Visual impairment due to "lava lamp/ distorted bubble" effect in auto-dimming rearview and side mirror. I never realized so many other people were having this problem and didn't realize that this website existed. I would have filed my complaint a long time ago. I've never heard of replace a rearview mirror before. One day I was driving and I noticed there was a bubble in the middle of my tiny mirror. It kept getting larger and didn't go away on its own. Naively, I thought it was just the outside humidity but I should have known better. This mirror costs way too much for the terrible performance.

- Jacksonville, NC, USA

The inside rear view mirror in my 2002 Mercedes-Benz slk32 is a self-dimming mirror that has malfunctioned. The mirror contains some kind of fluid that leaked out onto my center console and then the dimming effect no longer worked, leading to an unsafe condition at night. There is no manual backup with this mirror, it is electric and once it fails, it stops working. I feel Mercedes-Benz should issue a recall on cars containing these mirrors and replace them.

- Kailua, HI, USA

Mb should recall rearview mirrors for 1998-2003 Slk. Looking at articles over the internet, lots of Slk owners have experienced this problem, so this is a known common issue for the car. The problem is that the rearview has an auto dim feature, and this mirror usually leaks making the mirror very dark where your cannot use it anymore.

- Lake Forest, CA, USA

The inside rear view and the exterior rear view mirrors in my 2002 Mercedes-Benz Slk 32 amg (R170 model) are electro chromic self-dimming mirrors that have no manual backup. The mirrors contained a fluid which leaked out causing the self-dimming mirror to fail to provide dimming against rear approaching headlights resulting in the driver to either be blinded or to have to turn the mirrors away which greatly eliminates rear view capability in the interior. There are many documented cases of these mirrors failing in various makes and models as a result of usually from the internal fluid leaking. The interior mirror is about $200 and the exterior (glass only) is around $400. About a year ago, magna donnelly was replacing these mirrors for free but stopped for unknown reasons.

- Millville, NJ, USA

Visibility summary: Vehicle type is 2002 Mercedes Benz slk230 (R170 model). The inside rear view mirror is an electrochromic self dimming mirror that has no manual backup. The mirrors fail losing their ability to provide dimming against rear approaching headlights causing the driver to either be blinded or to have to turn the mirror up and have no rear view capability. I know of many documented cases of these mirrors failing including my own. Some fail by just quitting working while others leak the internal fluid.

- Highland Park, IL, USA