[DavidHallworth]

Have searched the forum and Google for this to no avail...

I got fed up looking at a burst rear view mirror in my P38 so I decided to buy a Discovery 2 mirror with the compass on it.

Both mirrors have 3 wires going into them but the plugs are different.

I know there's a live, earth and a reverse live on each one. What I need to know is which wire does which...

P38 Mirror has:

Grey
Black
White

Discovery 2 Mirror has:

Grey
Brown
Red

Does anyone know which wire does what? I've got the wiring diagram for the mirror on the P38 from Rave but I can't find the diagram for the Disco 2.

Thanks in advance for any help!

David.

 

[RRToadHall]

I am not sure if Green Oval.net finally shut down but that is where I downloaded my DiscoII RAVE from. Landroverresource.com also has a DiscoII RAVE link but I have not had a need to try that one.

 

[LarryS]

bmws and some mgs use very similar/identical mirrors.
i was looking into something similar, retrofitting electrochromatic side mirrors into my 95, so i've done a bit of research.

****but please note use info at own risk. i make no claims other than to post the photo & link.
http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=371426

 

[DavidHallworth]

Thanks RRToadhall, I've got the Disco 2 Rave as well but there's no mention of it like there is on the P38 version.

Larry, that's brilliant. That's exactly what I was after, thank you!

I can work out colours on the P38 mirror using a multimeter then just solder them together.

David.

 

[DavidHallworth]

Well, last week I finally got fed up looking at the burst rear view mirror in my Range Rover. I looked on eBay and found someone selling a P38 dimming mirror for nearly £100. I decided I wasn’t prepared to pay that much for one so put a parts request out on 24/7 spares.

The next morning I got a call offering me a Discovery 2 mirror with the compass built into it for £60 including VAT & Delivery.

It arrived the next day by courier, the first thing I noticed was the plug was totally different from the one fitted to the P38.

Thanks to LarryS for posting the picture below in my previous thread asking if anyone knew what wire was what.

Anyway, here’s a how to guide to fit the Discovery 2 dimming mirror with the compass into the P38 Range Rover.

Old burst mirror:

New mirror:

I took the plug apart on the new mirror and exposed the wires, with the plug removed there’s a decent length of cable that you can get to.

 

[DavidHallworth]

If you take your old mirror, unscrew the mirror clip from the back of the mirror and you can take the plug and cables off the old mirror, you’ll now need to cut it right as close to the mirror as you can so that you have the plug and the tails coming from it. It’s important here to keep as much length in the wires as you can.

The P38 plug has a white, grey and black wire. The white wire is the 12v feed, the black wire is the earth and the grey wire is the reverse feed.

The Discovery 2 mirror has a red, brown and grey wire. The red wire is the 12v feed, the brown wire is the earth and the grey cable is the reverse feed.

Here’s how to connect the cables:

P38 Plug Discovery 2 Plug

White Red
Black Brown
Grey Grey

I placed some heat shrink on the tails of the P38 plug before I soldered the cables together.

After I’d soldered the cables I gently heated the heat shrink so that the cables are insulated and have no chance of shorting each other out.

After I’d done this I wrapped some insulation tape round the wires to keep them neat and tidy.

 

[DavidHallworth]

I then took it out to the P38 and fitted it to the windscreen. The clip from the Discovery 2 isn’t secure on the P38 windscreen so I had to take the torx screw out of the old P38 mirror and the Discovery 2 mirror and swapped the clip round. After I’d done this I attached it to the windscreen and put the plastic covers on the mirror.

I then turned the ignition on and the mirror displayed the compass. It sensed the sodium light via the back sensor and dimmed the mirror straight away. I put the car in reverse and the mirror instantly undimmed.

It’s a really easy fix and gives you a little gimmick in the car. Seems that you can also get Discovery 2 mirrors cheaper then P38 ones so it’s a win win.

Hope this helps someone as I spent quite a bit of time looking on the internet but couldn’t find anything.

David.

Tags for Google:
How to fit a discovery 2 compass mirror into a P38, Discovery 2 mirror wiring, P38 mirror wiring, Range Rover rear view mirror, Discovery rear view mirror

 

[LarryS]

That's pretty cool David, excellent find and write up :thumb:

 

[John W]

Nice job David.My P38 "burst" about six months ago and the fluid damaged the plastic on the centre consol.I have replaced mine with a standard P38 mirror.Definitely an idea for the future.I like the compass feature.

 

[burange]

Hi,

New user here (first post).

Just wanted to let you know that based on the success of the OP's project here -I am going to try and accomplish the same thing.

I have sourced a D2 mirror and I hope to try the swap this weekend.

Thanks for the informative thread!

 

[burange]

Success! Thanks again for the great info.

I now have a fully functional mirror, with a little compass to boot for ~half the price! (I think it looks better, too!)

Cheers!

 

[Moreirinha]

Part number please!

 

[RRToadHall]

Part number please!

Readily available on many parts sites.

 

[LarryS]

just ebay "discovery compass" or something like, that also will give you part numbers.

 

[Moreirinha]

CTB000020

it seems to be NAS, cant find none on ebay (europe)..

Will keep the search.

Thx

 

[LarryS]

i've seen them on ebay uk - but none at the moment (email search alert is handy)

 

[DavidHallworth]

The other thing that I noticed when in a family members Peugeot 406 Coupé the dimming rear view mirror is a Donnelly mirror exactly the same as the original dimming mirror fitted to the P38.

As far as I know though, it's only fitted to the V6 SE models so might be a cheaper source for anyone looking for an original rather then a compass one.

When I wanted my compass mirror I put a request out on 24/7 Spares (UK based site) and got a quote from a specialist breaker in the North West of England for just over £60. This was my reason for changing it in the P38 as the compass mirror was available for less then the OEM Donnelly one.

 

[Marquis]

Excellent Mod, Not sure if my 4.0 SE has any cables to it, but i'd def do it if it does. just out of interest does anyone know if the wiring looms are the same for all p38's. I mean across all the different models from the factory, just wondering if the wires for the cd changer, sat nav and sunroof would be there, even though they were never fitted.

 

[DavidHallworth]

I would imagine the wiring looms to be similar if not the same.

The plugs are quite often tucked above the headlining in other makes of cars I've worked on.

Sat Nav as far as I'm aware only came on late models with the alpine stereo so retro fitting to an early car with clarion would be almost impossible without changing the loom and all the components I believe.

CD Change I'd imagine will have a plug in the boot for as it was a dealer fit option.

 

[Marquis]

It makes sense that they would install the complete wiring loom
on each car exactly the same, I didn't know about the sat nav
being introduced later on. Very interesting.
The stereo is the tape type so maybe the cd changer was introduced
later as well, I'll have to have a hunt around for it in the boot.
Thanks for your input,
Cheers.
M.