Below is a guide to how I installed my Gentex Autodimming Mirror. This install was done on a 2006 VW GLI.

You can grab the mirror for $210 bucks from here. Make sure you get the free button kit (they didn't send me one as we'll see below).

You can download the PDF of these intstructions here.

Here's a shot of the finished product

Remove OEM Mirror Mount New Button Wiring Prep Wiring Wrap Up

Before proceeding, make sure you have a button kit like the one shown below. Our OEM mirror mounts are not compatible with this mirror. The site linked about should send you a free kit, but in case they don't (like in my case), you can run to any auto parts store and grab something like this. The one pictured below came with 3M adhesive, I recommend getting a proper mounting kit (which consists of prepping compound and adhesive), it mounts MUCH better.

To remove the OEM Mirror you want to grab the whole mirror from the bar that's behind the mirror (not just the mirror itself). Turn counter-clockwise and you should hear a click and the mirror should pop off leaving a small round black button/disc behind.

You can now use a lighter to heat the button and the glue beneath it. I just took a normal lighter and moved it in circular motions around the disc. Note: There was a lil browning on my windshield, but it wiped right off.

Once you've got it heated up enough (don't go overboard), grab a wrech or pliers and gently rock the little button back and forth. It should eventually come off leaving some sticky black adhesive behind.

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With that out of the way, you're going to want to grab a window scraper/razor, some rubbing alcohol and paper towel/clean cloth.

Completely remove all the residue from the old adhesive. There should be a round black disc remaining under this -- don't scratch this off! leave it!

Once that's done, you're going to want to completely clean off the windshield area with the alcohol. If you got the button kit pictured above with the 3M adhesive, remove the adhesive and clean off the button as well.

Follow the directions for the new adhesive. For me, I had to put the prepping formula on the window (put it in the center of the black disc), let it sit for two minutes, and then place some of the adhesive on the back of the button. I then had to place the button on the windshield and hold it for a minute.

Once done with that, you can place painters tape or something over the button to let it dry for a bit. It says only 15 minutes on my kit, but I gave it a good 4-5 hours. In the meantime, you can work on the wiring.

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Here comes the fun part! The directions that I got off of the website listed above didn't help too much here. It mentions a red wire, the wires in the kit are only black and black and white... Maybe I suck at following directions, who knows.

The first thing I did was open up the fuse box, and run the Wiring harness down the A pillar (driver's side) and bring it down into the fuse box. Be careful when doing this, you want to keep the wire ABOVE the air bags.

Test out the length you leave at the top of the windshield. You don't want this to be too little (obviously), but you also don't want too much here. It'll just dangle and get in your way. It's best to have excess near the fuse box and just ziptie it.

On the side of the fusebox is a panel you can remove to get the wire further down

Now you're ready to remove the front panel. You'll need to do this to get to the wires. You can do this before running the wire down the A pillar, but I just decided to do that first.

Locate these three screws under your dash and remove them. You'll need a Torx (I forget which size, smaller than the T25 though).

Next remove your light switch by pressing it firmly inwards (towards the engine) while in the off position. While still pressing inwards, turn your light switch to the right, then pull it out (towards you).

Remove the clip leading into the switch by pressing the tab on the side of it and pulling it out. Look inside, you should see this screw which you'll also need to remove.

With that screw gone, it's time to move onto the last screw. It's located to the right of the panel we're removing. It's to the left of the steering wheel, and to get to it, you'll need to lift a little trim:

Once you remove this last screw, gently pull forward on the assembly. There will be one last wire you'll need to unclip (next to where the light switch was). Underneath, you'll need to gently wiggle it free of the neighboring assembly as well.

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Back in the fuse box, there's a screw that seemed perfect to use for grounding. Remove it, and slip the ground wire through the screw and replace.

Now you'll want to remove the three clips that hold the back of the fuse box onto the front. You'll likely want to use a long flat head screwdriver for this. There's one on the top, one on the left (hardest to get to) and one on the right. Once these are off, just pop off the back of the cover.

Here's where it gets interesting. The instructions said that the red wire (again, non-existant) was to be used for the main power, and the other wire was an optional reverse wire. The power wire should be attached to an ignition-based wire. Meaning it should only get juice when the ignition is on.

The other wire was supposed to be tapped onto a wire that received power when the car was in reverse (to auto-undim the mirror).

What I actually found though is that one wire is for the auto-dimming, and the other wire is for the homelink. So in the end, I tapped both of these onto my power wire.

I chose this fuse on the bottom right (it's the fuse for the rear power windows):

And now behind that (go under the dash) I tapped the wire twice using the included items:

I used the red taps because for some reason, the blues never seemed to work. You can see a blue one in the picture from an earlier attempt. I'll likely leave that there and fill the gaps on the tap so it doesn't corrode.

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At this point you'll want to test the mirror with the key in the ignition. Make sure that the light is green when you turn it on (the button that looks like an I) and red when you push any of the homelink buttons.

With that out the way you tuck the wires neatly away, replace the front panel to the dash, the wires, the light switch, screws, fuse back panel and fusebox.

Back up top, your button on the windshield MIGHT be dry. You may want to give it a few hours though. Once you're happy that it's dry and sturdy, you can clip the other end of the wire you ran down the A pillar into the back of the mirror, and mount the mirror onto the button.

From here, you should tuck all hanging wires into the headliner and the A pillar to achieve a clean look.

If you opted for the wire cover, install that now over the wire going from the mirror to the headliner.

Use the same Torx screwdriver from earlier to tighten the screw behind the mirror onto the button for a firm fit.

Sit back and marvel at your work.

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