When I bought my 97 E420, the rearview mirror was loose. I took it off to see what was wrong, and there are 2 metal spring-like pieces that were off. I'm guessing that's what holds it still. Could someone please tell me where they go. If someone has a picture illustrating placement, that would be even better, but if you tell me, I'll picture it in my head. Thanks in advance.

 

Any updates?
I'm having the same trouble identifying the clips locations.

 

I figured it out... But unfortunately, I have no camera with me to take photos of it.

In the photo posted above, I can see that the right side retainer for the two clips is broken.

Both of mine are broken, so the clips are now useless. And Krazy glue didn't help either. I need to get a new front cover (that holds the mirror) with good retainers.

 

Ok.. Feels like I'm talking to myself here. haha. That's ok.
I figure I put my solution up here just in case others may benefit from it.

Ok, so I found out that the clips are originally used to hold the mirror (and housing) to the bracket (which in turn mounts to the ceiling pieces by the ball joint).

There are (in my case, were) plastic retainers that the clips mounts to. Those retainers break easily as also shown in the photos above.

So, I decided to mount the mirror to the bracket using velcros (Scotch Recolsable Fasteners P/N RF9731 http://www.doityourself.com/invt/u514784).

Check out the photos for the locations of the velcros.

Sorry about the low-res photos. The only camera I have at the moment is a cellphone.

Anyhow, hope this is helpful...

 

I'd be leary about using velcro to put it back together with. The heat in the car could be enough to soften the glue can cause it to be loose or come apart all together (this is assuming that the velcro is attached only with the sticky backing).

Don't feel bad about posting up the problem and solution - the next person to come across this problem can learn from you.