BLISS vs Spotter Mirrors

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

My drivers side mirror is basically shot, the auto dimming feature is "bronzing" and half the mirror is useless. someone put spotter mirrors on my car at one point which were gone first day because the weird plastic cheap domes dont really help. That said I did get used to the factory style spotter mirror in my wifes fusion, grew to kind of rely on it, moving into my SHO I felt like I had less visibility out of the mirrors and wondered why they didnt have the spotter glass.

After looking for a replacement I realized they do, just not for cars with BLISS from what I can tell. I dont want to lose BLISS but I also like my spotter glass, and considering the cost of a new assembly is obscene for a discontinued car and I cant find a glass that has auto dimming, Im kind of at a cross roads. a pair of new mirrors with heat, approach lamps, and spotter glass would be less than $250 which is still way more than I want to pay but they need to match and way cheaper than Fords $427 assembly without cover but has auto dim and BLISS.

I might hold out for the next taurus to roll into the local u pull it, used they run around $150 but I can get it at the u pull it for $40 if I wait long enough. Has anyone switched to the spotter style mirrors? would that make the BLISS system throw a tantrum?

another thing thats had me curious, anyone elses covers paint matched? mine are gloss black but all the used ones im seeing have paint codes or chrome for covers, being that mine is green i thought paint match would look good but didnt think they came that way.

 

[Majestic]

Made me look... My SHO is Tuxedo black and the mirrors are black, too. But not Tuxedo black, just gloss black. So I looked at other pictures of different colored SHOs and they all have gloss black covers. Good catch!

BLISS does nothing for me. A better mirror instead of a little orange light would be better. Maybe if it "dinged" it would be worth it. I'd go option #1.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

Kind of the way I'm leaning both for cost and functionality, honestly the little orange light spooks me more than anything. Might try to find the pins for the light and reroute them to the sail trim cover and just have an internal signal if the system gets upset. I don't care about the auto dim as that seems to be not only the expensive part but the part that fails. As long as the pins for power heat and puddle lamps are the same I think it's a winner.

The painted cover though is weird, I've seen plenty sels with paint matched covers, limiteds seem to get chrome, pi gets textured black, but why do the shos not get paint matched covers? Sporty model with exclusive colors I feel like it would be a nice touch.

 

[Texas Marauder]

While the BLIS system is helpful, I want to see what's there. I've added these to my mirrors in the bottom outside corner. BLIS alert is still there but, I can also see what's there.

https://www.amazon.com/Amfor-Frameless-Adjustable-Universal-Rectangle/dp/B0777JTJGJ

Not simply stick on. They have an adjustable base which I don't like and remove. I clean the rear of the mirror and put a small triangle of double stick moulding tape in each corner and stick the mirror directly to the outer lower corner of the mirror. For the right mirror, to angle it correctly, I stack three layers on the outside corners.

I can post pictures later.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

While the BLIS system is helpful, I want to see what's there. I've added these to my mirrors in the bottom outside corner. BLIS alert is still there but, I can also see what's there.

https://www.amazon.com/Amfor-Frameless-Adjustable-Universal-Rectangle/dp/B0777JTJGJ

Not simply stick on. They have an adjustable base which I don't like. I clean the rear of the mirror and put a small triangle of double stick moulding tape in each corner and stick it directly in the outer lower corner of the mirror. For the right mirror, to angle it correctly, I stack three layers on the outside corners.

I can post pictures later.

I like those better than what the po had on my car, do they hold still or do you find yourself reangling them? Like if the door gets slammed or ride down a washboard road.

My mirror has to be replaced so I think it's going to come down to whatever is available at the junkyard because with the holidays approaching and the wife recently dubbing my car "the mistress" $200+ in mirrors is off the table. But if I end up with BLIS mirrors again I'd definitely consider those

 

[Texas Marauder]

I don't use that swivel mount. I remove the swivel and attach the mirror directly to the glass. Since the mirror is convex, only the corners touch the glass.

 

[Texas Marauder]

Driver side spot mirror. BLIS indicator still visible and working.


Top view driver side only touches mirror at the four corners.


Top view passenger side showing extra thickness on the outside to angle correctly.

 

[yaycandy]

Blis lets me know when there is a cornfield trying to cut me off. Most of my drives for years the passenger side just randomly turns on and off.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

The only use I've found for blis is to gauge if I can change lanes or not in slow moving traffic, I don't do it often but it's nice to know where the corner of the car is. Also, while my mirror is 50% disintegrated it let's me know if I missed something.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

@Texas Marauder I appreciate the photos, helps give a visual of the options, like you I prefer to see whats there and if my salvage mirrors don't have spotters I think I'll pick a set of those up, no bezel and relatively low profile, they look nice and serve a valid purpose.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

So still waiting for a 5th gen taurus to roll into the junkyard, an mks has shown up so it has me thinking, will it work? Aside from visual differences, it looks like it will bolt on and the plugs are the same. Can anyone enlighten me as to if the door structures are different at all? I can't imagine they are given they're stable mates but lincoln has done it before (enter towncar). I'm going to try and get to the charge pipe to delete my noise maker before it's too late so I'm thinking about snagging the mirrors while I'm there.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

After trip to the junkyard I scored some spotter mirror style mirrors with chrome caps. They have heat so all that is missing is BLIS and auto dim(which is what started this problem and i dont care about having anyway).

The MKS they had was destroyed so no go on if those fit.

Pulled the caps and dipped/sprayed them matte black to match the rest of my vinyl and I have found the BLIS wires in the harness. Next step is sourcing some small LEDs to mount in the sail panel for blis indicators. I'll post pics later so this can be an option for anyone in the future.

 

[kryptto]

I'll post pics later so this can be an option for anyone in the future.

plz do

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

They're installed. I also replaced the puddle lights while i was at it. For the mirrors, puddle lights, and eventual BLIS relocated indicators im into this for about $70. Little better than the $400+ Ford replacement and no chance the autodim will corrode againe.

I'm not a fan of the dipped covers though. Think I'll eventually swap to the glossy ones, while not textured they look very base model to me, plus I got a massive run in both I only noticed on my 6th coat. Pics of relocated BLIS indicaters coming soon.

The system DOES notice the indicators are not connected, I started getting blind spot system fault and cross traffic fault messages. So anyone that swaps the mirrors if you don't replace with BLIS mirrors it appears you will have to either disable it with forscan or relocated the indicators.

 

[kryptto]

They're installed. I also replaced the puddle lights while i was at it. For the mirrors, puddle lights, and eventual BLIS relocated indicators im into this for about $70. Little better than the $400+ Ford replacement and no chance the autodim will corrode againe.

I'm not a fan of the dipped covers though. Think I'll eventually swap to the glossy ones, while not textured they look very base model to me, plus I got a massive run in both I only noticed on my 6th coat. Pics of relocated BLIS indicaters coming soon.

The system DOES notice the indicators are not connected, I started getting blind spot system fault and cross traffic fault messages. So anyone that swaps the mirrors if you don't replace with BLIS mirrors it appears you will have to either disable it with forscan or relocated the indicators.
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I like the dip look, plain is my mode.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

I like the dip look, plain is my mode.

I love it, Stealth mode, my wife's fusion is almost completely dipped. But the dip on the mirrors almost matches the shade of black on the plastic exactly. I'm still torn, might peel the dip off and sand the caps down and take my time with it see how it comes out then. Stupid as it may sound I realized there was a back, center, and front glossy section (rear quarter trim piece is gloss in the center, b pillars are glossy, and the mirror cap was glossy) so it kind of tied everything together. I'm driving myself nuts with the details.

 

[kryptto]

I love it, Stealth mode, my wife's fusion is almost completely dipped. But the dip on the mirrors almost matches the shade of black on the plastic exactly. I'm still torn, might peel the dip off and sand the caps down and take my time with it see how it comes out then. Stupid as it may sound I realized there was a back, center, and front glossy section (rear quarter trim piece is gloss in the center, b pillars are glossy, and the mirror cap was glossy) so it kind of tied everything together. I'm driving myself nuts with the details.

Gotta ask, my car as a PP didn't come with the Bliss option. My mirrors are the ones that adjust, and show yellow dot for blind spot. These mirrors also, driver side for me, with the defect of lines or looks like someone hit the mirror. Anyway there was a Ford tsb about the defect. Would love to get those mirrors with those incorporated blindspot mirrors.

Any chance they would work like mine? Adjust position of course, and yellow dot for blindspot driver?

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

Gotta ask, my car as a PP didn't come with the Bliss option. My mirrors are the ones that adjust, and show yellow dot for blind spot. These mirrors also, driver side for me, with the defect of lines or looks like someone hit the mirror. Anyway there was a Ford tsb about the defect. Would love to get those mirrors with those incorporated blindspot mirrors.

Any chance they would work like mine? Adjust position of course, and yellow dot for blindspot driver?

My understanding is the blind spot monitor is BLIS (BLindspot Indicating System i think). Unless there's another meaning for it but my original mirrors had the yellow dot in the corner as well as auto dimming. The auto dim is what creates the lines or in my case complete haze. Assuming we had the same mirrors which it seems we did the swap I did should work for you too. As soon as I get the blind spot indicator relocated I'll do a full write up on it with pics

 

[BlindAssassin111]

Gotta ask, my car as a PP didn't come with the Bliss option. My mirrors are the ones that adjust, and show yellow dot for blind spot. These mirrors also, driver side for me, with the defect of lines or looks like someone hit the mirror. Anyway there was a Ford tsb about the defect. Would love to get those mirrors with those incorporated blindspot mirrors.

Any chance they would work like mine? Adjust position of course, and yellow dot for blindspot driver?

I wonder if the mirrors are tied to a specific package? My '13 PP came with the mirrors that had the little blindspot mirror already but my car is one of the rare non-sony (and no heated/cooled seats which makes me sad) cars so maybe that is why.

Love the mirrors I have and wouldn't trade them for a little light in the corner ever lol. So if you can, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

@BlindAssassin111 im sure theres a handful of oddly optioned cars that came with the spotter mirrors, if i were to walk in to a dealer in 2013 and order a new SHO it'd be as stripped as possible, I would've asked them to remove the rear camera if I could, never was big on all the extra tech (although now that I have it I enjoy the excess). Like the mythical no sunroof SHO I love a factory oddity, no matter how minor of a detail.

As for the mirrors, I thought I'd hate the spotter mirrors when we bought my wife's fusion, But I learned to make use of them and I'm glad my car has them now. That said I did get somewhat used to the blindspot system, so relocating the indicators to have the best of both worlds is the goal.