Installation Instructions
Receiving your mirrors
Upon receiving your NXTGEN Extended View™ blind spot mirrors, you may see what initially looks like scratches, haze or other defects in the glass. The vast majority of the time, that is not the case. We hand assemble and inspect each mirror set prior to packaging and shipping, to ensure they meet our high quality standards. During the manufacturing process of our outer clamshell packaging, each unit is very tightly shrink wrapped with a virtually invisible layer upon ejection from the machinery. This extra layer of protection will often get scratched and marred in transit so that the mirrors and package don’t. With or without this shrink wrap, please remember, the look of the outer packaging is not an accurate representation of the actual mirror glass. In the below example, you’ll see the left side of the package shows this hazy scratched look. On the right side the wrap is peeled back and this haze is gone. No matter what, the mirrors inside are crystal clear. Please remove the mirrors from the package for a true representation of the glass condition and clarity, as all aspects of the packaging are simply intended to protect the mirrors while in transit.
Additionally, the glass is secured into the injection molded bases using a pliable adhesive. Despite curing the adhesive prior to packing, some conditions during shipping may cause tiny bits of the pliable adhesive to seep out onto the glass. 99% of the time these visible ‘defects’ seen while unpacking the mirrors are simply adhesive, not chips, and will quickly and easily come off with rubbing alcohol. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our team.
Surface Preparation
Before adhering your Extended View™ Blind Spot Mirrors, it is important to prepare your factory sideview mirrors by throughly cleaning and drying them. It is recommended to use 70% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, which will remove all contaminates and residues. This surface preparation will promote the best possible adhesion between the 3M adhesive and your factory sideview mirrors.
For the best results, it is recommended to install the Extended View™ mirrors at a minimum ambient temperature range between 65 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. If the ambient temperature is below this range, it is recommended to warm your factory sideview mirrors with a hair dryer prior to installation. If installing in a warm environment, you may skip this step.
Determining The Proper Placement
To prevent breakage during shipment, many of our mirror products will sit in the package differently than they orient or align on the vehicle. BMW X model SUVs will switch sides and rotate 180 degrees (upside down) versus how they sit in the package.
Package Mirror B
B
Driver Side
Installing
Always test fit prior to adhering the mirrors on your vehicle to determine the proper fitment. Once you’ve completed your test fit and the factory mirror surface is properly prepped, remove the adhesive backing and carefully move the mirrors into position without contacting the factory mirror. Once aligned to your preferred position, press in place.
Driver Side
B
Flip and rotate from package orientation
Setting The Adhesive
A critical step in the installation process is to set the adhesive between the mirrors. In order to achieve this, lightly heat each blind spot mirror for 1-2 minutes per side. We recommend using a hair dryer in order to heat the area up without it getting too hot (no heat guns). Be sure to evenly heat the areas around the top, bottom and sides.
Once the adhesive has been heated up a bit, use a microfiber rag or soft terrycloth towel to massage the blind spot mirrors to your factory mirrors. Not a lot of pressure is needed, and should be a similar amount of force as cleaning the mirrors. Use caution as the mirrors may be hot to the touch after heating. It is recommended to massage the blind spot mirrors onto your factory mirrors after heating for about 30 seconds per side.
By heating the adhesive and then massaging the blind spot mirrors to your factory mirrors, the adhesive between both mirrors is activated and a permanent bond has been created until you wish to remove. If this step is skipped, the blind spot mirrors may fall off after installation, as they have not been properly set.
Setting Your Mirrors
Driver Side Mirror
The single biggest factor to getting the most out of your blind spot mirrors is how you set your factory mirrors. Adding Extended View mirrors ™ to poorly set factory mirrors will not make a sizable difference in your overall visibility. Additionally, adding Extended View mirrors ™ to your vehicle and not resetting your factory mirrors to account for them will not allow you to get the most out of them, either. The driver side factory mirror that comes standard on all North American vehicles is flat, non-convex glass. This means the factory mirror has no curvature and our curved blind spot mirrors will provide the largest increase in visibility on this side. We recommend using the SAE method on the driver side. Push your factory mirror glass out far enough that you don’t see any of your vehicle or the car directly behind you in your factory mirror. As you can see in our example, you should be watching your blind spot mirror while making these adjustments. Your final position should have your vehicle and the area just behind you out of view in the factory mirror, but it should be clearly visible in the blind spot mirror. When using the SAE method, your are pushing your factory mirror out far enough to see a car passing in the typical blind spot go from your center to your side mirror without interruption. By doing so, you are making a sizable blind spot around the vehicle and you still cannot see the further outer section, right near the limit of your peripheral vision. When carefully adjusting your factory mirror on the driver side per the example, you are gaining significant visibility in the outer and top areas as seen in magenta. You can also see your rear tire, bumper, parking lines and the curb as marked with teal. The area along your vehicle where there could be pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles or obstructions when maneuvering are now visible in pink, and a significant area along and behind the vehicle is now visible in green.
Passenger Side Mirror
The passenger side factory mirror is convex, curved glass, which naturally gives a wider field of view. Since curved glass causes distortion, you can tell the passenger side mirror on your vehicle is convex because it will say on the mirror ‘objects in mirror are closer than they appear’, and the driver side does not say this. As such, the blind spot mirror and factory mirror on the passenger side will be curved at similar ratios, and possibly show a similar view. Having a blind spot mirror on the passenger side is still useful though, it just requires a different approach versus the driver side to provide the largest benefit. What we recommend for the passenger side is to angle the factory mirror inward and down more than normal. Unlike the driver side, you’ll want to see along the vehicle a bit, the rear tire, lines, curb and just behind the vehicle in the factory mirror. While positioning, watch the blind spit mirror and position so that in addition to seeing the blind spots around the vehicle in the factory mirror, you are seeing the upper and and outer dead zones in your blind spot mirror. In our example, you can see additional outer areas in green and the upper areas in red. Despite already having a larger field of view versus the driver side factory mirror, there is still added visibility and utility to be had when you set your passenger mirror to combine the benefits of both mirrors.
Removing Extended View™ Mirrors
Should you ever wish to remove your Extended View™ mirrors, the process is very simple and takes only a few minutes. Start by carefully positioning fishing line behind one of the corners. Then pull the line side to side behind the blind spot mirror, separating the adhesive bond between them and your factory mirrors.
Once the blind spot mirrors have been removed, some adhesive is likely to remain attached to your factory mirrors. It is recommended to heavily saturate this remaining adhesive with rubbing alcohol or Goo Gone and let it sit for a few minutes. Then gently wipe away the remaining adhesive. You may need to re-saturate the remaining adhesive a few times.
Clean your factory mirrors one final time after removing the remaining adhesive with either glass cleaner or rubbing alcohol and your sideview mirrors will be restored to like-new condition.
