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Spare mirrors -- good to have
Those of us in warmer climates often forget that many Mercedes have built-in heaters on their outside rear-view mirrors. The heaters are thermostatically controlled; the thermostat and heater are built into the mirror and come on automatically when it gets cold enough.
Whether any one Benzite (you or me) ever needs this feature is not the point. The problem is the cost of a replacement. Should the mirror ever be broken, the replacement is not just a piece of glass and will be priced accordingly by the dealer. I would guess $50 at least; perhaps someone in the know can enlighten us. Personally, I'd rather not pay for a feature I'll never use. I suppose it might be possible to have a glass shop cut a mirror to size but that sounds expensive too and you still need to attach it to the plastic backing piece. While at Pick and Pull the other day, I decided to see what it would take to get the right outside mirror out of the holder on a 124. I took the whole thing apart there in the junkyard only to discover that my work was unnecessary -- the mirror can easily be popped out with one of the same tools we use for removing trim strips. At the register, I was charged only $4 for #851 "Misc Body Mirror." I was so surprised that I went back and got the left side too. I now have a spare pair put away (thus guaranteeing, under Murphy's Law, that I'll never need them). I would imagine that if you took the entire pod with the mirror and (manual or electric) controls it would be more expensive. As regards the mirrors only, there seems to be some commonality between Mercedes models but make sure the mirrors you get will fit your car. In particular, late 124s seem to have a different shape from early models, the early models have an unusual square-shaped right mirror, and in late 124s both sides are electric while the early models have a manual left mirror adjust. Make sure you don't yank the mirror out too quickly; there's a 2-prong plug for the electric heater wiring that needs to be unplugged. Make sure the yard marks the mirrors so you can exchange them if the heater/thermostat turns out to be dead. When you get the mirrors home, put them in a refrigerator or freezer and get them good and cold. Then attach the prongs on the back to 12 volts. The mirror should draw about 3 amps and after a couple of minutes the front will start to feel warm. After awhile, the whole mirror will warm up, the thermostat will cut off, and the heating will stop. The pictures show a left mirror for my 1987 300D Turbo (W124, OM603). Sorry for the poor focus. Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
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I've been driving around with a cracked drivers side mirror for a few months now...been putting it off and putting it off. Honestly I didn't even know they were heated - I'm guessing the w126s have that feature too?
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TC Current stable: - 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL - 2007 Saturn sky redline - 2004 Explorer...under surgery. Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth |
#3
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Quote:
$50 huh. Item Number MSRP Core Price Price 1248101321 $170.00 $0.00 $117.30 Front door - Outside mirrors - Mirror glass Mirror glass Right 1990 - 1992 Add to Cart Contact Us 1248101321 $170.00 $0.00 $117.30 Front door - Outside mirrors - Glass Glass - 1987-89 driver side 1987 - 1989 Add to Cart Contact Us 1248101321 $170.00 $0.00 $117.30 Front door - Outside mirrors - Glass
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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss |
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All years of 124 mirrors are the same, I believe that the 201 mirrors are the same as the 124.
But the Germans got the really cool aspheric ones.
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Gone to the dark side - Jeff |
#5
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Quote:
Looks like I'll either be driving around with a cracked mirror or heading to the junkyard for it...
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TC Current stable: - 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL - 2007 Saturn sky redline - 2004 Explorer...under surgery. Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth |
#6
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The hard part on the right side (square glass) is reinstalling, the housing has pegs and joints that the glass backing attaches to that are more complicated (to me at least) than the previous w123 mirrors.
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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg |
#7
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I believe that the SD (W126) had heated mirrors in the early 80's although the "E-class" didn't in the W123 but did in the W124. Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
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[QUOTE=Bio300TDTdriver;2264212]$50 huh.
Item Number MSRP Core Price Price 1248101321 $170.00 $0.00 $117.30 indeed! "Good grief" might be even better. Thanks for the info; as usual, worse than expected.
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
#9
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Interesting post.
Are the 124 mirrors glass with a coating? I am wondering because mine have these spots all over them and I am hoping that I could use Plastic-X to polish them out.
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1993 W124 300D 2.5L Turbo, OM602.962 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier, 2.4L DOHC 2002 Ford Explorer, 4.0L SOHC 2005 Toyota Prius, 1.5L http://www.fuelly.com/sig-us/40601.png |
#10
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The old standby is vinegar. I have used Lime-away with fair results. If you remove the mirrors, you can lay them in a puddle of Lime-away and leave them for 24-48 hours. With the mirrors on the car, you have to hold a soaked sponge to the mirrors, which is harder to do and then the stuff drains out the bottom. For a final removal of the stubborn bits in the corners, I used Rutland's "White Off." Made in Rutland, VT, the stuff is designed for cleaning the glass-ceramic windows in wood stoves. I recommend it. Available from places that sell wood stoves, gas fireplace inserts, etc. Florida residents can email info@rutland.com. Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 Last edited by Jeremy5848; 08-07-2009 at 12:54 PM. Reason: removed typo |
#11
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Hmmm, I didn't even think of them being calcium deposits. I'll start thinking about the vinegar approach since it seems to be the simplest. Thanks Jeremy.
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1993 W124 300D 2.5L Turbo, OM602.962 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier, 2.4L DOHC 2002 Ford Explorer, 4.0L SOHC 2005 Toyota Prius, 1.5L http://www.fuelly.com/sig-us/40601.png |
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