2013 MKX mirror size vs 2011?

[HCFX2011]

Hey all, new member here.

 

We've had our 2013 MKX Limited Edition package for a year now and we really like it except for a few things - chief of which being the visibility. Here's the deal, Instead of driving a 2013 at the dealer, we drove a family friend's 2011 MKX, fully loaded with blind spot warning. The mirrors were awesome. Big and easy to see out of and still had the blind spot warning system. We went ahead and bought the new 2013, and I didn't even notice how much smaller the mirrors were until about a week later. Holy crap, what a difference! The mirrors on the 2013 are absolutely tiny! I thought the blind spot warning and adding a little convex mirror would help, but not so. My wife has complained about almost being in an accident because of the mirrors. Not sure when they switched over to the smaller "more streamline" mirrors, but they certainly botched them. We've talked about trading it off for something different because of that issue (among other visibility concerns like the huge b-pillar and d-pillar, but having the larger mirrors would make a huge difference).

 

So my question, is can I get the larger 2011 Edge/MKX mirrors, and are they plug and play? Anyone know of any part numbers and if they're available through Tasca parts or elsewhere?

[Limited59]

Hmmm call me crazy but I didn't notice the mirrors to be any different in size from my Edge to my MKX. I'm sure I would have noticed!

 

I too wish they found a way to include the spotter mirrors and the BLIS. I like the BLIS but the little mirrors worked very good too. I do like that the MKX driver's side mirror is electrochromatic.

[HCFX2011]

Hmmm call me crazy but I didn't notice the mirrors to be any different in size from my Edge to my MKX. I'm sure I would have noticed!

 

I too wish they found a way to include the spotter mirrors and the BLIS. I like the BLIS but the little mirrors worked very good too. I do like that the MKX driver's side mirror is electrochromatic.

 

 

Maybe both your Edge and MKX have the same newer, more streamline mirrors? I've been researching and looking into why they were changed between 2011 and 2012-2013. Maybe for wind noise or drag coefficient? All I know is that both my wife and I notice that they are drastically different in size (I drive an F-150, no visibility problems with that tank).

 

I actually managed to find 2 of the exact same picture, one is a 2011 and the other is a 2012-2013. Same angle, looks like pretty much the same picture though one has obviously been edited to include the newer mirrors. Glad I found these, really shows the difference clearly!

 

[HCFX2011]

So I did some digging, and found a part number.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-OEM-LH-SIDE-VIEW-MIRROR-2011-FORD-EDGE-LINCOLN-MKX-BT4Z-17683-EAPTM-/281098956893

 

Going to call my dealer tomorrow for a quote. Probably an arm and a leg, but it's certainly cheaper than trading off the MKX! May be able to get a decent return on the 2013 mirrors.

Found out that 2011's don't have the LED turn signal on the back. Worried that that may cause issues with the MKX's BCM thinking a bulb is burnt out and causing a fast blink, I went out and pulled off the little panel covering the mirror (Holy hell, is that mirror easy to access!) and unplugged the entire harness. No fast blink, in fact there were zero fault errors on the dash regarding the blind spot system having an error. May go out for a drive to see if it eventually recognizes the lack of power to the BLIS sensor and/or the signal, just for giggles. I'm very surprised it doesn't do a fast-blink cycle when I unplug it.

 

Now it's time to investigate and see if the 2011 BLIS mirror will be plug and play. Then it's time for quotes.

Edited March 26, 2014 by HCFX2011

[FordService]

So I did some digging, and found a part number.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-OEM-LH-SIDE-VIEW-MIRROR-2011-FORD-EDGE-LINCOLN-MKX-BT4Z-17683-EAPTM-/281098956893

 

Going to call my dealer tomorrow for a quote. Probably an arm and a leg, but it's certainly cheaper than trading off the MKX! May be able to get a decent return on the 2013 mirrors.

Found out that 2011's don't have the LED turn signal on the back. Worried that that may cause issues with the MKX's BCM thinking a bulb is burnt out and causing a fast blink, I went out and pulled off the little panel covering the mirror (Holy hell, is that mirror easy to access!) and unplugged the entire harness. No fast blink, in fact there were zero fault errors on the dash regarding the blind spot system having an error. May go out for a drive to see if it eventually recognizes the lack of power to the BLIS sensor and/or the signal, just for giggles. I'm very surprised it doesn't do a fast-blink cycle when I unplug it.

 

Now it's time to investigate and see if the 2011 BLIS mirror will be plug and play. Then it's time for quotes.

 

I'm glad you made an appointment with your dealer. If you have further questions, I recommend you contact the Ford Customer Relationship Centre at 1-800-565-3673.

 

Have a great day!

 

Todd

[Limited59]

Good find on the pics. My MKX definitely has the 'newer style'. I'm intrigued... I will see if I still have a photo of my Edge to see if it had the other ones.

[HCFX2011]

Good find on the pics. My MKX definitely has the 'newer style'. I'm intrigued... I will see if I still have a photo of my Edge to see if it had the other ones.

 

I did some more digging, and apparently they changed the mirrors on the job 2 build in January/February of 2011. So if your Edge was built in 2010 you will for sure have the older style mirrors. It's taboo really.

[HCFX2011]

So I talked my friend into letting me try swapping the mirrors to make sure they work before dropping the better part of $700 for a set of mirrors. Keep in mind, theirs is a 2011 MKX with BLIS and all the rest. The good news is that they bolted up, plugged in perfectly and made an enormous difference in visibility, my wife was ecstatic, she was just about ready to fall in love with her car again. Really, they were superb. They even looked more proportionate to the size of the MKX in my opinion. Then she put it in reverse and "blind spot monitoring error" appeared on the dash. Awww man! Why you gotta be complicated?

 

So apparently Ford changed the system between 2011 and 2012-13 so that we couldn't do exactly what I'm trying to do and swap mirrors. I talked to the service manager at my dealer and he said they use 2 different software codes so that they couldn't be interchanged..apparently the BLIS is calibrated differently due to the size of the mirror, I thought BLIS was BLIS. I asked him if he could disable the system altogether through OASIS and he said no. Do you guys think there actually some truth to this? I don't really know what to think to be honest. I am baffled as to why it'd be different...You'd think Ford would've made it as easy as possible for themselves to switch mirrors between job 1 and job 2 in 2011. I'll do some more digging, but for now this project is at a standstill and the wifey is bummed out again. F**k.

[omar302]

HCFX2011,

 

It is strange. Especially that the mirror only has an indicator led! The actual BLIS sensor is in the rear (side of bumper I think).

 

Just a few thaughts that might be worth trying. Did the 2011 MKX work with 2013 mirror without errors? If you simply disconnected your mirror's wiring, do you still get the warning? Are all other systems in the mirror working (power, memory, autodim)? I'd probably think it a change in the wire placement that caused your error message, what I mean is although the socket plugged in fine, the individual wires are connected in a different order & causing the error message.