This morning backing out of my 1 car garage with a narrow door, I was a bit distracted and was not watching my drivers side mirror. My drafting chair was not pushed in to my workbench and managed to get caught between my mirror and the wall. The mirror tried to fold forward, and the back edge of the housing seperated from the body by about half an inch. Fortunately it seems someone thought of this, because I was able to push the mirror back into place - no damage at all to the mirror, door, or manual adjustment. The mirror was clearly intended to fold back towards the window by hand, but the system is also able to fold forwards at least slightly as needed.

Just wanted to take a second to thank whatever forward thinking engineer designed this system ~40 years ago! I am showing my car for the first time this saturday, which wouldnt have left me with much time to source a replacement!

They are very thoughtfully engineered.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The interior mirror of my w124 is just as thoughtful. It's a break-away design, not "break" design if you whack it (with a head say).

In fact, to get it off, you put two hands on the mirror and a quick sharp push toward the windshield. Snap! It comes off its mount. Unnerving the first time you try.

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Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D

The w123 mirror (assembly/housing) does not fold forward, but the w201, w124 (and maybe w126) do as well as backwards.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

I am able to push my W123 mirror forward a little bit...

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

My 1968 220d has the same feature for the rearview mirror. Perhaps cars even earlier than 68 did as well.

Regarding exterior side mirrors, on the passenger side of my 220d, MB has invented the most incredible design. My side mirror is guaranteed to never hit anything or get caught on anything. And it is invisible. Those amazing german engineers!

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Would you like a medal or a ribbon for you accomplishment?

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Both. Haha. The design is pretty impressive, though, in that the mirror is significantly harder to break than a fixed mirror, and the rubber surrounding the edge also makes it harder to break the glass. I think that the design is actually better than the newer folding mirror design in moving traffic, where you can't fold your mirrors but are still at risk of having them hit.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

You sure you're talking about the door mirrors? I tried pushing mine forward, and it didn't budge. Tried on both driver and passenger side.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

Trust me, it can move. But in my case it involved an unstoppable force, an immovable object, and a drafting chair.

I also discovered that the chair managed to put a couple dents in the door just below the mirror. Took it in to a paintless dent repair place and they were able to push them both out and make them 99% vanish