eddieo45

I've got some vibration in my driver-side mirror. Thought it was the glass, as my previous MBs have had loose mirror glass, but this is the housing. I'm tempted to stuff a "shim" into the joint where it folds, but is it possible/easy to remove/reinstall?

Rudeney

Are you certain it's not the glass? Mine did this. I finally removed the glass and stuck a piece of two-sided foam tape behind it. If the housing is loose, it might just be a bolt. It's not too difficult to remove the cover to check the bolts - look for the threads about replacing the LEDs - that gets you there.

eddieo45

I found this short thread by Wes that yielded a couple of photos:



Then THIS POST with the definitive instructions....sounds hard.

Rudeney

I know I saw someone post more of a DIY tutorial, but anyhow, here's is the WIS documentation:

http://benzbits.com/w209/SideMirror.pdf

eddieo45

You were right! Finally had time to tinker and stuck a 2-sided velcro pad behind the glass. Problem solved!!!

Rudeney

Eddie, you don' know how glad I am about that. At least I have been right about something these last few weeks (for any of you with 18-year-olds, you know what I mean )

eddieo45

haha, I do know what you're talking about! I'm currently doing pretty well in the waning days of my daughter's 18th year: I'm buying her a car for her 19th this week so dad's been getting a pass from the usual sneers and eyerolls! amazing, the power of a 14 year old Kia Sportage!

Rudeney

Way to go, dad! But I'll be you'd get even more mileage out of that "pass" if you gave her your CLK

eddieo45

yeah, I (HAPPILY) took plenty of abuse for not ever allowing her to drive it. When she laid out her case for getting a car, her big trump card was not having access to either of the family cars (though my wife's E350 bears a few scars that betray a handful of lessons). When I learned (a year before she started drivers ed) that our DMV does not allow the driving exam in a car without a handbrake I said "what's good for them is good for me!"

I'd love to put her into a W202 or W203 but she's gonna likely go thru a few *****boxes first!

Rudeney

LOL! Well, I bought our W203 C240 specifically for the kid. I drove it for a few years and then taught her to drive in it when she got her learner's permit at 15. Actually, I had been teaching her to drive (more like "operate a car's controls") since she was 12 by taking her to my empty office parking lot on the weekends. We practiced steering, stopping, parking, backing, etc. When she finally took the C240 onto public streets for the first real lesson, she knew everything except for how to deal with traffic and multiple lanes. I really consider the C240 to be a "beater". It's in decent condition, but at this point, it's not worth much (book is maybe $5K?) and at least I know the car and I know that it's safe.

She rarely gets to drive the CLK. She has a few times when her C240 has been in the body shop (mostly not her fault) and she couldn't drive the rental. I have also let her drive it a few times as a reward. I actually told her that if she'd make straight A's for a semester in high school, that she could drive it for a month. The poor kid turned up short with one B each time! I almost let her take it earlier this year because her B was an 89.4. Just one tenth of a point and it would have been rounded up to an A, but it was math, so I had to set a mathematical example.

That handbrake rule is ludicrous! But of course you live in Massachusetts, so it's no more ludicrous than some of the other rules up there. I have a business associate who lives in Boston and she told me a story of her and her husband going to buy a car out of state, and bringing it back home via a U-Haul two-wheel tow dolly. They were cited for improper registration because the rear tires of car were on the road, and thus it required a proper tag. Down here, when you buy a car (new or used), you have 20 days to get it registered. I know a guy who buys wrecked or non-running cars, fixes them, drives them a while, then sells them. He never buys a tag. He just keeps a copy of a bill of sale with a date within 20 days in the glove compartment.

eddieo45

I'll admit we're legislation-happy up here, but I'm in favor of the handbrake rule. When my last CLK was in the body shop I got a Chevy Cobalt or something as a rental and it had a handbrake, so I took my daughter to an empty parking lot and had her drive in circles and figure-8's. I had to pull that handbrake at every turn, after saying "slow down" multiple times. She claimed I wasn't "giving her a chance" to slow down, and I said "'slow down' does not mean 'prepare to slow down;' it means 'slow down NOW!'" I tried to illustrate stopping distance for her by having her just let the car roll at idle in gear, then I pulled the handbrake hard at about 10-15mph, and it skidded for about 10 feet; 10 feet that would have had us in the woods or on a fence if I hadn't slowed her down on the turns!

Rudeney

My thinking is that if the test administrator has to worry about pulling the handbrake during a test, the driver is not ready to take the test. Of course I guess there's no way for the administrator to know that ahead of time, but even so, I find it odd that they would "supersede" DOT regulations.

Our test is fairly simple. My granddaughter took it and said that she never drove over 10mph, was on a road with no other traffic, went through one intersection, and the only feedback the administrator gave her was that she stopped too short for a stop sign where there was no white line. I don't remember much about my test, but I do recall that I had to parallel park (they now just to a 3-point turnabout) and the administrator got out of the car, walked around twice and scratched his head. I was afraid I had done something wrong. he got back in the car and said he wished he had brought a tape measure, because he was sure that was the best parallel parking he'd ever seen and I must have been perfectly centered in every dimension. I am an excellent parallel parker. I once pulled into an especially tight spot at a restaurant at the beach, and we stepped inside to applause. A guy shook my hand and said he had watched at least a dozen people try and give up.

fanfan

Rudeney, Thank you for the info. Can you tell me how you removed the mirror itself so you could stuck the piece of two-sided foam behind it.

Rudeney

There is a metal clip at the top of the glass holding it in place. Tilt the mirror all the way down, and you can barely see it behind the plastic trim around the glass. Just use a screwdriver to pop it loose and the mirror then comes off. I think there may be some photos on the forum showing this.

fanfan

Thank you again. I'll follow the instruction and let you know if I was able to fix the wobbling. Really appreciate it!