Finally got a chance today to install my new Zoom Engineering carbon-kevlar rearview mirror. Took all of ten minutes to do and the result is perfect as seen above. It’s a fairly simple install, but you have to be careful of a few things so that you don’t damage your windshield. Other than that though, it’s a good beginner level install and the mirror is such a great improvement over the stock OEM mirror that I highly recommend picking one up.
Before we begin, let’s get the obligatory disclaimer out of the way. To wit, I, ShiroBRZ, am not responsible for any damage that you may incur to your vehicle if you follow my guidelines to install your mirror. While it’s a fairly easy install as I mentioned earlier, the risk is entirely on you if you monk it up, so if you’re not used to performing basic vehicle maintenance or modifications, then it may be better to defer to an experienced friend or mechanic to have your mirror installed.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started.
The first thing you’re going to need to do is to remove the OEM mirror so that you can install the new one. You can hunt around the web and find various DIYs and tips on how to do this, but since I’m a stickler for doing things the right way I’ve posted above the relevant page from Subaru’s own installation manual for their Auto Dimming mirror. You will not find anything more official or correct, so there’s no more to say. ShiroBRZ don’t play. Follow the instructions above to remove your mirror and then we’ll move on to the next step. BTW, these instructions and this guide assume your car has the standard OEM basic mirror installed. If you have the Auto Dimming mirror or something else, then you’re on your own unfortunately.
The next step once you have your mirror removed is to fasten the new mirror’s arm to the mirror base stuck on the windshield. If you look at the pics in my initial mirror post you’ll see that the arm is already mounted onto the mirror as it comes from Zoom. The arm is a pretty simple affair and basically just slips onto the mount from above, but there is a set screw on it to secure it firmly to the base, so before you slide the arm on you need to back the set screw out enough to let it slide smoothly into position. With that said, the proper arm install starts with slipping the small rubber cushion onto the nub on the top of the arm. Note that there is a flat end and an angled end, and the angled end needs to being facing upwards so that it meets with the glass smoothly. Don’t leave the cushion off either, BTW, as it’s there to help absorb shock and keep the mirror secure when things get rough. Once the cushion’s mounted though, all you need to do is to carefully slide the arm onto the base from the top side and push it far enough down so that it’s even with the bottom edge of the base. It becomes a somewhat tight fit, so just patiently wiggle it down into place and you’ll be golden. Lastly, you just need to tighten the set screw in the base so it keeps the arm secure and, BAM!, you’ve been Zoom’ed and your install is done. Congrats and all that shit.
One further point to mention is that you may want to adjust the tension of the ball joint that holds the mirror in position when you move it. BIG WARNING HERE!! Per Zoom’s instructions, under no circumstance should you loosen the adjustment screws to the point they allow the internal pressure plate to fall into the mirror or the screws to come out. You do that and the mirror is officially broken and you’re buying another one as you cannot get the mirror open to fix things without destroying it. You’ve been warned so no complaints if you jump the shark. Apart from that though, what you’ll see on the top of the mirror are two screws that are by the entry of the arm into the mirror. Basically, you tighten/loosen these to adjust the tension. I tightened mine up a bit using the included hex key, but I didn’t need to add much tension. Yours may or may not need adjustment so all I can say is mount it and see how it feels in use. Don’t go overboard though either way; you don’t need to tighten or loosen it much to get a good setting, and as I already mentioned, you could trash the mirror if you get too extreme. Again, you’ve been seriously warned.
By now, however, your install should be finished and your new sexy mirror should look like the first pic at the head of this post, and this one as well:
Looks good! This mirror fucks! Of course, looks aren’t everything, so what’s it like in practical use? That’s the real benefit of installing it in the first place, right? To put it simply, it rocks. First off, the blue tint really cuts the glare and makes things easier to see on bright days. Effectively, the mirror is a bit dimmer than the OEM mirror, so it’s kind like having sunglasses on or tinted windows. It’s not super dramatic, but it’s enough to get the job done. This is particularly important at night as, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s no day/night flip switch to use when someone has bright lights behind you. Effectively, the tint makes a mode switch pointless as it’s enough to dim lights adequately in most cases, plus the wide angle makes the lights smaller as well and more diffused. In everyday use, you honestly don’t miss not having a night mode.
As for the wide angle feature, yeah, it’s a noticeable improvement over the OEM mirror which is a bit too narrow. With the mirror installed and adjusted, you’ll have the whole rear window clearly in view plus quite a bit around it as well, so it’s super easy to see what’s going on behind you and it can help with seeing vehicles in blind spots that the stock mirror hides sometimes. To give you an idea of the FOV the mirror provides, here’s a driver’s seat pic to peruse (Ignore the creepy old ghost in the left-hand corner of the mirror. He always follows me around at home for some reason. *cough*):
As you can see, it’s a noticeably wider FOV, and that, my friends, is the real charm point of the mirror. It’s a very handy thing to have available, and if you were to match it up with some wide-angle blue-tint side mirrors like those from Suma Performance then you’ll have an awesome matching three-way system to help you see better and avoid blind spots.
Wow, fun stuff. If you can’t already tell, I’m a big fan of the Zoom mirror and for good reason. It’s simply the best quality, best looking, most practical wide-angle rearview mirror you’re going to find, IMO, and it’s also relatively off-the-radar from most Western tuners and modders too. That makes it unique and kinda exclusive as well. With all that going for it, how are you not going to buy one now, hmmm?