverse" position? Then they automatically move to/from that position when you move between "R" and "D". No manual fiddling needed. Perhaps that's the cause of the delay...they are in the process of "moving" to saved "R" position while you are trying to override that manually?

brianstorms said:

I have that disabled. Got the Tech package for other features

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Perhaps that's the problem Forcing things to work in a way that they weren't designed to, seldom has a good ending.

Just to add to the discussion and not defending Tesla however I think it is by design that the buttons have a not persistent state, anything that has a persistent state can't be controlled by software and ruled out of future Firmware fixes or updates.

Take a look in the car, not even the glove box is hardware driven which make exceptionally well open for further software updates.

brianstorms said:

So if I am not supposed to touch the settings while backing into a tight spot with all these other obstacles all around me, what am I supposed to do? Or if I am trying to parallel park on a busy street and I need to be able to see the curb so need to move the R mirror downwards so the curb is in view as I back in, but . . . don't touch the controls?

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turn your head?

Does the backup camera not provide enough information along with the side mirrors?

You have the functionality in the reverse tilt, yet you don't use it because you want the ability to customize the tilt for every individual occurrence? You say it doesn't work for you, perhaps you haven't properly adjusted the tilt to the appropriate angle? I really want to understand your dilemma, but honestly I don't know anyone who uses the side mirrors the way that you do. The reverse tilt is wonderful in that I can see how close I am to the curb as well as the car next to me. I don't need to adjust it, I set it and forget it. I've never needed to use the side mirrors in the way you describe. You are a rare bird, indeed!

Back when cars didn't have memory presets, reverse tilt or backup cameras I can understand wanting this. I honesty think it probably isn't needed now. You can still accomplish this just have to put car in park likely and adjust every time. Not easy to do though.

brianstorms said:

No. If it did I would not have opened this thread.

To be clear: backup camera is great. But useless when you're dealing with curbs running alongside one's car, in parking lots.

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That is what the tilt feature you decided not to use is great for. I love it and car see my rear wheels.

How is the 'memory' on these supposed to work?

I was under the impression that with the car in drive you adjust the mirrors for road usage. Then, you put the car in reverse and they tilt downwards, and you can further adjust for reverse parking usage. From then onwards, when you switch between drive and reverse they are supposed to automatically move between your two saved positions. Isn't that how they work?

If that is how they work, then what is the OP posters problem? Why do they need to be adjusted so often? Presumably he needs multiple different reverse positions (depending on road angle, parallel/straight parking, etc)?

brianstorms said:

Ok lemme ask this: can one pre-set the reverse tilt to one's liking? Or is there only one reverse-tilt mirror position for all? My assumption is the latter. If I am wrong, great.

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Yes, there is a separate memory for the reverse setting.

You put the car in reverse, adjust them to your liking and hit "save" on the touch screen. They will then go back to that setting every time you go into reverse.

brianstorms said:

Ok lemme ask this: can one pre-set the reverse tilt to one's liking? Or is there only one reverse-tilt mirror position for all? My assumption is the latter. If I am wrong, great.

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You're wrong, it's great. Just pre-set the result to your liking and they adjust every time you hit the 'R' shifter. I use the mirrors in exactly the way you describe you're looking for. Don't think I used the manual door interface in a year or more.