ez53436

Hi all,

Long story short, I need to replace my driver's side mirror on the C320. I bought a replacement off eBay, with the housing still attached. To replace the blinker lamp in it with the older style, and to install it at all, I need to take the housing off to expose the holes for the bolts that thread into holes in the body of the car.

The trouble is there's a small metal clip that holds the mirror housing to the whole mechanism underneath. It's nearly impossible to get to, and even if I can get a butter knife to touch it, there's no space to move the knife to unclip it. Hard to explain, but maybe the pictures will help.

Anyway, if anyone has advice before I pull my hair out, I would very much appreciate it. Figure I can install headers with no hiccups but I can't take the mirror apart.

alecmascot

it's all out there....

VVF

See if you can detach the tensioning spring, then the housing "unfolds" on two hinges.
Actually even without removing the spring it should unfold - there is a little metal band that holds it in place, on the front hinge point (opposite of what you show in the pic).

Other than that, wedge something in there, that will give you more access to the clip that holds the cover on. Sometimes the clip "pops out" of its place that it is impossible to depress it. In that case push it "in" (i.e. parallel to the plastic cover, or "into" your picture) and down (toward the cover, or toward 11 o'clock in your picture).

C230 Sport Coup

Yeah I recently replaced my driver side mirror, and I decided against purchasing the complete assembly because for that exact reason how are you going to get that thing that back when it's not mounted on the car? maybe you can get it in a vice or something. One thing not mentioned in the video is to try to pry it open and then prop it open with a small screwdriver or something anything you can find. You don't need to remove the complete mirror assembly from your car. the glass just pops off, depending on what part it is that you're trying to replace in the mirror.

SrUnzio

With the help of this and another video I removed the cover and cleaned up that troublesome connector. The covers slides back on nicely, but the clip did not "click" into place to secure the cover. I bent the metal clip slightly as suggested in the forum-linked YouTube. The cover is much more secure now, but if I pull hard it still comes off. I tried more adjustments to that spring metal clip but can still pull the cover loose with a firm tug. Suggestions?