99 E430 Passenger Side Mirror housing removal

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me - 14 Nov 2007 22:53 GMT

Hi,

I am having to replace the guts of my 99 e430 passenger side mirror. I
have a donor mirror that has the wrong color housing. I have figured
out how to remove the mirror glass and the little motor pivot. However
I am completely frustrated trying to remove the interior frame of the
mirror from the exterior plastic housing.

Does anyone have some cues/clues they could give me about how these to
parts separate?

I know the bigger hammer method, but I am hoping for something more
elegant.

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raymond - 15 Nov 2007 02:14 GMT

http://w210.pietrzyk.net/disassembly_88hoodfend.htm

this should do the trick. bend mirror back (it's a strong spring) and
with good lighting, look for wire latch which hold two nubs that keeps
the mirror cover from falling off. carefully pry latch past the nubs.
slide cover off. shouldn't take more than 30-60 seconds.

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raymond - 15 Nov 2007 02:17 GMT

hmmm, just re-read your post. *IF*....you've already removed
the mirror from the door, then your task is 50x more difficult.
if you can, reattach mirror to door, then follow video clipped
instructions. if you try to do this seperation w/o the mirror
attached to the door, you risk damaging the plastic cover.
it'll take you about 20 mins and 2 pairs of hands.

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me - 15 Nov 2007 13:33 GMT

> hmmm, just re-read your post. *IF*....you've already removed
> the mirror from the door, then your task is 50x more difficult.
> if you can, reattach mirror to door, then follow video clipped
> instructions. if you try to do this seperation w/o the mirror
> attached to the door, you risk damaging the plastic cover.
> it'll take you about 20 mins and 2 pairs of hands.

Thanks! As soon as I saw the trick it took about 30 seconds. I wrapped
the mirror in thick padding, put it in a vice and used a long
screwdriver to "simulate being attached to the car (I stuck it in one
of the screw holes), pried back the hinges (and the spring didn't
break!), and viola!

Merci buckets!

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raymond - 16 Nov 2007 03:19 GMT

sweeeet! i didn't have a vice so I put it between my knees and
wrestled it. one mirror took about 5 mins, whereas the other
took more like 25 mins. i had purchased them off Ebay and
the seller shipped in fitted condition. ah!...but I paid $80 for
the pair, shipped, so I was still extremely thrilled.

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