Painted wing mirrors - why ?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 30 May 2006 17:44
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - carl_a
Why do cars have the wing/door mirrors painted? They are usually connected via bits of black plastic and to me it looks daft to have painted bits sticking out. Its also a lot more expensive to replace them after a hit, I can understand door handles are painted as it blends in with the car but mirrors just don't seem right to me.

Anyone else agree with me ?
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Tue 30 May 2006 17:51
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Altea Ego
Anyone else agree with me ?

not me
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Tue 30 May 2006 17:52
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - component part
Nope; I disagree.

I see your point, but it's a pointless point:-)

If you disagree with painted wing mirrors for asthetic reasons then that's just personal preference. If you are talking from a design/repair cost logic perspective then it strikes me as irrelavent. Do you have the same argument against cars without side rubbing strips, body coloured bumpers, alloy wheels and fancy/complex headlight designs? In this day and age of mass manufacturing and technology the cost of having painted mirrors is hardly worth thinking about.

They're my thoughts on the subject.
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Tue 30 May 2006 18:29
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - jc2
As with KA wings,people don't want plain plastic!!
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Tue 30 May 2006 20:13
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - carl_a
Body coloured bumpers, alloy wheels and removing the side strips all improve the look of the car. Painted mirrors don't look the same as the window area, which is usually black, by painting them they don't look colour coordinated at all

If you look at the VW Touran on the right side of the screen the door mirror sticks out, if it was black it would be the same colour at the door and look much better IMHO.
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Tue 30 May 2006 20:08
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - grafen
I think they look better colour coded TBH.

What I can't understand is why more & more manufacturers are fitting indicator repeaters in them. Must cost a packet to replace. Oh, now I get it...
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Tue 30 May 2006 20:42
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Altea Ego
Yes you wince a bit when people get a bit close...I cant imagine what mine would cost....
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Tue 30 May 2006 21:23
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Tomo
I liked chrome, but they became pitted. Stainless steel wanted.
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Tue 30 May 2006 21:38
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Pugugly {P}
Some have been replaced with even more expensive to replace indicator repeaters.
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Tue 30 May 2006 23:10
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - AlanGowdy
I should have thought it obvious - painted mirrors make the car go faster.
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Tue 30 May 2006 23:15
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Sofa Spud
I quite like body-coloured mirrors although it probably makes replacement more involved.

However drivers seem more mirror conscious these days since all modern cars have two door mounted mirrors. Up until the late 70's or early 80's many saloon cars didn't have any external mirrors, so when new cars at first had to have a driver's side mirror and then one on both sides, a lot of drivers forgot about them and clipped other vehicles' ones. Plus the fact that they didn't resist impact as well as more modern ones.

If you want mirror excess take a look at some modern coaches that look like praying mantises!
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Tue 30 May 2006 23:39
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Waino
When my son broke the black plastic mirror on SWMBO's old Fiesta, a new replacement cost £20. What would a colour coordinated replacement cost? And what if it was a BMW, Saab, Merc etc?
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Tue 30 May 2006 23:41
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Pugugly {P}
And what if it was a BMW, Saab, Merc etc?

The mind boggles, but to give you an idea, SWMBO had a J plate civic (company car 1992ish ?) Mirror got smashed whilst it was parked, the parts cost £140.00 !
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Wed 31 May 2006 00:03
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Altea Ego
The ran is colour coded, electric operation, electric heated, and with a side repeater. Anything less than 200 quid to replace a mangled one will be a suprise!
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Wed 31 May 2006 08:51
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Red Baron
Just make sure that the colour of the car matches the colour of the plastic - black.

My wing mirror once won a duel with one on a Vauxhall Tigra. The Tigras fell off whereas mine didn't even move! Hah!
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Wed 31 May 2006 09:01
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - cheddar
The previous Vectra mirrors fancily faired in actually work a treat and on pre facelift (95-99) models where the mirrors are slightly smaller they do not stick out more than an inch or so beyond the exremities of the wheel arch etc. Makes them very unlikely to get bashed, also because the inner edge of the mirror glass is almost in line with the side window they are great for reversing.
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Wed 31 May 2006 10:37
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - mare
My wing mirror once won a duel with one on a
Vauxhall Tigra. The Tigras fell off whereas mine didn't even
move! Hah!


Given your name, i now have visions of a shilouette of a Tigra on your door.
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Wed 31 May 2006 09:34
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - pmh
I'll agree with you! If I lost one on even the (new) Picasso I would probably replace with the grey plastic unpainted version. The same appies to bumper covers. But then I tend to keep cars from new till they are thrown away.

However the increased mpg obtainable as a result of the decreased wind turbulance from having similar coated body components may influence my decision. Particularly if it was regularly parked in a 'mine is bigger/faster/more expensive than yours' company carpark.


--

pmh (was peter)


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Wed 31 May 2006 10:13
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - oldgit
The simple fact is that unpainted external plastics on modern cars soon look very shabby if not kept buffed up and clean, the worst, seemingly to be the greyer plastic 'bumpers' which, after a few years of neglect soon make the car look like an old banger.

Although not very practical and adding to manufacturing cost, I suppose, external plastics should always be colour coded.
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Wed 31 May 2006 17:53
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Tornadorot
The simple fact is that unpainted external plastics on modern cars
soon look very shabby if not kept buffed up and clean,
the worst, seemingly to be the greyer plastic 'bumpers' which, after
a few years of neglect soon make the car look like
an old banger.


Nothing a good squirt of Back to Black couldn't fix (unless you're talking about the rapidly fading plastic bits on a Corsa B...)
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Wed 31 May 2006 10:59
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - L'escargot
Why do cars have the wing/door mirrors painted?


In point of fact they're not usually painted but are a plastic coating. I imagine that the stylists think that the overall effect looks nicer with them in a colour matching the body.

And I agree.
They are usually
connected via bits of black plastic and to me it looks
daft to have painted bits sticking out.


On my car the "black bits" are predominantly fairly thin trim components covering the attachment parts and are made of a different material from the mirror housings. They also match other trim parts on the doors. If all the parts were body colour the car would look too much of a muchness. A bit of contrast is very desirable.

I've had cars where the whole of the mirror housing and associated trim parts were matt black and they looked very drab and down-market.
--
L\'escargot.
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Wed 31 May 2006 12:12
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Group B
According to CAR magazine the new BMW 320si (homologation model for the WTCC car) has gloss black painted door mirrors regardless of body colour; but obviously its for styling reasons, not cheapness of replacement!
I think a little bit of black trim on cars looks good and breaks up the big panels of colour, but too much looks cheap and nasty.

I sold on Ebay some old electric adjustable/heated door mirrors (plain black plastic) off a H-reg Saab 9000, in well-used condition, and expected to get ten quid for each, but got £25 for the nearside and £75 for the offside. To buy new mirrors for a 9000 from Saab they are still £140 each. You can get a whole car for a few hundred quid on Ebay.
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Wed 31 May 2006 15:42
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - wazza
as said above i am not keen on door mirror units fitted with indicators. expensive to replace true but if you decide not to fix it yet till you could source one from a breakers yard etc you can get done by the law for driving a car with defective light :-( then again you might not cos they are busy catching speeding drivers
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Wed 31 May 2006 16:16
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - oldgit
as said above i am not keen on door mirror units
fitted with indicators. expensive to replace true but if you decide
not to fix it yet till you could source one from
a breakers yard etc you can get done by the law
for driving a car with defective light :-( then
again you might not cos they are busy catching speeding drivers


I stand to be corrected but I am led (excuse the pun - see later) to believe that my door mirror's indicators on my MK 5 Golf are in fact fitted with LED lights (for longevity, I suppose, rather than filament bulbs).
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Wed 31 May 2006 16:18
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - MichaelR
Why do cars have the wing/door mirrors painted? They are usually
connected via bits of black plastic and to me it looks
daft to have painted bits sticking out. Its also a lot
more expensive to replace them after a hit, I can understand
door handles are painted as it blends in with the car
but mirrors just don't seem right to me.


Becuase they look nice.

Did you know that to some of us, car ownership is more than just a way of getting from A to B as cheaply as possible? Some of us actually like cars.

For those who don't there are millions of little Corsa 1.2's out there with practical wheeltrims, practical black plastic bumpers and practical black wingmirrors.

I suggest you test drove one, you'd love it.
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Wed 31 May 2006 16:51
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Xileno {P}
I must have painted mirrors, black plastic looks so 80's.
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Thu 1 Jun 2006 01:18
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Peter C
Painted wing mirrors - so last Century! Chrome is where it is at now. Just look at many Audis with them. Soon a chav near you will have them on his Saxo.

Peter C
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Thu 1 Jun 2006 07:47
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - L'escargot
Painted wing mirrors - so last Century! Chrome is where it
is at now.


Only imitation chrome though, I bet!
--
L\'escargot.
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Thu 1 Jun 2006 08:44
Painted wing mirrors - why ? - Waino

Did you know that to some of us, car ownership is
more than just a way of getting from A to B
as cheaply as possible? Some of us actually like cars.
For those who don't there are millions of little Corsa 1.2's
out there with practical wheeltrims, practical black plastic bumpers and practical
black wingmirrors.


How very astute. Unfortunately, half the twerps in this country don't have the mathematics to be able to think this through - one reason for the massive debt levels.
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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?