Tired of looking through that big clunky rear view mirror? Maybe the years have not been kind and it rattles around or it has lost its ability stay in one position? There's an upgrade-able solution!



I was recently perusing Nissan's part catalog (don't we all?) and they were running a back-to-school sale. I came across part #: T99L1-7LG0A which is the rear view mirror featured in the new Z and several other newer Nissans. It looks very similar to the frameless mirror that came with a recent (non-Nissan) vehicle purchase. In reality, it probably is the same one since it seems like all these are made by Gentex. Anyway, the Homelink controls are on the bottom and out of sight which makes it looks pretty slick. It apparently also has the ability to control some dedicated appliance in your house (probably through some type of home automation app/setup which, no thanks). The Homelink remote is battery powered and just pops out the bottom when it's time to replace.

Installation is super easy if you already have an auto-dimming mirror with Homelink. Unclip the wiring harness. Remove the torx T20 screw from the base of your existing mirror, slide this one on, and tighten it down. Don't get too crazy with tightening since you don't want to dislodge the rear view mirror bracket which is adhered to the windshield glass. Connect the existing wiring harness and boom! All set! No need to re-pin anything or alter any other wires. A true plug n' play solution.

Installed (with my old trusty V1 and mirror mount which has probably paid for itself about 30x over at this point):

 

Hey Heel!

Great feedback, Thank You for sharing! This is very slick. Does the auto-dimming feature still work as expected? Interesting that the homelink option relies on a battery, I would have thought it got power from the vehicle, but perhaps the battery option isn't bad if you don't have the car started it should still work (in theory). I don't even use homelink on my Z with the original mirror since my Garage Door openers are connected with my Samsung SmartThings (Smart Home) setup, meaning I can whip out my mobile and open the garage doors.

Also, does the mirror come with the ball mount/extension? Like the original? Or did you need to transfer the piece from the original? Also, did you have any issues with the harness length/position? It looks like the plastic cover for the harness is missing in your Z. Is this because there's not enough cable length/slack or some other reason?
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Hey Icer!

Yes - the auto-dimming works as expected. I did the quick install yesterday morning since I was taking the Z out to the office later in the day and wanted to see how I liked it. It really only should have taken about 5 minutes, but my two year old wanted to be involved and was crawling all over, pressing every button he could find, and then hiding various things. After the install, I started it and covered up the photocell sensor on the back of the mirror and it instantly started dimming as it should.

I didn't take too many pictures, but I snagged these off a fleabay ad. This is everything it came with - the full mirror assembly, remote, and mounting screw. Absolutely no need to swap over anything from the existing mirror.




I hadn't thought about the reason to change the universal garage door opener (UGDO) to battery power, but I guess that makes sense so you can use it without the car turned on. When I first got it out of the box, I pressed all the buttons and the little green indicator light lit up with each press. I guess you could also theoretically remove the opener from the mirror and program it to your door opener without being in the car. Or, according to this ad, you could remove it and take it with you. Why you would want to do that, I have no idea. lol.




I didn't get a chance to program it to any of the garage doors yet, but I assume the process is similar to most programming of just holding down the desired button to put it into "learn mode" and then pressing the applicable programming button on the garage opener. I also have a motorized gate that operates on a 433.92 MHz frequency. If I can get it to connect to that and my garage doors, then it will certainly eliminate the need to play "find the right remote" when I'm pulling up to the house.

If you don't currently use the Homelink on your current mirror (and don't have any plans to do so with this mirror), I think there is a different mirror assembly available that is a cheaper alternative. It still automatically dims, but it doesn't have the UGDO. When I was searching around, I think I remember seeing some options that were cheaper and then realized the difference since it didn't come with the opener.

There are no issues with the existing length of the wiring harness and no need to change anything else over as it comes with the articulating arm/ball assembly. As far as the missing plastic mirror finisher piece - you have a keen eye.




That's been off for about a decade. Haha. I think one of the end plastic "forks" doesn't have enough resistance to keep it in place and it kept falling off. I probably have it lying around somewhere. I seem to recall removing it for good when I hardwire-mounted my Valentine one since I ran the power to the interior fuse panel with a fuse tap. I don't see any reason that would not fit back on there.

 

If the opener remote is portable, that explains things about the battery. I could see this being useful if you live in a gated community with motorized entrances/exits.

I already ordered one, honestly I've just been lazy with the Homelink programming. It would be more convenient to use this feature vs. my mobile phone. Although this unit is frameless, the portable remote feature does add some extra depth to the back (thicker overall), I'm wondering if this moves the position of the mirror closer to the driver because of the ball mount arm.

Programming is pretty straightforward. I found the instructions for programming from Chamberlain HERE. There were some poor reviews with compatibility if you had a Genie garage door opener. But otherwise it should be easy.

Thanks for the write up and sharing!
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Ha! Of course, 2 of my 3 garage doors are Genie. Oh well. I guess I didn't really get the mirror for the garage door function.

I found the .pdf for the opener and attached it. Apparently, for some models, it requires downloading the ARQ Universal Remote Control app which appears to be non-existent and replaced by the myQ Garage & Access Control app. I'll try it out and see if it works. Not terribly high on the priority list, though.

Looking forward to seeing how you like it!

 

Hey @Heel Til I Die

Quick update for you and others who want to be baller with the frameless mirror. I just got mine installed this past weekend. The process was straightforward, the mirror was plug and play, everything works with the factory wiring harness. For some reason I got a slightly different model than you did, even though I swear I purchased the same P/N you listed. The only major difference is that my model doesn't have the removeable, battery powered remote, it's still builtin. Interestingly, the mirror is on a circuit that always has power (no key in ignition). So my theory about the battery powered unit is incorrect, only reason for that I can imagine is if you've got guests visiting or for some reason are using a loaner vehicle (like rental car while primary vehicle is in the shop).

The P/N displayed on the box I received is T99L1-7LG0A which does match up with the P/N you listed in your original post. I guess I could return the unit, but I don't see any reason to. The mirror glass/shape and features I want are all there, in my opinion this static button design (non-remote) is preferred. One less item I don't have to worry about replacing batteries on!

Here's the finished results after install. You can also see how I rigged the MIC mount for my new stereo. The little harness cover against the glass is telescoping and there are notches to lock the position, so if yours was falling down or getting loose, I suspect it just wasn't locked in place, the design is very simple/basic but does take some fiddling to ensure it's locked.


Front View - MIC clearly visible

Bottom view of buttons

Back view of mount and harness


Regarding programming, the ARQ application on the phone is completely useless, unless you have a bluetooth equipped mirror, which I don't believe the model I received, or the one you got, have. The app does try to go through step-by-step instructions, but I couldn't get my garage doors programmed following either the instructions in the app or the instructions from ARQ's website that I linked earlier. I have Liftmaster Garage door openers (one for 16ft door, one for 8ft), they are builder original units from 2002, but still going strong.

Ultimately, what worked for me was following the instructions from a kind gentlemen at Winchester Nissan. The video is 7 years old, but this method worked! There were some subtle differences, but mainly the same process.
1) Hold two outer buttons to clear memory. (LED in mirror should rapidly pulse)
2) Hold the button you wish to program simultaneously with the garage door remote (kept within 2-inch of mirror) until the LED in mirror changes from green to red (takes a while)
3) Press the learn/program button on overhead garage door motor.
4) Go back in car and press the desired programmed button 3 times (must be done within 15-30sec of pressing learn button in previous step).
5) If all goes well, the garage door should activate. For me, it activated after the 2nd press.


While I was replacing the mirror, I also took some time to insulate the wiring for the overhead map lights. After some troubleshooting, I discovered the wiring was tapping the plastic mount bezel on the backside of the headliner. Without needing to take down the entire headliner, I was able to pop out the map light module and slide some sheathing over the harness wires. Then finish it up with some Tessa tape to prevent it from slipping off. I also used some flocking tape to insulate the plastic on plastic contact areas for the map light module. Took maybe 10 minutes, no more buzzing/vibration anymore (Yay!).

I also added some more insultation around the AC control ***** (back side) and shifter bezel, I was getting some creaks/squeaks from this area. So far so good, not much I can do insulation-wise around the shifter bezel since everything is already a tight fit and I don't want to expand the panel gaps any further. I may need to pull the entire waterfall out and use my heatgun to tweak the plastic double din faceplate bezel. The factory mold wasn't perfect and I noticed the lower horizontal section which mates with the shifter bezel was bowed up slightly. I already tweaked it with some heat and slowly worked out the bow, but the gap is still not perfect to my standards.

As far as the mirror goes, I like it! The buttons are a nice soft rubber, similar to game console controllers. No rattles or buzzing will come from these. The visibility is more or less the same as the original mirror, but I like not having a green LED always on, staring me in the face.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Glad you like it and install was straightforward! I'll have to double-check which mirror I got and the part #. I might have posted a different p/n than the one I actually purchased. I swear, I looked up so many different mirror configurations and looking at their compatibility with different part numbers superseding other part numbers, my eyes started to gloss over.

I would prefer the built-in opener that doesn't get removed from the bottom of the mirror for the same reasons you mentioned and that feature doesn't really seem terribly practical other than what I would consider a pretty rare scenario.

Pretty unique place to mount the BT mic! Mine is mounted on the left side of the HU underneath the air vent. I have a ZR so wind noise would be atrocious if I mounted the mic by the mirror. Of course, nobody can really hear me when they call if I have the top down anyway unless I'm at a red light. Definitely, not by design. I would totally love to talk to you right now...