$5 part - $800 Mirror?

[seth1066]

My R129 inside rearview mirror got sloppy. I opened it up and found the plastic extensions that hold the retaining spring clips in place broken off. The dealer wants $800 for an entire mirror assembly and says they don't sell/stock the outer bezel piece which is all that is needed. Is this bezel available? Alternatively, I think I can glue a plastic piece that will hold the spring tension, any ideas on the best way to do this and which glue would work best?

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[wingless]

Two-part epoxy. Ensure the spring is not working the bond loose, until after the epoxy is fully cured.

[bigben320e]

When my mirror popped on the inside on my E320, I bought a replacement from Ebay, about $129 brand new. Just had to get it painted, well below $800.

A suggestion to do the same...the epoxy will work as well also.

[AH1W-COBRA]

Originally Posted by seth1066

My R129 inside rearview mirror got sloppy. I opened it up and found the plastic extensions that hold the retaining spring clips in place broken off. The dealer wants $800 for an entire mirror assembly and says they don't sell/stock the outer bezel piece which is all that is needed.

Is this bezel available? Alternatively, I think I can glue a plastic piece that will hold the spring tension, any ideas on the best way to do this and which glue would work best?

good on you for at least considering that it may be repairable.i agree with the two part epoxy for "plastics".the way that the picture looks you could snap the spring plate back in place after you epoxy the broken retainer.do you have the piece that broke?.if not i would simply epoxy the spring on the broken side directly to the mirror housing.do a couple of applications to build it up.once it has cured depress the spring back under the good side and your done.in aviation we use a product called double/bubble epoxy.work time is 3 to 5 minutes and full cure in 24 hours.it holds non critical aircraft parts together perfectly.royal adhesives & sealants, llc.it will never break in the same place again.

[seth1066]

I looked closer at the bezel and its got a part number and an ABS PC stamp so I'll know which epoxy to get. I doubt if the part number gets me anywhere. It's a shame that a known weak link on this simple and easy to replace piece costs the everyday customer $800 to fix by having to replace the entire assembly. And a little intimidating for the diy crowd, it looks like there is maybe one or two shots at doing it correctly.

[wingless]

The pale yellow segments were bonded back together, w/ two-part epoxy, in addition to the broken part on my ABS console cover. It's held up well for almost a year / 25K miles without problems, as shown in this topic.

[ohlord]

can pick up the whole mirror at several east and west coast wrecking yards.
ohlord

[vettdvr]

Originally Posted by seth1066

I looked closer at the bezel and its got a part number and an ABS PC stamp so I'll know which epoxy to get. I doubt if the part number gets me anywhere. It's a shame that a known weak link on this simple and easy to replace piece costs the everyday customer $800 to fix by having to replace the entire assembly. And a little intimidating for the diy crowd, it looks like there is maybe one or two shots at doing it correctly.

What is the part #?

[seth1066]

Originally Posted by vettdvr

What is the part #?

129 811 0635

[wingless]

Whenever I open an interior trim assembly I lubricate the clips w/ white lithium grease to make subsequent actions better w/ less risk of breakage.

[Diesel Benz]

Originally Posted by seth1066

129 811 0635

This part must have been available at some point of time but does not seem to be any more. Instead there only seems to be a parts kit available from MB. Unless it is built after 08/96 when it would have 210 mirrors, you could consider buying those if you get them cheap.

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.asp...SGR=105&SGN=05

[seth1066]

[QUOTE=Diesel Benz;2803458]This part must have been available at some point of time but does not seem to be any more. Instead there only seems to be a parts kit available from MB. Unless it is built after 08/96 when it would have 210 mirrors, you could consider buying those if you get them cheap.

How would I mount them to the inside of the windshield?

[seth1066]

I did a glue job on the bezel. Hopefully, the job will turn out to be strong enough to hold the retaining clips. I'll post pictures of how I did it (or how not to do it) after the weekend.

[seth1066]

After configuring several ways to apply some kind of plastic to replace the original spring retaining pieces, I decided to use existing plastic parts from some other plastic object. I used a Dremel tool to cut and shape the parts.

First I found a nice looking piece of an old monitor base, also made of ABS; there was only one these shapes available.




I cut the second piece out of a 5 1/2 inch computer case bay cover.



I notched each piece to fit the reinforcements on the mirror bezel. Here is the dry fit of the first one:



I chose Plastic Welder epoxy by Devcon which works with ABS. I called Devcon customer service and they recommended to clean all surfaces with alcohol and claimed the bonded parts should be stronger than the original. I then sanded all mating surfaces and glued them in.







A rough and beastly looking job, but looks don't count for additional strength.

I reassembled the mirror, the bond seems strong as a rock and the mirror functions as new:









$800 saved!

[seth1066]

This bad boy is still holding up.

[clkwork]

Awesome fix! It's a shame that most dealers won't take the time to craft repairs like this anymore. If this problem happened to anyone else the old mirror would be in the garbage can and $800 would be wasted.

[Rick SL55]

Great job!!!
Now you just saved $800!

[seth1066]

Originally Posted by vmspionage

Awesome fix! It's a shame that most dealers won't take the time to craft repairs like this anymore. If this problem happened to anyone else the old mirror would be in the garbage can and $800 would be wasted.

If they would actually be creative and fix it the way I did, I had to see how many hours they would bill. What bothers me is that this is a part that is known to break; MB should have an easy to glue in repair kit available at the parts counter and if service fixes it, maybe one hour labor and $10 for the kit.

[seth1066]

Originally Posted by Rick SL55

Great job!!!
Now you just saved $800!

Thanks, Rick. It ain't pretty, but it works and stronger than the original tabs.

[am_beagle]

Originally Posted by seth1066

Thanks, Rick. It ain't pretty, but it works and stronger than the original tabs.

You must be a craft MASTER. Congrats.

[lkchris]

It's so disappointing to read all this conjecture and speculation as regards parts availalbity when MBUSA make the entire USA parts system available for free to anyone in the USA.

Subscribe and look it up.

Door mirrors are in the doors section.

http://epc.startekinfo.com

[seth1066]

Originally Posted by lkchris

It's so disappointing to read all this conjecture and speculation as regards parts availalbity when MBUSA make the entire USA parts system available for free to anyone in the USA.

Subscribe and look it up.

Door mirrors are in the doors section.

http://epc.startekinfo.com

Of course, before I engineered the glue job, I called my MB parts guy and found the part was unavailable. No conjecture or speculation involved. BTW, what do door mirrors have to do with this thread?

[seth1066]

Here's another mirror fix on my W202:

My Quick & Dirty W202 Side View Mirror Spring Fix

[grane]

I'm going to commission you to fix Gwagen inner door handles! Double bubble glue, who knew?