How-To: Install DL3 Mirrors In 2014+ (LIGHTING ONLY).

No Tyme · March 19, 2016

RE: 7) Finally, now that EVERYTHING is wired up and ran where it should be you have one last thing you need to connect. The way i did this may not be what everyone chooses to do, but it worked best for me. The functions of these DL3 mirrors seem to have a ground for the mirror motor operation and a ground for lighting in the harness. The SOLID BLACK wire in the harness coming from the mirror NOT the truck is your main ground, the BLACK WIRE/WHITE TRACER is the ground for your lighting. Therefore what i did here is exposed a little bit of the two wires twisted them over one another and soldered them together/taped them back up. This is done at the harness coming from the mirror so if done correctly you will still be able to plug/unplug the mirrors just as you could before. Repeat this procedure for both drivers and passenger side.

I want to add some additional information to part 7 above, to clarify this step. On my mirrors, I have 1 black/white wire and 2 black wires. They all seem to be the same size wire, but the 2 wires that you want to join to add a ground for the turn signals are the black/white wire in pin # 5 and the black wire in pin # 11. The black wire in pin # 8 is the mirror Heating Element Supply Voltage.

This came be verifies in the GM up fitters manual found here:

https://www.gmupfitt..._2015_en_US.pdf

EQUIS24X · March 22, 2016

Does anyone have pics of this being done in a 2015 LT? Pictures of the actual added wires in detail?

No Tyme · March 22, 2016

Does anyone have pics of this being done in a 2015 LT? Pictures of the actual added wires in detail?

No pics here: It is just a time consuming job. You need to wire to the mirror harness, run them down to the door jam, pull off the rubber boots and snake thru the boot. I read that by undoing the door stopper thing that the door will actually open wider... Too late for me, LOL.

I use a short length of coat hanger to snake thru. I drilled a hole in the rubber grommet on the inner door shell and snaked the wires thru. I use 2 different colors of 18 gauge wires and in-cased them in a piece of shrink wrap tubing about 18" long to add some protection thru the door jam area. Used coat hanger to snake thru the rubber boot and thru the top of the body of truck there is room for the wires under the rubber shield to the cab body. The hardest part by far is the taps into the BMC plugs under the dash. Not much room under there for my old big hands.

Also I combined 2 wires at the mirror harness for the signal ground... that way I only needed to run 2 wires instead of three.

blt2tzz · March 25, 2016

Hey all i figured since I couldn't find the answers anywhere on here id do a quick write up on how I installed the DL3 Mirrors on my 2014 Silverado CC LT trim. My truck originally came with DL8's (heated, power, manual fold) and I've always wanted the DL3 mirrors because i love having signals in my mirrors and the puddle lamps are an added bonus too me. So i started doing my research, checking wiring diagrams, locations, ect. and finally came up with a game plan that i felt was the most reasonable and cost effective for what i was looking to have (also completely reversible need be). **This is what worked for me and I cannot guarantee that its the exact same for everyone, so do this mod at your own risk**

**FIRST AND FOREMOST REMEMBER TO DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL ON YOUR BATTERY BEFORE YOU BEGIN**

1) I found the wiring I needed under the dash located at the BCM (lower left side of the dash) and one of the wires located at the junction block below the BCM. You'll see in the first picture i have posted below the BCM wiring. You'll need to tap into the LIGHT GREEN WIRE WITH A VILOET TRACER in the BROWN BCM (#4) plug in **wire is going to be pin #3**. (see attached diagram for pin layout) This wire is going to be your right side turn signal wire. I tapped into these wires using T-taps (although i hate using the things because they're not the best connection, i felt they're the best option here so that there are no cutting of wires and all wiring is essentially reversible). The Next wire you'll need to tap into is the DARK BLUE WITH WHITE TRACER in the BLACK BCM (#5) plug in **wire is going to be pin #2**. (See attached diagram for pin layout) This wire is going to be your left side turn signal wire.

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2) Next i found the wiring i wanted to use located in the junction block below the BCM in the lower left side of the dash. You'll have to pop the black plastic cover off in order to get to these. Look for the DARK BLUE plug in at the upper left hand side of the junction block. You'll see in the picture there are two GREY wires located in this plug in. You can use either one as they are both for dome light operation and will both work in this application. Again I used a T-tap to tap into this wire so that it would be reversible later on if the need arises.

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3) The next step in my process was to begin running wiring from the doors out to the Drivers footwell. I pulled the door panels off, popped the old mirrors off, installed my new DL3's and bolted them down. (pretty straight forward if you don't know how there are topics on door panel removal all over the forums) I then began popping the rubber boots apart between the doors and the rubber plug out out of the door itself (plug where the main harness comes out of the door panel). These do not need to be removed just popped out to gain access. Then using a wire snake (you can also use bailing wire or whatever you have access to instead if you don't have a wire snake) I ran two wires through the plug under the door panel, through the boot and out into the footwell on BOTH the drivers and passenger side. The only obvious difference between the two is the passengers side wire length needs to be substantially longer.

4) Now once you have all four wires (two from drivers door and two from passengers door) ran to the drivers foot well you can begin the arduous task of wiring them up. What i did was chose one wire from each door and crimped them into ONE of the male connectors for the T-Tap. This pair will be used to run the Puddle lamps on the bottoms of the mirrors. Then crimped one male T-Tap connector onto each of the remaining wires <so you'll have a total of 3 connections to be made.

5) Take the first single connection you crimped the male end onto (the one coming from the drivers door) and looking under the dash plug it into the T-tap you installed on the DARK BLUE/WHITE wire at the BCM (label accordingly as this is going to run the turn signal on your drivers side mirror), Take the remaining single male connection and plug it into the T-Tap you made at the LIGHT GREEN/VIOLET wire at the BCM (again label as this is going to be your passenger side mirror turn signal), finally take the pair of wires that you crimped into one male connection and plug it into the T-tap you made at the GREY wire at the junction block below the BCM (this is going to run your puddle lamps so again label accordingly).

6) Now the fun part; since you now have all of your wires ran, tapped into the correct wires at the drivers footwell and labeled (hopefully) you can begin the wiring at the doors. This is the SAME procedure for both the drivers and passengers doors. What i did here was purchase Male GM pins from my local dealer and crimped them onto the wire ends at the door so that I could just add the pins I needed to my harness and it would be a cleaner install, plus i wanted to be able to unplug and replug the harnesses if i ever needed to take the door apart again. You will see in the picture below that the wire for the puddle lamps (the one you tapped into the grey wire at the junction block) needs to be installed in PIN POSITION #1 of the harness. You can double check that it is in the correct position as it will line up with the ORANGE/WHITE wire when the harnesses are connected. The remaining wire (wire that you tapped into the light green/violet for the pass side and dark blue/white for the drivers side) needs to be installed into PIN POSITION #13 of the connector end. You can double check that you have this in the correct spot as it will line up with the RED WIRE/BLUE when the harnesses are connected.

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7) FInally, now that EVERYTHING is wired up and ran where it should be you have one last thing you need to connect. The way i did this may not be what everyone chooses to do, but it worked best for me. The functions of these DL3 mirrors seem to have a ground for the mirror motor operation and a ground for lighting in the harness. The SOLID BLACK wire in the harness coming from the mirror NOT the truck is your main ground, the BLACK WIRE/WHITE TRACER is the ground for your lighting. Therefore what i did here is exposed a little bit of the two wires twisted them over one another and soldered them together/taped them back up. This is done at the harness coming from the mirror so if done correctly you will still be able to plug/unplug the mirrors just as you could before. Repeat this procedure for both drivers and passenger side.

8) Now that everything is wired, begin putting everything back together. Basically do everything in reverse from the way you took it apart. Make sure you put the boots back on both doors completely so that you don't get any water or anything in the wiring. I zip-tied the wiring up in the drivers footwell, put the plastic cover back on the junction box and after making sure i plugged everything back in put my door panels and all trim back on. Reconnect your battery and test them out, flip your turn signals on; both left and right, and look and see that the puddle lamps are coming on with the dome lights (you can turn them on/off the same as your domes and they will dim out when turning off.)

9) You now have fully functioning lighting on your DL3 mirrors (minus the car-wash fold). But I could honestly care less about car-wash fold. Its one of those things that i just wouldn't use enough to take the time to buy a new switch and harnesses and programming thats involved with doing them. Therefore this was the best route for me. I love the puddle lamps, they come on when i open my doors and dim out just as my interior lights do. I can manually turn them on when I turn my domes on and can shut them off the same way. Plus the turn signals in the mirrors (too me at least) are an awesome reminder that I have my turn signal on and they just look super cool.

**Well i hope this helps someone out, i took me a while of tracing wiring and what-not to figure out but once i did i feel like it was a pretty simple upgrade and TOTALLY worth it in my opinion **

Wow, thank you for this awesome post. I pretty much learned the hard way on this conversion. I bought DL3's and they came with the wiring for them. I replaced the wires along with the DL3's and the only function I had was the turn signals and the drivers mirror moved up and down only. Absolutely no function on passenger side. So I kinda took a stab in the dark and put my original wiring in and I had power everything and my mirrors folded because I even bought the new switch. So then I decided to dissect the extra harness and add the wires I needed to the signals and puddle lamps. I had no idea witch wire went to the puddles. I'm glad I checked this post out. However, I hooked it all up and no signals. I didn't do the connecting of the 2 grounds together. Would this be why I have no signals yet? I'm gonna work on it tomorrow. Thanks again....Awesome post!!!

No Tyme · March 25, 2016

However, I hooked it all up and no signals. I didn't do the connecting of the 2 grounds together. Would this be why I have no signals yet? I'm gonna work on it tomorrow. Thanks again....Awesome post!!!

I would bet a dollar that is the reason. In my research the signal light has it's own ground wire. Remember to combine the CORRECT two back wires on the mirror harness...

On my mirrors, I have 1 black/white wire and 2 black wires. They all seem to be the same size wire, but the 2 wires that you want to join to add a ground for the turn signals are the black/white wire in pin # 5 and the black wire in pin # 11. The black wire in pin # 8 is the mirror Heating Element Supply Voltage.

blt2tzz · March 26, 2016

Thanks No Tyme,

I'm still a little confused on which wires I need to hook up for the puddle lamps. I read that it the 2 grey wires. Do you happen to know which number on the harness that plugs into the pillar where the door bolts on? I'm pretty much just gutting the wires out of the extra harness and gonna plug them into the mirror and pillar slots. Thanks a bunch....

No Tyme · March 26, 2016

Thanks No Tyme,

I'm still a little confused on which wires I need to hook up for the puddle lamps. I read that it the 2 grey wires. Do you happen to know which number on the harness that plugs into the pillar where the door bolts on? I'm pretty much just gutting the wires out of the extra harness and gonna plug them into the mirror and pillar slots. Thanks a bunch....

I couldn't get up to the spot that schlegle1 used. I found a gray wire in the first of the five plugs just under the dash (five that are closest to the center of the cabin, then 3 more that I didn't touch), where the power for the puddle and signals are that he tapped into. The plug I used was the closest to the steering column and it had a gray wire, I found it with a tester... I actually had to run a ground wire from the battery because I could not get a good ground for the test light. Only place that did work was the door latch on the body.

blt2tzz · March 27, 2016

Hey Enthusiast,

Thanks again for your help. I did what you said with the 2 grounds and it works great. I have power folding mirrors now with signals. I didn't bother with the puddle lamps. They don't seem like they are bright enough to see anything anyways. As far as the dimmer in the mirror, I didn't do anything with that either. I'm hoping the DL3 mirrors will still heat the same as my DL8's. I didn't try to do any other wiring. Thanks again....Chuck

farris123 · October 19, 2016

I would bet a dollar that is the reason. In my research the signal light has it's own ground wire. Remember to combine the CORRECT two back wires on the mirror harness...

On my mirrors, I have 1 black/white wire and 2 black wires. They all seem to be the same size wire, but the 2 wires that you want to join to add a ground for the turn signals are the black/white wire in pin # 5 and the black wire in pin # 11. The black wire in pin # 8 is the mirror Heating Element Supply Voltage.

im wiring up my puddle lamps, got everything wired when i went to test them they worked good with the dome light switches but i noticed that when i turn my headlights on the puddle lamps come on along with all of my dome lights any help would be appreciated thanks

No Tyme · October 20, 2016

im wiring up my puddle lamps, got everything wired when i went to test them they worked good with the dome light switches but i noticed that when i turn my headlights on the puddle lamps come on along with all of my dome lights any help would be appreciated thanks

Thats a new one. I would first try and tap the power for the puddle lights somewhere other than where you tap in now. Post back what you find...

farris123 · October 21, 2016

I ended up cutting the orange/white wire and wiring directly to the grey wire in the junction box, they work great now!

No Tyme · October 21, 2016

I ended up cutting the orange/white wire and wiring directly to the grey wire in the junction box, they work great now!

That is great news... There are so many circuits on these trucks now-a-days. Enjoy your latest mod!

Lito · July 1, 2020

On 2/29/2016 at 5:48 PM, Viktorrocks15 said:

I don't know if this is the right forum or not but to all of you who have a 2015 Silverado 1500 LT who wants to swap your DL8 to DL3 power fold,blinkers and puddle light good news!!!!!!! IT IS POSSIBLE!!!!

I read just about everything on this forums. So here it is. My truck came with the dl8 mirrors so all I did was, buy the control switch part # 23154702 and install it, the only thing that work was the power fold, no blinkers or puddle lights and I didn't change the harness. So then I took it to my dealership and "program" the blinkers and puddles light and it didn't work so that led to believe the wires aren't there for them so I follow another guy from this forum to hardwire the blinkers and puddle light and........ My blinkers and puddle lights work!!!!! I almost cried!!! I took my Silverado to a shop where they install sound systems, stereos and LEDs bars.. And they figured it out with my help of course after I got the BCM diagram and wires coming from my DL3 mirrors... I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them!! Thank you all!!

Also thank you schlegle1 for this write up!

Did the power adjust work?

Chris2014LTZ · November 17, 2020

Hey all! I appreciate the tremendous amount of information that you all share here.

I have a question on a tow mirror upgrade from the DL3 mirrors on my 2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ.

The tow mirrors I purchased through American truck - https://www.americantrucks.com/silverado1500-powered-heated-tow-mirrors-smoked-led-turn-signals-black-rmx-siv14g3g-at-fs.html - are plug and play minus the back up lights (which I would like to pin the existing tow mirror plug to pull power from my existing puddle lamp power supply) and utilizing the blinkers as park lamps/running lights.

The harness off of the Tow mirrors came with 3 unpinned wires and according to their diagram they are as follows...

1. Blue - Blinkers

2. White - Backup

3. Black w/ White stripe - (common -) I’m assuming ground for the backup lights.

What I want to know, is can I pin the tow mirror plug with the white wire to utilize the existing power supply from the puddle lamps that were in my DL3 mirrors.

Secondly,

Is the unpinned blue “blinker wire” on the new tow mirrors supposed to be used for running the blinkers as park lamps/running lights. The blinkers on the tow mirrors already work from the factory DL3 harness, but I want them to work as running lights without creating any electrical issues.

I can pin a plug, but I don’t know what kind of power I will get from the puddle lamp. it seems awful dim for what I’m assuming the backup lamps will require. What I do know is that I want them to come on as a courtesy light when I unlock the pickup.

I’ve also seen that I can pin the x500 connector to achieve what I’m trying to achieve.

If anyone has any advice, please feel free to share. I can pin plugs, I just don’t want to interfere with the current function of the blinkers or short anything out.

A pin diagram of the x500 plug and the existing LTZ “door to mirror” plug would be great!

if I can just pin the new tow mirror plug that would be great! I have a feeling it won’t be that easy though!

Not only do I want it to work correctly, but I want to utilize all factory plugs of possible. If this requires adding things to the x500 connector that’s fine. Just looking for a clear explanation to achieve a clean factory quality install.

Thanks for any help!

Chris