Our sideview mirrors don't seem to tilt down when in reverse consistently. The driver's side mirror won't tilt down at all, and the right side will tilt down and not return to normal when I shift from reverse to drive. I was able to get the right side to return to normal position after turning the mirror adjustment knoba little to the right. Anybody else have this problem? Is there a known fix or will I just waste my time at the dealership?

 

I guess I should read the manual. According to the manual, the right side view mirror tilts and left side doesn't tilt. It also doesn't return to normal position until the vehicle goes over 9 mph. I'm used to other vehicles where both mirrors tilt down and return to normal as soon as the car's put into "D". Audi claims the tilt mirror feature aids in parallel parking, but I like to think of it as a safety feature. I want to be able to see if there's any little kids on either side before I back up; especially with today's large SUV's, this is a must. Also, why assume people only parallel park on the right? Haven't they heard of one-way streets where parallel parkinghappens on either side? Audi needs to rewrite their software and make both of them tilt down, as well as return to normal position right away.

 

Good job reading the manual. ;-)

As it regards having the driver's side mirror tilt, this would be counterproductive to safety. The mirror does not tilt so that you can still check traffic approaching from the rear so that as the front left corner of the car swings slightly out you can do so knowing that you will not be hit. Unless Audi made it so that you could specify whether you were parallel parking on the left or right side of the street there would be no good way to manage the mirrors. As parallel parking happens greater than 99% of the time on the right side of US streets...the car is designed as it is.

While I love having the camera and mirrors to make things easier when parking and avoiding obstacles(like children)etc....there is still a lot to be said for physical flexibility and capability in actually placing your right hand on the back of the passenger seat and turning around to have a look see...a la 1980's driver's ed.

 

In general, I use the tilt mirrors in my other (full size) SUV to check for kids around the vehicle more than when I'm parallel parking; so having both mirrors tilt down would be my preference.