Fiat X290 heated mirrors

[mikebeaches]

Well, what can I say but thank you!

 

It is just 24 hours since I posted my query on this forum and I've received an amazing response.

 

I really appreciate the time and research folk have undertaken and the shared knowledge.

 

I may not be able to get to the dealer for a few days, but I will report back the outcome of this saga in due course.

 

Mike

[euroserv]

Mike,

 

Please PM me your chassis number and i will have a look at the spec. It is possible that you do actually have electric adjustable and heated mirrors but that for some reason the wrong switch module is fitted. I might be able to verify that; and if correct; the dealer might be able to get Fiat to swap the module, which would work if the main CAN controller is expecting to see it.

 

Nick

[Keithl]

Mike,

 

Nobody appears to have asked the obvious question yet, as the switch you are expecting to use for the mirrors is the Heated Rear Window switch,do you have a heated rear window or not?

 

Keith.

[Derek Uzzell]

The Rapido V68 evidently does not have windows in the rear doors...

 

[mikebeaches]

euroserv - 2017-01-06 10:34 AM

 

Mike,

 

Please PM me your chassis number and i will have a look at the spec. It is possible that you do actually have electric adjustable and heated mirrors but that for some reason the wrong switch module is fitted. I might be able to verify that; and if correct; the dealer might be able to get Fiat to swap the module, which would work if the main CAN controller is expecting to see it.

 

Nick

 

PM sent - thanks Nick!

 

Mike

[mikebeaches]

Keithl - 2017-01-06 10:52 AM

 

Mike,

 

Nobody appears to have asked the obvious question yet, as the switch you are expecting to use for the mirrors is the Heated Rear Window switch,do you have a heated rear window or not?

 

Keith.

Hi Keith

 

It is exactly as Derek has illustrated - no rear windows!

 

Cheers, Mike

[colin]

Well have owned our van for nearly 7 years now (time flies when you're having fun) and have just been out and confirmed it has heated mirrors! Never taken any notice before as I thought the switch was only for heated rear window which we don't have.

[mikebeaches]

colin - 2017-01-06 11:38 AM

 

Well have owned our van for nearly 7 years now (time flies when you're having fun) and have just been out and confirmed it has heated mirrors! Never taken any notice before as I thought the switch was only for heated rear window which we don't have.

 

:-D :-D :-D

 

It is a handy feature to use in the rain or if the mirrors have condensation on; so not just for de-icing.

 

So pleased this thread hes enabled you to discover such a handy feature!

 

Mike

[mikebeaches]

Fast forward 55 weeks - and I can update forum members concerning the mystery of the missing heated mirrors on my Rapido V68 van conversion.

 

But firstly, just to say, as of yesterday morning, the heated mirrors on my van are now working!!

 

Long story-short. I understand Rapido - in error - ordered a small batch of vans from Fiat without specifying the heated mirror option (which are normally standard for all their vans). And as Nick (euroserv) and others have said, sorting it out would not be straightforward or even possible?

 

Rapido have been upfront and profusely apologetic. They worked with Fiat to resolve the situation.

 

The solution:

 

1. Provide and install a new heated-mirror switch module in the van cab

 

2. Change the 'file proxy' for the vehicle on the Fiat system in Turin

 

3. Local Fiat dealer to undertake a software update on the van that reflects the change made on the Fiat factory system

 

4. *Bingo - the heated mirrors work!

 

*My understanding is that ALL Ducatos have the heating element (resistance wire) in the mirrors at manufacture, regardless of whether the facility has been specified as an option or not. In other words, my van already had the required heaters, but not the switch or the appropriate programming to make them work via the vehicle's canbus electrics.

 

Sounds uncomplicated, but It has taken a lot of emails, phone calls, dealer visits (MH dealer & Fiat dealer) and 12 months persistence to resolve the issue. Clearly, it should not have taken the length of time it did. But everybody involved has remained courteous throughout. And the MH dealer, Rapido and Fiat have each apologised for the delays. Although not requested, I have also been offered some modest non-monetary compensation as a goodwill gesture - which is appreciated.

 

Again, thanks to everybody on here for your interest, help and advice!!

 

I'm certainly pleased the matter has finally been resolved! :-D

[ColinM50]

mikebeaches - 2018-02-01 9:35 AM

 

*My understanding is that ALL Ducatos have the heating element (resistance wire) in the mirrors at manufacture, regardless of whether the facility has been specified as an option or not. In other words, my van already had the required heaters, but not the switch or the appropriate programming to make them work via the vehicle's canbus electrics. :-D

 

A few years back I had a Vauxhall Carlton as my company car along with three other employees. Mine didn't have spotlights in the headlights but two of the other cars did. Went to our friendly Vauxhall dealer complaining about it and he sold me a switch for a couple of pounds that fitted in the correct blanked off plate in the dash. Took off the blanking plate and all the wiring was there. The list price for the spotlights was just under £100 for the dealer to "fit" it.

 

So the point is IMHO most manufacturers build a standard loom etc and then charge you for the bits you want connected

[Deneb]

The trouble is on a lot of modern vehicles, although the wiring or other parts may already be in place, it's not just the fitting of a relatively cheap component that will enable it to work. The vehicle invariably has to be connected via the manufacturer's diagnostic equipment to the factory so that software to enable the addition can be downloaded to the vehicle and configured, as Mike has described.

 

I had this last year with a car that I bought as dealer pre-registered. I asked if I could purchase the accessories, fit them myself and return to the dealer to have them activated, but the franchised dealers who are the only people with access to the factory system don't want to know unless they have supplied and fitted the parts themselves.

 

We also had similar a few years ago with a new fleet of police Volvos. They all had to be individually hooked up to the factory computer system to activate front fog lamps that we wanted fitting to them.

[Derek Uzzell]

Funny you should mention fog lamps.

 

I’m not sure if front fog lamps were on the Rapido options-list in 2014 when I ordered my 640F motorhome, but I’d quite like to have them.

 

The printout provided by a Fiat Professional agent shows my Ducato X290 as having Option “4NF CONFIGURATION FOR FOG LIGHTS” but I don’t know what that means.

 

In the vehicle’s front bumper are removable clip-in circular grilles where OEM fog lamps go, there’s a front fog-lamps dashboard button that illuminates when pressed, and the appropriate fuses are present in the fuse-box. However, the front wheelarch plastic liners do not have the removable ‘flaps’ (mentioned in the Owner Handbook) that allow a fog-lamp bulb to be replaced.

 

This advert is for a retro-fit kit comprising the correct light-units and wiring-loom extensions, and I assume my Ducato has points on the existing loom to connect those extensions to.

 

https://tinyurl.com/ybau4noh

 

There are a couple of relevant comments on the Fiat Forum, one suggesting that, if one uses genuine Fiat parts, it might be just a matter of fitting the lights and the loom extensions

 

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/357608-2013-ducato-180-front-fog-lights.html

 

and the other that, if the fog-lamp option had not been specified originally, even if genuine Fiat parts are used the lights cannot be made to operate

 

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/441167-2015-x290-fog-lamps.html

 

It’s tempting to think that, if a retro-fit kit is marketed, there’s a reasonable chance that installing it will result in a workable system (even if there’s a need to twiddle an onboard computer) but I’ve succumbed to temptation in the past and regretted it.

 

Can’t say that not having fog-lamps greatly concerns me, it’s mainly whether installing them could be simple and ‘tidy’, or whether DIY cabling would be required.

[mikebeaches]

A tricky call Derek. I've read the relevant content on the two links to the Fiat forum, and as you say, they come to opposite conclusions! :-(

 

For what it is worth, my view would be if Fiat will / can supply 'after-fit' fog lights, then it should be doable, and relatively straightforward. But if not - which I think your conversation with a Fiat dealer suggested - you may be up against the same difficulty I had. So it would be a risk if you decided to take a chance and purchase the lights.

 

As you'll appreciate, I suspect it is only because of Rapido's influence as a major Fiat client, that Fiat agreed to make the change on their base master system at the factory in Turin to get the proxy file changed for my van.

 

However, as I think somebody on the Fiat forum suggested, you might be able to rig a completely independent set of wiring - not via the canbus loom - which would operate the lights? Obviously need to put a suitable fuse in the circuit.

[Deneb]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-02-01 5:00 PM

There are a couple of relevant comments on the Fiat Forum, one suggesting that, if one uses genuine Fiat parts, it might be just a matter of fitting the lights and the loom extensions

 

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/357608-2013-ducato-180-front-fog-lights.html

 

and the other that, if the fog-lamp option had not been specified originally, even if genuine Fiat parts are used the lights cannot be made to operate

 

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/441167-2015-x290-fog-lamps.html

 

I think the poster in the second link might be correct, who says that it depends if the relevant configuration has been included in the body computer during manufacture. If it has, then dealer level diagnostic software should pick up that the option is present even if not active, and it should then be a simple matter to activate it with a proxy-alignment reconfiguration of the body computer.

 

On my van, there is no option for fog lamps available in the body computer settings, so I assume it was not configured in such a way that it could be activated at the factory.

 

Strangely, the build spec for my van shows that it was manufactured with rain sensing wipers, but I have neither the correct wiper stalk switch or the windscreen sensor that are necessary for that option.

[Derek Uzzell]

mikebeaches - 2018-02-01 5:38 PM

 

...However, as I think somebody on the Fiat forum suggested, you might be able to rig a completely independent set of wiring - not via the canbus loom - which would operate the lights? Obviously need to put a suitable fuse in the circuit.

 

Yes, I’ve considered doing that as there are wiring harnesses offered on-line and waterproof cree-LED light units I could use. I’m comfortable with ‘traditional’ vehicle wiring practice and, if I installed my own system, I’d know that the result would work and almost certainly be more effective than the Fiat lights. But I’m less prepared nowadays to play about with vehicles unless the motivation is high or the task is simple and/or a known quantity.

 

 

[mikebeaches]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-02-01 6:18 PM

 

But I’m less prepared nowadays to play about with vehicles unless the motivation is high or the task is simple and/or a known quantity.

 

I am pretty much the same.

 

I need to be very confident, and clear in my head, that the outcome of any vehicle interventions on my part, will be successful. And that limits considerably what I am prepared to attempt. :-)