It seems a common problem for the aluminium bases on our mirrors to oxidise, causing unsightly bubbling on an otherwise tidy car...
I tackled this over the last few days, without too much bother at all. You just need time and patience.
You will need;
1. Allen Keys
2. Torx keys
3. An aerosol can of matched colour (Halfords can make one up for you for about £12)
4. An aerosol can of acid etch primer (normal primer won't key to the alumium as well as this stuff)
5. An aerosol can of clear lacquer
5. Posidriv Screwdriver
6. Flathead Screwdrivers
7. Masking Tape
8. Long Nosed Pliers
Step 1 - Glass Removal
This can be a bit fiddly, and requires you to push the top of the mirror in as far as it will go, so you can just about see underneath the bottom of the glass and into the guts of the mirror body.
You the need to take a small flathead driver and try to ease the black clips of the mirror itself, off from the white mirror bracket. You will only be able to do the bottom 2;
This picture shows the black clips to identify, and how they are constructed;
This picture shows the mirror bracket you are trying to pop them off from - (note the 4 white studs the clips attach to);
Once you have popped the bottom two off, get you hand behind the glass, and using appropriate force, try to pull the glass off from the top two. This will require some wriggling, as I could not access the top clips at all in the same manner I reached the bottom - the mirror simply does not move far inward enough at the bottom to allow a screwdriver in at the top.
Once the glass is off, simply pull the two wires of the heated glass off. Use some long nose pliers if need be, and put the glass aside safe.
Now the glass is off, you will see this;
Undo the four screws (posidriv), this will release the motor mechanism and allow you access to the back of the motor unit.
There are four terminals in the back - each wire can simply be pulled out using long nose pliers. You don't need to remember where they go, as the instructions of what goes where are moulded onto the back of the motor unit (as you can just make out in the picture);
Once these have been removed, put the motor aside.
Feed the heated mirror cable back into the stalk - this will make the daisy-chained connection from the +/- easier to pull through from the other side.
Step 2 - Body Removal
Pull out mirror toward you (away from the car) and twist.
Passenger side you pull out and turn clockwise
Driver's side you pull out and turn anti clockwise
This will reveal two hex head (Allen head) bolts which simply unscrew.
Pull the body away from the car, pull off the black rubber base, and gently pull the wires through;
Note the two heated mirror cables that you have fed back through coming out; pull these with the main cable and it'll all come out easily...
The body is now free!
For protection against the elements (as the painting steps take days), I cleaned up the exposed wires, and taped them together. This will also make it easier to thread them back into the mirror upon reattachment.
NOTE; Be sure to put a little insulation tape over each metal crimp though, else they will short if you start the car up
I then covered the hole in the door with a plastic bag and taped it to the side of the car using masking tape, as snow was forecast and I didn't want unwanted moisture getting in;
Whilst all the innards of the mirror were out, I cleaned them all up using G101;
There are a couple of door components there too - ignore them!
I tackled this over the last few days, without too much bother at all. You just need time and patience.
You will need;
1. Allen Keys
2. Torx keys
3. An aerosol can of matched colour (Halfords can make one up for you for about £12)
4. An aerosol can of acid etch primer (normal primer won't key to the alumium as well as this stuff)
5. An aerosol can of clear lacquer
5. Posidriv Screwdriver
6. Flathead Screwdrivers
7. Masking Tape
8. Long Nosed Pliers
Step 1 - Glass Removal
This can be a bit fiddly, and requires you to push the top of the mirror in as far as it will go, so you can just about see underneath the bottom of the glass and into the guts of the mirror body.
You the need to take a small flathead driver and try to ease the black clips of the mirror itself, off from the white mirror bracket. You will only be able to do the bottom 2;
This picture shows the black clips to identify, and how they are constructed;
This picture shows the mirror bracket you are trying to pop them off from - (note the 4 white studs the clips attach to);
Once you have popped the bottom two off, get you hand behind the glass, and using appropriate force, try to pull the glass off from the top two. This will require some wriggling, as I could not access the top clips at all in the same manner I reached the bottom - the mirror simply does not move far inward enough at the bottom to allow a screwdriver in at the top.
Once the glass is off, simply pull the two wires of the heated glass off. Use some long nose pliers if need be, and put the glass aside safe.
Now the glass is off, you will see this;
Undo the four screws (posidriv), this will release the motor mechanism and allow you access to the back of the motor unit.
There are four terminals in the back - each wire can simply be pulled out using long nose pliers. You don't need to remember where they go, as the instructions of what goes where are moulded onto the back of the motor unit (as you can just make out in the picture);
Once these have been removed, put the motor aside.
Feed the heated mirror cable back into the stalk - this will make the daisy-chained connection from the +/- easier to pull through from the other side.
Step 2 - Body Removal
Pull out mirror toward you (away from the car) and twist.
Passenger side you pull out and turn clockwise
Driver's side you pull out and turn anti clockwise
This will reveal two hex head (Allen head) bolts which simply unscrew.
Pull the body away from the car, pull off the black rubber base, and gently pull the wires through;
Note the two heated mirror cables that you have fed back through coming out; pull these with the main cable and it'll all come out easily...
The body is now free!
For protection against the elements (as the painting steps take days), I cleaned up the exposed wires, and taped them together. This will also make it easier to thread them back into the mirror upon reattachment.
NOTE; Be sure to put a little insulation tape over each metal crimp though, else they will short if you start the car up
I then covered the hole in the door with a plastic bag and taped it to the side of the car using masking tape, as snow was forecast and I didn't want unwanted moisture getting in;
Whilst all the innards of the mirror were out, I cleaned them all up using G101;
There are a couple of door components there too - ignore them!
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