Recently bought '98 S500 which is in very nice condition but I'm trying to clean up a few blemishes. One is a drooping (slightly) passenger (right) side mirror. I've managed to remove it from the door and take off the plastic shell. I found two cracks in the support frame (as shown in attached pics) which explains the drooping. I also discovered significant problems with the internal mirror wiring (also shown in the pictures).

So here are my questions. (1) Can I purchase replacement structural parts or any recommendations on fixing what I have? (2) Are replacement wiring harnesses available for the mirror or do I have to repair the harness myself?

Appreciate any help!

 

i prettymuch have the same problem with my s320..well without the cracking... i figured the wires got corroded because i live vy the ocean and somehow the saltwater got to it....i just pushed the mirror in place where i can see my points just fine and left it alone.

 

I have the same problem. tried holding it together with those plastic things that are like belts, I think they are called tie clips. It held the mirror up for a couple of days but now its drooping again, not as much but still annoying for me. The wiring on my mirror was all corroded. This used to cause my side mirors to move when I moved the steering column up or down. Or I would move one mirror and find the other moving in a random direction. I just took the whole mirror apart and put insulating tape around all the wires. UNFORTUNATELY i FITTED THE MECHANISM UPSIDE DOWN! Now if I move up it goes down and out means in!

 

I finally have the mirror back on the car and it seems to be working fine.

I repaired the disintegrated insulation by covering each individual wire with heat-shrink tubing. You can remove the wire from the connector inside the mirror by removing the small u-shaped plastic cover from the connector and releasing the contact latch and pulling the wire out. I just did one wire at a time to make sure I didn't get them mixed up. Best to use as small a heat-shrink tubing as possible as it is difficult to fully insert the wire back into the connector (need to get the contact fully seated to latch properly). The extra bulk of the heat-shrink makes this more challenging.

Repairing the mechanical mirror frame damage was more tricky but it seems to be holding up OK. I used JB-Weld (a metal-like 2-part epoxy) but had to reinforce the joint with a bent paper-clip held in place by dental floss (a well-known technique of fine German engineering) and then applied the JB-Weld to the "splinted" joint. Not a trivial repair since you are trying to epoxy the frame around moving parts which need to move after you are done! Welding was suggested but I'm not sure that would work well with the type of frame material and it would also require post-welding machining to open up the pivot pin passages.

If the JB-Weld does not hold over time, I will just get a replacement mirror.

A lurking question (subject for another post) is why my side mirror wire insulation was disintegrated as I thought that the "biodegradable" wiring problem was solved after 1995.....

 

I have a similar crack in the arm that folds the mirror back, otherwise it works What is the best way and how do you get the mirror and cover off the car.

 

skorupa,

I'll try and describe it as best I can (wish I had taken more pictures).

Removing the cover: Fold mirror back all the way (as close to the window as possible). There is spring clip (looks like a vertical straight wire) that holds the cover on to the frame of the mirror. If you can lift the clip in the center, then the whole cover can slide off the frame and mirror assembly. This is possible but not easy.

Removing the mirror: Once the cover is off, there are three Phillips head screws that secure the mirror assembly to the door. You can remove these screws and there are two connectors behind them which also have to be removed to get the mirror all the way off.

Alternate method: I actually removed the mirror first since I could not figure out where the cover spring clip was located. One of the three screws is difficult but it's possible. With the mirror off, then you can remove the cover.

Fixing the frame: I secured a U-shaped piece of paper clip around the broken point in the frame (mine was broken on two of the pivot points) with fine wire and used JB-Weld to bond the paper clip and frame together as one piece. It still needs to move when you are done so take care with the JB-Weld. It is somewhat tricky but doable. I tried using JB-Weld without the "re-bar" paper clip but that was not strong enough.

Check the wiring: While the cover is off, you should check the insulation on the wiring inside the mirror assembly. My insulation had disappeared and I used small heat-shrink tubing on each bare wire to fix that problem. There is a sheet metal cover that covers the wire bundle inside the mirror which needs to be removed to access the wires.

Good luck! The alternative is a $400 replacement mirror assembly. You still have to take off the cover to do this repair.

 

I have one break in the arm that folds the mirror back, did you cinsider, or try, welding rather than JB-Weld?

 

I did consider welding but a) I don't have the equipment myself and b) I'm not sure how well this material will weld and it may require quite a bit of mechanical clean-up to get everything moving properly. If you give this a try please let us know how it works as it should be better than JB-Weld and paper clips !

 

Your use of paper-clip as re-bar was very creative. I wonder if solder wire might work instead. Also does the cover clip itself when slide back on, or do your have to re clip it with a tool. There is a clip of a 210 on youtube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0bgoME_mQ

 

Not sure if solder is stiff enough to add much strength (and some solders contain flux which may impact how well the JB-Weld sticks). The cover just slides back on and the clip snaps into place when the cover is fully seated.

 

I'm going to try a jury-rig and will post how it went. Mine is a recently acquired blk on blk 97, which I love. The only thing which doesn't work is folding of the right side mirror and I want to have everything working to start off with. The wiring looks fine.

My though is to first attempt the repair while the assemble is still attached to the car.

Thanks much.

 

I think that trying to fix it on car could be very difficult. I was very careful to get everything realigned and held in place while the JB-Weld sets (which takes overnight to get to full strength). Based on other threads I have read and my own experience, it is really important to check out your wire insulation while you're inside the mirror.

I went through the same process of fixing the blemishes when I recently purchased my '98 S500. Love the car and want to take good care of it. Still a few more to go but I enjoy working on it.