This is my first DIY, but I guess I should give the usual disclaimer: This information is provided as a guide only. Neither myself, nor FitFreak.net is responsible for any damage caused by someone else attempting the following procedure. If you are not comfortable with doing the work yourself, find a friend, family member, or shop to help you out. We all love our cars and want them to last!

1. Remove the stock rearview mirror. If you look at the picture below (which I took after removing the mirror), you will see a small cutout in the plastic base cover (the piece that sits flush against the windshield). The cutout is on the bottom side of the base when it is still mounted in your car. Using a flathead screwdriver covered in a soft cloth or tape or a panel removal tool, work your way up from the cutout area around to both the left and right side. If you look at the second picture below, you will see that there is a plastic tab on each side. They will pop loose if you give them a pull. Once the base cover piece is free, slide it towards the mirror to get it out of the way (see third picture). Now simply push up on the bottom of the base and the mirror will slide up and off of the wedge mount (see the fourth picture).










2. Slide the Gentex mirror onto the wedge mount from the top (in the opposite direction of how you removed the stock mirror).

3. Plug the wiring harness into the back of the mirror.



4. Run the wiring up to the headliner (use the wire cover if you got one, and I HIGHLY recommend that you do). Tuck the wiring under the edge of the headliner (using a panel removal tool worked well for me) as you run it all of the way over to the A-pillar.

5. Here you have a couple of options. You can remove the A-pillar (and break a clip which you'll need to purchase from Honda) and tuck the wiring behind the airbag. I chose not to go this route. Instead, I tucked the wires under the headliner where it meets the A-pillar. I did not need to remove any panels by going this route.

6. Remove the weather stripping around the door frame. I started just above the area where the headliner and A-pillar meet (see the first picture below...you can see the wires coming out from under the headliner and then running down the door frame) and went down to the space between the kick panel and the dash trim (see the area circled in red in the second picture below). Run the wires under the weather stripping and then behind the dash using that circled space as your entrance.





7. There are 3 wires to connect on the GENK41A. One goes to a constant power source (solid black wire), one goes to an ignition powered wire (black with a white stripe), and the third to ground. Using the supplied wire taps (blue 14-18 AWG), tap the following wires in the fuse box to the left of the steering wheel:

CONSTANT - The second row up from the bottom of the fuse box has three green panels in a row (from left to right) The third one from the left has a blue wire and a pink wire running into the top row. Tap the PINK wire.

IGNITION - In the middle green panel, locate the purple wire that runs into the top row, very far right. Tap the PURPLE wire.

8. Take the spade connector from the solid black wire and plug it into the folded edge end of the wire tap on the PINK wire.

9. Take the spade connector from the black wire with the white line and plug it into the folded edge end of the wire tap on the PURPLE wire.

The first picture below is for a point of reference. Notice the fuse box label sticker on the lower left. You know where you are now? Good.

You'll see the wire taps on the pink and purple wires a little closer in the second picture.





10. Connect the ground wire to a grounded source on the frame of the car. I used a bolt near the fuse box. See the circled area in the picture below.




Finished product:



You're done!!! Now you just need to test it out and make sure everything works correctly and then do any wire cleanup and put everything back together. The installation guide that comes with the mirror is fairly good, so hopefully anything I missed will be in there. It covers programming the Homelink buttons, so I won't mess with that info.

Like I said, this is my first DIY. Sorry if it is either too thorough or not thorough enough. Any feedback would be appreciated. If I didn't get the documentation process down this time, I'll try to improve it next time. Thanks!

 

Very nice!
Looks like I have another mod on my list of things I can't afford right now.

BTW, can we get a picture of the finished install.

 

Sorry! Forgot to post that! I edited the original post and included the finished install.

 

That looks sick! I'm sold. What are the other 2 buttons for?

 

The three on the left are the programmable Homelink buttons. The other two...the manual doesn't really say. All it says is if the green LED isn't on when turning on the car to hit the power button, so one of them is a power button. I'm not sure what the other is (maybe one is power on and the other is power off?).

 

o snap! can you wire those other 2 buttons to do something else?
either way, i'm sold. i gotta get one!

 

Yes, they can be programmed to operate other RF devices...such as lights, gates, etc...

 

I put one of these in my civic, and I never regretted it. However, I installed the model without home-link as I didn't have a garage at the time, it had instead: maplights, compass, and temp sensor. Probably the hardest part on the install I did was getting the temp sensor through the firewall, and the wedge mount on the windshield.

It's nice that the fit has the wedge mount already, makes it easy. Good job on the clean install. What'd you use to hide the wires? It looks like the kind of surface mount wire channel tracking that I use on home theater installs...

 

It's an optional accessory for the mirror, but the seller that I bought it from on eBay included it for free. It snaps into the top of the mirror base, has two hooks to hold it in place on the headliner, and is adjustable to fit any distance between the mirror base and the roof.

Here is a link to the seller that I bought the mirror from:
eBay Motors: NEW!! Gentex Auto Dim HomeLink Mirror Kit 50-GENK41A (item 130294540936 end time Apr-17-09 03:04:55 PDT)
I bought it on Monday and got it on Thursday.

 

Nice DIY!

On other Honda vehicles I have purchased a Homelink for the overhead console as fitted to Acuras. Can't do that for the Fit, though.

$169 is a great price as a three-button Homelink that clips onto a visor costs $150 by itself.

Yes, the two right buttons are an on-off switch for the auto-dimming feature. Useful, to see if the feature is working.

Now all you need to remember is, not to block the light sensor on the front of the mirror (picture 3) with a toll transponder (EZPass).

 

Hey RATEDZ,
Thanks so much for the diy. I just did it. I ordered the one you recommended. ebay seller was great and he included everything for the install. Your directions were spot on. the two things that I notice or had trouble with. The blue clips self tapping one that came with the kit. Wow, those things are a pain in the butt to use. That is what took up all of my time! 2nd. I noticed if the power on the mirror is on, if the car is off the light says on. I think it is because the fit has power still on when you turn off the car. Once you open the door I think then the fit cuts all power.

This mirror definitely rocks! it is bigger than the stock but not obtrusive at all. it definitely looks oem. you get better coverage and see alot more than the stock mirror. I highly recommend this DIY!!!!

 

Thanks, I'm glad it helped! I was hoping that I had everything covered, so it's good to know that you were able to follow the DIY and get the mirror installed. I love the mirror too...it is slightly larger than the stock mirror, but like you said, it isn't obtrusive at all. The wire taps are a bit of a pain, but there are only two, so it wasn't too bad!

I hadn't noticed that the green light stayed on when the car is turned off, so I just went and looked and it does the same thing, but it does turn off once the door is opened. Like I said, I hadn't noticed it until you mentioned it, but I haven't had any issues with it, so I guess it's not a problem. Thanks again for the feedback on the DIY!

+rep for being brave and trying it out!

 

wow, this is freaking cool. Now I want this.

 

^^ indeed! good job.

 

That's because the purple wire this DIY instructs you to tap into is the power wire for the right rear power window switch. It stays hot after you shut the car off so you can still roll up/down the window, until you open a door.

I found this thread while doing research for my own Gentex mirror install, just thought i'd share the knowledge.

 

For the 2009's i don't need to get this thing, correct? My seller is telling me that I need this thing (camlock kit?).

 

No, the GE8s use a wedge mounting system for the rear view. No adapters needed. The mirror will slide on right out of the box.

 

that's wat i thought! thanks.

 

ratedz - thanks again for the DIY. gotz my gentex compass mirror installed today.

your tap wire pict above helped greatly. i just needed the ground and switched 12v+ on mine since it doesn't have the homelink (car is parked outdoors 24/7).

 

it's only one more harness with thermalcouple (sp?) that goes into your front bumper.

yes you can disable the auto-dim function.