[Scott Francis]

My OCD kicked into high gear the other night when I noticed that the bottom portion of the instrument cluster reflects off of the windshield of my CX-30. It's funny that I didn't notice it before but now I notice it all of the time while driving at night. I've experimented a bit with head position a bit and found that this is an issue only for a relatively narrow set of head positions, and of course mine is one of them. I am 6' 1" and like to sit relatively high with the seat fully to the rear (not reclined, just fully aft).

I taped a half sheet of black construction paper underneath the top surface of the instrument cluster visor and that totally removes the reflection, but it looks cheap and it won't survive trips to the car wash when they wipe down the inside. A little online research I did found that this is not a unique situation to the CX-30. In fact, it appears that it is a common problem with many vehicles, including high end ones such as BMW 750s. It's not clear to me why manufacturers don't recess the instrument cluster far enough to ensure that this doesn't happen regardless of your head position, but it appears that they often don't.

A better after-market solution to this would be a plastic visor that could be inserted into the instrument cluster well. It would functionally solve the problem just like my black construction paper does without looking so cheap or being destroyed each time through the car wash. Has anyone else noticed this? And more importantly, does anyone have the ability to make some laser measurements and produce these inserts?

 

[zico21]

I had the exact same experience when I first got my my car. Then I noticed that the instrument panel‘s nighttime light was set at the maximum brightness level. As soon as I lowered the level one step the reflection was essentially gone. I lowered the level for the nighttime a few steps to what I liked and the reflection was totally gone. Hopefully yours is in the same condition and these steps resolves the reflection issue for you.

 

[Scott Francis]

Turning down the cluster light intensity helps, but does not solve the problem.

 

[carbonized]

I've seen aftermarket visors that install on the center infotainment screen to reduce glare, so maybe someone will eventually design one for the instrument panel as well.

 

[Scott Francis]

That's what I'm hoping for! I sent an email to WeatherTech and they told me to go pound sand.

 

[carbonized]

LFOTPP is the company that sells the infotainment visor on amazon. Not sure if they would be more helpful than weathertech but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Scott Francis]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I am going to replace the black construction paper with black felt, so that instead of looking 100% cheap and flimsy it only looks 98% cheap and flimsy. I reached out to Mazda -- no response yet and honestly I'm not really expecting one since the issue is pretty trivial. I will reach out to LFOTPP and see what they say.

 

[Richc71]

I notice the same thing. I also find the glare on the instrument panel in day light is more annoying.