Disco 2 Hacking powerfold mirrors

Hi all, I have a 2001 (P38) range rover and, because I'm lazy, I'd like to retrofit powerfolding mirrors. I've grabbed a cheap Disco 2 mirror from eBay, just wondering if anyone knows how I can wire this up? I have a spare raspberry pi doing nothing else, and a couple of relays I can use but struggling to find out what signals need to be applied to which wires to trigger the folding mirror?

Good luck using a Raspberry PI, I've had a look at the inside of the power-fold mirrors ECU and frankly, it's a tad on the scary side.
Here are the drawings which you might need for the motors in the mirror:-

I'm happy grabbing an ECU off eBay and using that if it simplifies things....and I'm much more of a programmer than I am an electronics person, that wiring diagram might as well be in Greek

There are some D2’s that have folding mirrors with the switch.
You just have to search for the parts and rewire it for your RR.

Okay, so I can pick up an ECU and a switch fairly cheaply off ebay..... It should then just be a case of wiring it to power / ground on my Rangie and it will work? I assume the switch is just a switch and all the brains is in the ECU?

TallPaulB said:

Okay, so I can pick up an ECU and a switch fairly cheaply off ebay..... It should then just be a case of wiring it to power / ground on my Rangie and it will work? I assume the switch is just a switch and all the brains is in the ECU?

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Yes, you must connect the ECU to permannent and ignition feed exactly like in the D2's diagram(which means the connector is needed too) and wire the mirrors to it

Okay, so looking the diagam I need to source a c0907 from somewhere and then:

pin 1,3 -> RH mirror
pin 7,9 -> LH mirror

pin 6,8 -> Live (from battery / fusebox)
pin 12 -> Ground

pin 5 -> switch (pulls to ground when pressed)

Does that look about right? (sorry, it's my first time looking at the Landrover electrical diagrams!)

Am I right in thinking I could replace the switch on pin 5 with anything that provides a link to ground? Like an arduino driven relay for example?

Yes, you can do what you want to switch the earth but for the feed you need permannent live on pin 8 but it's important to be pos II ignition live to pin 6 cos the ECU will fold the mirrors according to the ignition's state if you see what i mean

Ah cool, so as long as pin 6 is only 'ignition live' the mirrors will fold in / out with the ignition state? I thought the Disco2 ones didn't do that, and only folded with the button?

Thanks for the help with this, it's much appreciated!

TallPaulB said:

Ah cool, so as long as pin 6 is only 'ignition live' the mirrors will fold in / out with the ignition state?

Click to expand...

No, i meant they fold on switch command but the ECU needs ignition live to become "active", if you give permannent feed to both pins there can be a battery drain but that automatic folding thing is easy to be set by using a 10s timed relay in parallel with the switch

also i presume you have a plan how to resolve the mirror's adjustment too cos for the D2 is completely different as the adjustment is made directly through the switch on common earth to the motrs while on the P38 the switch gives command to the BECM which works with each motor on separate circuit

Hrm.... nope, I hadn't given any thought to that. Interesting. It sounds like the D2 is significantly simpler then, I just need to hack the current P38 switch and wire it directly to the mirrors OR replace that switch completely with either the D2 switch / something else. Either way it's going to be fun.

One more question, will everything work on the D2 if one of the mirrors isn't present / is disconnected? Just so I don't have to shell out another £50 for the other mirror while I get everything working.

The D2's mirrors operation is not simpler jut that the P38's is overcomplicated

No problems if one mirror is missing, the other will work normally, watching the diagrams it might be possible top addapt the P38's circuit to the D2 mirror's motors as long as you are handy with electronics all you need is a connector to the mirror

Okay, my ECU arrived today, just need to figure out the connections now. I don't want to buy a whole wiring loom for the disco when all I really need is the ECU connector!

Here's the pin disposal of the plug, get one from a scrapyard cos all the D2s have it even if it's unused

@TallPaulB ... have you gotten anywhere with this power folding mod?
I'm curious about the Arduino/Raspberry Pi portion of this you mentioned.

JUKE179r said:

@TallPaulB ... have you gotten anywhere with this power folding mod?
I'm curious about the Arduino/Raspberry Pi portion of this you mentioned.

Click to expand...

I did indeed! Full writeup here: https://tall-paul.co.uk/2018/11/15/p38-part-2-folding-wing-mirrors/

note: I no longer have a P38, so if you have any questions my answers might be limited.

Sounds like a lot of bother for something that you'll stop using once the novelty wears off.

Col

Colthebrummie said:

Sounds like a lot of bother for something that you'll stop using once the novelty wears off.

Col

Click to expand...

My only parking option is a front street that has just enough space to drive a car down. I used the folding mirrors every single time I parked up.

Me too but my fl1 doesn't have folding mirrors, haven't been hit yet.

Col

Okay, cool. Very happy for you.