Blind spot mirror

what's in the reflection? at first I thought you pasted little cardboard cutouts in your mirror

 

It's my apartment. I back into my parking spots

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I do too, only because the A/C outlet faces the passenger side of my car when I back in. (As you can see in my Avatar)

 

I took a Long Shot and... ordered the EU specs aspherical (convex) back mirror insert and picked it up on my Europe trip ($150) and now I can comfortably drive my Prime on multi-lane Houston Hwy's.
I barely notice BSM warnings since then. Being former EU driver it is well worth the money for me. lol

 

Pictures?

Bob Wilson

 

Bob,
let me figure out how to post the pics once I take them tmrw.
lol

 

Here you are Bob. EU specs driver side mirror in action.
BTW I did not buy passenger side since the US should do (not as good as EU split design, but it's OK)

 

So do you think that if you had the Advanced with BSM (blind stop monitor), you wouldn't need these? I wonder how good the BSM is and whether people are satisfied that it works as well as it should. I once rented a Mazda with BSM and found it was overly sensitive and after a while I disabled it as it didn't add any value.

 

IMO Blind Spot Monitor works great. I also find that the Prime does not have as had Blind spots as my Gen 3 did.

 

Is there something not to like about this car!!!!

 

Any part numbers?

 

I don't remember. I gave my VIN to one of the dealership in Warsaw and specifically asked for aspherical insert. It took them 10 days to get the piece and that was it.

 

I wonder what you can't get them in the US... also, do they work OK with the Blind Spot Monitor, after you inserted them?

 

In US it is almost impossible to get non US specs parts from dealership. I tried that before with my former cars (VW and BMW) and it did not work. I ended up buying them in Europe ( E-Bay used like new) and have them shipped to US (for a fraction of dealer's price.).
Prime or Prius PHV is so new on the marked therefore I had no luck to find used one over there. I ended up ordering from dealership.
I had trouble to persuade EU Dealer to get me the US specs mirror for my Prime, but finally I got it.

Regarding compatibility It is exactly same mirror like US version all fits and works perfectly, just the reflecting surface is different. I guess it is the case for most car models (it worked for BMW, Mercedes, VW in my case)

 

It would be good if there was an a way to notify you other than a blinking light. I think BMW has the steering wheel vibrate as well, which would help.
Possibly the car may give an audio warning if you either drifted or more than likely used you turn signals to change lanes. This is something I am hesitant to test!

 

Some other brands makes the beeping noise when the turn signal is engaged and the BSM detects the car in blind spot. Nevertheless nothing can replace good aspherical mirror. The only Safety Sense "Thingie" I found really useful in Prime Advanced is cross traffic alert.
It really 'seas' beyond the driver's capability - especially if one backs up from between trucks.

 

When I get a chance, someday, I’d like to buy one of this small, circular dome mirror inserts. My plan would be to split it in half down the middle, and add each half to the outside-bottom edges of the two outside rear-view mirrors, reflecting downward.

The purpose would be to let me see the lines of my parking space. I find that the bottom-edge front-window sills are too high: I can’t look over them to view the parking-space lines, to see how well-aligned and how straight I am parked in my parking space.


iPhone ? Pro

 

The EU spec split side mirrors are such a no-brainer design. Why the hell do we put up with the stupid North American design? It seems to me that with the EU mirrors the blind-spot warning system is completely unnecessary. Common sense seems to have gone out the window (and right past our ridiculous North American mirrors!). Aaarrgghh!

 

I tried several blind spot mirrors and settled on the ones in the photos below. The one on the passenger side is larger (which is 3.5") than the one on the driver side (which is 3"), which works well because the driver-side one is closer and easier to see. The passenger-side blind spot mirror blocks a lot of the regular passenger-side mirror, but the overall effect is great. I can see absolutely everything.

I've read the comments about these mirrors being unnecessary if you angle your regular mirrors out enough, or due to the BSM warning lights. However, these blind spot mirrors accomplish more than either of those measures. When some dimwit motorcyclist is racing along splitting lanes, the BSM will give you almost no warning. Also, I don't know if the BSM warnings would work for all bicyclists, pedestrians, and animals, and whether they'd work in inclement conditions. It's always better to have multiple systems.

One of the best things I've found about these round mirrors is that they let me see the parking spot lines all the way down the side of the car. I can tell whether I'm well-centered in the spot.

Now that I've had these a while, I'd never be without them. After a few weeks I got used to them and trusting them, and now there is no reason to look over my shoulder when changing lanes.