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  #1  
Old 11-04-2016, 07:58 AM
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Molasses Oozing from W210 Self-Dimming Mirror

When the driver's mirror on my 98 E300 went bad (got all brownish looking from the stuff that was in there), I simply affixed a new mirror over the old mirror. Problem solved.

But the brown stuff has leaked out and stained the door...there's an unsightly ark brown streak running all the way down the door. As it happened overnight, I thought I'd simply be able to wipe it off. No such luck.

Any ideas as to how to remove this stuff without damaging the paint? I tried carefully scraping away a small section of it with my thumbnail and the paint beneath is discolored...so perhaps the damage is already done.

My worst case scenario is to paint over the streak....I can't see spending the money to get it done professionally.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
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  #2  
Old 11-04-2016, 08:00 AM
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Here's a pic.
Attached Thumbnails
Molasses Oozing from W210 Self-Dimming Mirror-img_2924.jpg  
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife
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  #3  
Old 11-04-2016, 08:01 AM
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maybe that tar remover made by turtle wax
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  #4  
Old 11-04-2016, 09:12 AM
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You could try a mild cut polish if it's discoloured the paint.
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  #5  
Old 11-04-2016, 10:05 AM
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Try 3M Adhesive Remover, strong stuff, will soften the paint temporarily so hard rubbing will leave light scratches if you're not careful, it is a solvent.

The electrochromic fluid from the mirror does make a mess when it leaks but AFAIK it shouldn't be permanent. More of a mess if the interior mirror leaks.

The easiest way to tell if you have an electrochromic outside mirror in this era is the slight gold tint, and there is a plastic bezel that surrounds the glass and captures the edge.
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  #6  
Old 11-04-2016, 10:08 AM
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The mirrors don't just go brown. The problem is that there's a resistance heater behind the glass that's supposed to keep it clear whenever the heater is on. It's almost certainly shorted. Unless you replace the defective mirror (meaning the whole deal, not just the glass) , this will be an ongoing problem.

Another reason that I'll never own another 210.
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  #7  
Old 11-04-2016, 11:47 AM
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The heater has nothing to do with the EC fluid.

The outer glass is just glass with a conductive ITO coating on the inside, inner glass has ITO coating on its inside surface, the two are epoxied together at the perimeter and vac-filled with the EC fluid, gap in epoxy plugged, fluid is designed to be at normal/atmospheric pressure. Pretty standard method at the time, we invented and patented it.

On the early ones (yours) we put a metal bus-strip on the edge of both (offset) pieces of glass, added a molded bezel to cover the bus strip and edges, and potted it with epoxy to protect the glass edge and bus strip, and to hide the black epoxy seal. The 4th surface has silver, then paint to protect the silver (before the whole cutting, laminating and filling procedure), and the entire assembly has a resistance heat pad adhered to the back surface and a molded plastic back with clip assembly.

The whole thing is clipped to the motor pack, is designed to be replaced as a unit.

The EC fluid is an organic fluid, and the earlier ones tended to turn somewhat gold in the sun eventually, this is normal at this age, especially if not garaged, much like the cloudy appearance of your headlamps. New they were clear. IIRC Mercedes always got the more expensive coating, if the less expensive conductive coating then it has a very slight white tint to it, many automakers opted for the less expensive coating in later years.

Anyway, sometimes a lot of heat in the sun would cause some of these to eventually turn gold, I believe that extreme heat can breach the seal, so can shock (thermal or mechanical), I suppose even an aggressive ice-scraper (I've smacked my mirrors with the corner of the scraper to crack the ice) and then the fluid leaks out. Most of this was our competitors' mirrors, if you were a Land Rover owner you would see a waterline across the top of the mirror coating where the (now oxidizing) coffee-colored fluid filled most of the mirror, and the top edge (creeping lower as it leaks) would be clear and un-filled. These leaked onto interiors and made a mess (source: various Land Rover forums). Ours were better in these early years and many automakers switched back to ours after warranty issues with our competitors' leaking. We still saw some failures, and 20years is definitely beyond the design life of most automotive components (regardless of whether they last longer, they are designed for a minimum per automakers' specs).

Try cleaning with a solvent, but honestly I have never had one leak and don't know what the cleaning procedure is (nor whether it can permanently damage paint). It is possible that the longer it's on the paint, the more likely the stain will be permanent.

Can you feel the fluid on the paint? If so, you can probably remove it mechanically or with solvent. If not, likely it's a stain that is in your paint. In that case possibly compounding it will lessen or remove the stain (with a layer of paint).
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  #8  
Old 11-06-2016, 06:17 AM
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Looks like rain is my friend. With the car soaked from overnight rain, I was able to remove the stuff with my thumbnail without damaging the paint. There remains a very light brown stain...still a vast improvement.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife
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  #9  
Old 11-06-2016, 09:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shertex View Post
Looks like rain is my friend. With the car soaked from overnight rain, I was able to remove the stuff with my thumbnail without damaging the paint. There remains a very light brown stain...still a vast improvement.
Glad that SOMETHING is helping.

Dan

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