Symptom
Door mirrors not adjusting or folding
A mirror stops responding to the switch, folds one way and not the other, or refuses to move at all. Modern mirrors carry a surprising amount inside a small housing — adjustment motors, folding motor, heater element, indicator, puddle lamp and sometimes the blind spot sensor — and all of it is fed through the door hinge. That loom flexes every time the door opens, which is why a mirror and a window on the same door so often fail together and why the fault is usually found in the concertina boot rather than in the mirror.
Also described as: mirror not adjusting, wing mirror not working, mirrors wont fold, electric mirror not moving, side mirror not working, اینه بغل تنظیم نمیشود, اینه برقی کار نمیکند, espejos no se pliegan, retrovisores no se mueven, espejo electrico no funciona, المرايا لا تطوى, مرايا الأبواب لا تتحرك, المراية الكهربائية معطلة, المرايا تنطوي
What this usually means
Modern mirrors carry a surprising amount inside a small housing — adjustment motors, folding motor, heater element, indicator, puddle lamp and sometimes the blind spot sensor — and all of it is fed through the door hinge.
That loom flexes every time the door opens, which is why a mirror and a window on the same door so often fail together and why the fault is usually found in the concertina boot rather than in the mirror.
So the first question is what else on that door has stopped. Mirror alone points at the mirror or its switch; mirror plus window, or mirror plus lock, points at the loom — and repairing the loom fixes all of them at once.
A mirror that folds one way and not the other is usually the folding motor or its gears, which are small and strip when the mirror is folded by hand against the motor. Folding a powered mirror manually is the commonest way to break one, and worth knowing before the next car park.
A mirror that has been knocked can strip the same gears without any visible damage, so a mirror that stopped folding after a tight gap is not a coincidence.
Check the switch and its selector. Most cars use one switch with a left-right selector, so a mirror that will not adjust while the other one will may simply be the selector rather than the mirror — and that is free to test by selecting the other side and back.
Working through it
| What you find | Likely cause | How to confirm it | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirror and window on the same door both dead | The door loom in the flexible boot — one fault, two symptoms | Two functions on one door is the loom's signature. Flex the boot while operating them. | Repair the loom with enough slack to flex. This fixes both. |
| One mirror will not adjust, the other will | The switch's selector, the mirror's motors, or that door's wiring | Select the other side and back — a free test that excludes the selector. | Renew the switch or the mirror glass assembly as the test directs. |
| Folds one way only, or makes a grinding noise folding | The folding motor's gears — commonly stripped by folding a powered mirror by hand | Listen while folding. Grinding without movement is stripped gears. | Renew the folding mechanism or the mirror. Avoid folding powered mirrors manually. |
| Stopped after the mirror was knocked | The same gears stripped by the impact, often with no visible damage | Establish the timing. A mirror that stopped folding after a tight gap is not a coincidence. | Renew the mechanism. |
| Heater, indicator or puddle lamp also dead | The loom or the mirror's connector rather than individual components | Several functions in one housing failing together points at the feed, not the parts. | Repair the connector or loom. Renewing the mirror without this repeats the fault. |
| Blind spot warning also unavailable on that side | The sensor or its indicator lives in the same housing on some vehicles | Read blind spot codes. This raises the priority beyond convenience. | Repair the loom or mirror assembly. See the blind spot entry, which explains why a silent failure matters. |
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Mirror and window on the same door both dead
- Likely cause
- The door loom in the flexible boot — one fault, two symptoms
- How to confirm it
- Two functions on one door is the loom's signature. Flex the boot while operating them.
- What fixes it
- Repair the loom with enough slack to flex. This fixes both.
-
One mirror will not adjust, the other will
- Likely cause
- The switch's selector, the mirror's motors, or that door's wiring
- How to confirm it
- Select the other side and back — a free test that excludes the selector.
- What fixes it
- Renew the switch or the mirror glass assembly as the test directs.
-
Folds one way only, or makes a grinding noise folding
- Likely cause
- The folding motor's gears — commonly stripped by folding a powered mirror by hand
- How to confirm it
- Listen while folding. Grinding without movement is stripped gears.
- What fixes it
- Renew the folding mechanism or the mirror. Avoid folding powered mirrors manually.
-
Stopped after the mirror was knocked
- Likely cause
- The same gears stripped by the impact, often with no visible damage
- How to confirm it
- Establish the timing. A mirror that stopped folding after a tight gap is not a coincidence.
- What fixes it
- Renew the mechanism.
-
Heater, indicator or puddle lamp also dead
- Likely cause
- The loom or the mirror's connector rather than individual components
- How to confirm it
- Several functions in one housing failing together points at the feed, not the parts.
- What fixes it
- Repair the connector or loom. Renewing the mirror without this repeats the fault.
-
Blind spot warning also unavailable on that side
- Likely cause
- The sensor or its indicator lives in the same housing on some vehicles
- How to confirm it
- Read blind spot codes. This raises the priority beyond convenience.
- What fixes it
- Repair the loom or mirror assembly. See the blind spot entry, which explains why a silent failure matters.
Codes that produce this symptom (2)
Listed with the codes that most typically present this way first — the likeliest place to start.
Information, not instruction
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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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