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A Comparison of OEM, OEM Aspherical, and Chinese Aspherical Side Mirrors

BlueHen

BlueHen

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Delmarva
I've always upgraded to aspherical side mirrors on my VWs as a safety feature. I feel that they are even more important on the Mk7, because the field of view is particularly narrow in comparison to previous VWs I've owned.

I first decided to cheap out (against my inner reservations about Chinese crap) and purchase blue-tinted Chinese-made aftermarket mirrors off eBay. I immediately noticed questionable quality (not optimum clarity and what looked to be minor imperfections around the edges of the glass). I also noticed that the aspherical section was barely aspherical. It was almost like having two of the OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR-stamped passenger mirrors without any aspherical feature at the last third. Yes, I had more field of view than OEM and the heating element did work fine, but I felt like I had compromised.

So, I bit the bullet and bought the OEM asphericals from DAP for $130 and change. Cliff notes: pricey, but totally worth it. Clarity is perfect. Finish is perfect. The aspherical portion gives MUCH BETTER field of view than the Chinese shit.

Here are some comparison shots. Both my Mk7s (GSW TDI and GTI) are parked in the same orientation with same points of reference in the mirror at same distance, so no trickery here. The GTI is parked to the left of the GSW, so there is about a 10 feet shift there (noticable in that you can see my white well pipe in the third pic, but not first and second for instance). I made my absolute best and most honest effort to hold the camera from the same vantage point (basically where my eyes are while driving) and frame the pictures the same.

Pic #1 is OEM mirror, fitted on my GSW
Pic #2 is OEM aspherical mirror, fitted on my GSW
Pic #3 is Chinese aspherical mirror, fitted on my GTI

#1 OEM mirror


#2 OEM aspherical mirror


#3 Chinese aspherical mirror (blue tint)



Here is a final shot showing the finish on the edge of the Chinese mirror flaking away and getting worse with time and exposure to elements. Avoid this crap. Sure they were less than $40 on eBay, but they are junk:

 
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D

Derushi

Go Kart Champion
Location
Rain
Car(s)
Long
I have 1 aspherical mirror from China that came with the power folding mirror, looks identical to my OEM aspherical mirror from Deutsche Auto Parts lol.

The power folding mirror only came with 1 aspherical so I needed another one...

I think China uses OEM Aspherical mirror as well. Just don't get the crap non OEM blue tinted ones.
 
BlueHen

BlueHen

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Delmarva
Derushi said:
I think China uses OEM Aspherical mirror as well. Just don't get the crap non OEM blue tinted ones.
Click to expand...

No, I am not referring to VW China. Their parts are legit. My blue mirrors were a Shanghai special and they suck hard. You can look at the perforation marks in the one extreme closeup shot and see how poorly they printed those. The mirrors are comically constructed. You can also look at the horizon line between the cut grass and the field of scrub behind it and see that the horizon hardly curves at all in the outer aspherical portion of the Chinese mirrors, whereas there is a noticable bend (and much greater field of view) in the OEM asphericals. The pictures are very telling. Lastly, the back of the Chinese mirrors look significantly different than OEM (the heating elements are black and tacky as opposed to the silver and non-tacky of OEM).
 
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L

lucyfek

Ready to race!
Location
IL USA
Car(s)
GTI & GSW
"Here is a final shot showing the finish on the edge of the Chinese mirror flaking away and getting worse with time and exposure to elements. Avoid this crap. Sure they were less than $40 on eBay, but they are junk" - I've paid all 34$ for my clear aspherical ones (ebay, Stateside seller). Made in Hungary. So far so good. No matter what you pick you'll actually have better view to the rear.
 
T

TQ_MKVII

Ready to race!
Location
Kansas City, MO
BlueHen said:
I've always upgraded to aspherical side mirrors on my VWs as a safety feature. I feel that they are even more important on the Mk7, because the field of view is particularly narrow in comparison to previous VWs I've owned.

I first decided to cheap out (against my inner reservations about Chinese crap) and purchase blue-tinted Chinese-made aftermarket mirrors off eBay. I immediately noticed questionable quality (not optimum clarity and what looked to be minor imperfections around the edges of the glass). I also noticed that the aspherical section was barely aspherical. It was almost like having two of the OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR-stamped passenger mirrors without any aspherical feature at the last third. Yes, I had more field of view than OEM and the heating element did work fine, but I felt like I had compromised.

So, I bit the bullet and bought the OEM asphericals from DAP for $130 and change. Cliff notes: pricey, but totally worth it. Clarity is perfect. Finish is perfect. The aspherical portion gives MUCH BETTER field of view than the Chinese shit.

Here are some comparison shots. Both my Mk7s (GSW TDI and GTI) are parked in the same orientation with same points of reference in the mirror at same distance, so no trickery here. The GTI is parked to the left of the GSW, so there is about a 10 feet shift there (noticable in that you can see my white well pipe in the third pic, but not first and second for instance). I made my absolute best and most honest effort to hold the camera from the same vantage point (basically where my eyes are while driving) and frame the pictures the same.

Pic #1 is OEM mirror, fitted on my GSW
Pic #2 is OEM aspherical mirror, fitted on my GSW
Pic #3 is Chinese aspherical mirror, fitted on my GTI

#1 OEM mirror


#2 OEM aspherical mirror


#3 Chinese aspherical mirror (blue tint)



Here is a final shot showing the finish on the edge of the Chinese mirror flaking away and getting worse with time and exposure to elements. Avoid this crap. Sure they were less than $40 on eBay, but they are junk:

Click to expand...
Any chance you could host these pics somewhere other than photobucket so we can all see them? :D
 
BlueHen

BlueHen

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Delmarva
It's Photof*ckit. Get it right.

I'm on vacation in New Hampshire. It'll be awhile.
 
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