I broke the fitting for the spring attachment in my drivers side mirror. MB replacement part is around $400. That's pretty pricey and not sure I want part with that much cash

I found an aftermarket mirror w/ the glass and the housing at www.partstrain.com for $184.76 US, anyone have any experience with these guys or their parts? Will this rust off the car in 2 years?

If so, can I use my current housing with this part? Should I just bite the bullet and buy the MB part? Thanks, in advance for your responses

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'97 E320 Black Opal
'86 300E Smoke Silver / Burgundy (retired at 198K)
'63 Austin Healey 3000 Mk II (BJ7) (reluctantly retired)

(Subtle Bump)
Anyone in the listening audience ever buy aftermarket parts from these guys? ANy experience positve or negative? thinking about buying a mirror for my '97 E320.

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'97 E320 Black Opal
'86 300E Smoke Silver / Burgundy (retired at 198K)
'63 Austin Healey 3000 Mk II (BJ7) (reluctantly retired)

I would check on ebay to find a used mirror. You can probably pick one up for pretty cheap.

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Ed
-1984 Mercedes 190D 2.2 5-speed gray market(bought@30,000 miles) (Sold back to original owner@170,000 miles)
-1999 Mercedes E300DT (245,000 miles)
-1999 Mercedes S500 Grand Edition (80,000 miles)

Thanks Ed

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'97 E320 Black Opal
'86 300E Smoke Silver / Burgundy (retired at 198K)
'63 Austin Healey 3000 Mk II (BJ7) (reluctantly retired)

If it was me I'd do the same - hold out for used part. Figure out what years fit your car and what salvage yards have those cars - there's got to be one somewhere.

Keep in mind that new mirrors don't come with a painted back cover. The supplied cover is usually painted black. You must either re-use your old cover, or paint the new one to match the color of your car.

Also, some times the cover is not even included, so find-out what exactly it is you are buying.

Phil

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'95 E300 Diesel, 264,000 Miles. [Sold it]

Thanks for the counsel guys - I don't need a cover just the "innards," so no painting would be necessary - I'd just reuse the existing cover. Thanks, I'll head out to the salvage yards for the part

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'97 E320 Black Opal
'86 300E Smoke Silver / Burgundy (retired at 198K)
'63 Austin Healey 3000 Mk II (BJ7) (reluctantly retired)

Not sure about the problem, but recently we have been fixing the photosensitive mirrors that go bad in 210 cars with a glue on mirror face we get from a local glass shop. Ten bucks or so. Wish I had known that when I had my E430 with a bad drivers mirror.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Steve:
The problem is there's a really stiff spring that runs through the internal workings and attaches out by the end of the mirror mechanism. This spring keeps the mirror, cover, glass and all, tight to the mounting on the door. Well, the hook for the spring broke off. The mirror is relatively tight but after closing the door 2 or 3 times, or high speed highway driving, the mirror moves around. Everything else works fine - motor, dimming, etc. It's just one of those pain in the ass things.

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'97 E320 Black Opal
'86 300E Smoke Silver / Burgundy (retired at 198K)
'63 Austin Healey 3000 Mk II (BJ7) (reluctantly retired)