I am an immigrant from Europe where all vehicles use a convex mirror on both sides of the car - a mirror glass which is more convex as it protrudes away from the car. This allows an improved visibility on both sides when you drive - specially for a vehicle like our C7 which has limited visibility on both sides of the vehicle. Yes there has been posts that you can set the mirrors so that you do not see the side of the vehicle but rather see your blind spot. The Europeans (actually the rest of the world) has figured out that using convex mirrors on both sides of a vehicle makes us safer drivers.
I have replaced the current C7 mirrors on my C7 with re-cut European mirror glass to give me a much better visibility, so I wanted to teach all of you how to do this on your vehicle. I will offer a step-by-step method as I have done all my and my family vehicles and everyone loves it.
First - there are several websites from the United Kingdom (UK) selling the convex mirror glass as a stick-on replacement for broken mirrors. If I am allowed here, I can mention one which I have used very successfully http://www.thewingmirrorcompany.co.uk/. There are others as well. Please make sure you get the mirror glass which has a vertical line on the mirror glass to indicate that here is the area where the wider angel convex area starts. See picture below. Order one and wait a few weeks to get it in your mail.
Next - let me tell you that the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has a rule in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Part 571.111, S2.2.1 for the driver’s side specifies: Each passenger car shall have an outside mirror of unit magnification. This specification does only apply to the manufacturer, and not to the owner of a vehicle - so you are allowed to change what you use.
Once you have the European mirror glass, please remove the C7 mirror assembly by with your fingers prying it lose from its housing. It is held in place with a snap-in ring and should come lose with your fingers prying it out from its housing. Remove the electrical wires for the heater and possibly the night dimming wires.
Now that you have the mirror glass assembly in your hand (with a anti-vibration spring in the back) place it on a table and put masking tape covering the entire mirror glass. Then cut the masking tape in the crevice between the glass and plastic frame so that you get a perfect size template which you can remove and place on the convex mirror glass you have purchased. This gives you the cutting edges for the convex mirror so once cut it will fit into the plastic frame. See pictures below.
If you are mechanically handy, and if you have a Dremel tool, then with a narrow metal disc you can cut the glass (cut a scorch mark) so that you can crack it to the size of the C7 mirror. It may take several shorter Dremel scorch marks to the outer edges of the glass to crack several pieces off the mirror to achieve the final size.
I have also had success sanding the edges of the new C7 convex mirror after the cutting with a metal black "sand-paper". Sand in the direction of the edge to smoothen it off.
If you are scared of cutting the glass - you can take it to a professional glass cutter for help. There is always a chance that the mirror may crack - so keep the masking tape on it for added protection while cutting and cracking the cut edges.
Once you have the new convex mirror glass you have two ways to proceed. 1) you can silicone the new mirror on top of the original one, or 2) the better way is to use a heat gun to warming the original mirror glass and when hot remove it from the plastic frame. You mist likely separate the mirror (with the heater backing) from the frame first. Then with the heat gun, remove the heater from the back of the original mirror. Now you can assemble the new convex mirror glass with the heater backing onto the C7 mirror plastic frame - you may have to use additional contact glue or silicone glue to make a permanent bond. Once dried - you are ready to install it back into your vehicle. Connect the heater wires, and if you have the auto-dimming just leave those wires unconnected. Then just place the mirror in its position and push (snap) it in place. See pictures below.
By sharing this I hope there are some of you finding this a great opportunity to make your vehicle safer to drive. I do not want to start a thread with comments on how to set your US mirrors, or that it is easier to buy a round stick-on second mirror. Take this as a fun job to make your C7 easier to drive - I sure love the C7 with European mirrors on both sides of the car = no blind spots whatsoever and easier to drive in heavy traffic. Hope this can encourage you as well.

 

Nicely done! I don't understand why the US doesn't change the standard to these.

 

Thanks - I have written DOT several times and all they have done is to study the European solution with no changes as of yet. It is like the "old" American round or square headlamps which took years to get approved for the European streamlined headlamps we now have. Possibly it will change some time in the future if we remind them to change. I have done my job here as I know the difference it makes with good visibility around your C7 vehicle.

 

Yeah, thanks a lot! Now instead of a 15 dollar headlight you have to buy a >$1,000 headlight assembly. The squares were brighter, too.

 

Don't thank me!

 

Well, no they weren't. but...

 

I like it. Went to the web site but couldn't find a listing for a C7 Corvette. What part number did you use to get a piece of mirror to fit the Vette?

 

I don't seem to have any problem with the stock mirrors.

 

The website I refer to sells convex mirrors larger than what you need for a C7, so you have to cut them down to correct size as per my description. No-one sells a driver side convex mirror for the C7 - unfortunately. If you ever have used one (rental car in Europe) you know what benefit it offers.

 

Is this available on C7s in Europe? Reason I ask is I happen to be in Munich for the next two weeks. Might be nice to kill some time next weekend checking out some Vettes and looking for the OE parts to do this.

Mike

 

Mike - the exported C7 vehicles use a larger housing for their external mirrors to satisfy the European regulations. So their convex mirror glass is also larger and will not fit our US C7 vehicles. That was the first thing I checked out as I can purchase the European mirrors for my Volvo's I otherwise drive - yes with the convex great visibility mirrors making my US driving much safer. That's why I came up with the make-it-yourself method described above. You had a great thought, but sorry it will not work. The less expensive method is to spend about $20 for the European glass (larger in size) and then cut them down to the US size and mount into the US frame.

 

Good info here, thanks. If the mirrors in Europe are a different size than North America, will you suggest a mirror part number (or vehicle id) that I can modify to fit the Z06. Tks

 

The last one I purchased was from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Righ...608.0.0.PeiuNi. It is much larger than the C7 mirror and should work good for cutting down in size for you. Hope I can make this recommendation here. Other mirrors are available from UK suppliers - do a google for "wing mirrors"

 

Really? I find that statement pretentious. Care to compare the safe driving rates of "actually the rest of the world" with the US? Let's see what they are compared to the old Soviet block countries. Egypt? India? Turkey? France? How well are those convex mirrors working for them? I know the US is not quite as good as the UK and Germany, as examples, but it's pretty close and I'm not sure you can attribute the entire difference to "convex mirrors."

 

Shouldn't we only compare ourselves with similar first world countries with similar highway systems?

By the way the U.S. is 2-3x more deadly on the roads than Western Europe; and worse than Turkey. Better roads, better driving standards, driver's education, effective laws (like keeping to the right unless to pass), and an openness to certain equipment like the OP presented would help drive this down.

Source

 

I'd argue that the WHO statistic of deaths per 100,000 car users is not a valid measure of relative roadway safety. The much more appropriate measure would be the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles. Failing to factor in how much vehicles are driven is a major gaffe in the WHO statistic.

 

I'm in Germany right now for business and travel up the A9 from Munich to Manching every day. Trust me when I say that the German drivers are not a little better on the freeway, they're a lot better. Folks over here know how to drive and they pay attention to their driving. Failure to do so usually results in stiff fines. They know how to drive at speed, they stay right except to pass, and they yield to faster traffic. They simply drive better than most Americans.

Is that due to the fact they have convex mirrors? No, but the mirror is a tool that adds to their situational awareness while they're driving. That's all it is, a tool. If you're on this forum I assume that you are a car person and understands that a good tool properly utilized can allow you to accomplish a lot. Use the mirror as it's intended and be a safer driver.

Mike

 

I disagree.

In addition, you had an additional high beam bulb instead of a little flap moving for high beams.

 

Dear Forum Friends - this HOW TO post was provided for those of us who like to tinker and make our C7 vehicles more fun to drive. Posting and arguing about interpretations of my intent with this post was not what I had hoped. Please let's continue to offer ideas and benefits to those who love their C7's and who wants to try something new we can learn here. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!