W210 Side View Mirror Spring Failure - I fixed one! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

sokoloff · #16 09-15-2008, 02:51 PM

I was giving my car its winter wax job yesterday when I bumped the driver's side mirror and it just kind of gave way and would easily flop back and forth. I didn't think I bumped at all hard enough to break it like I thought I did. After doing some searching, I found out that this is a pretty common issue with these mirrors, so at least I felt better that it was going to eventually give way sometime soon.

So I got in touch with NHDOC and since he helped me through the fix, I figured that I'd add a reply to his initial post and post a few pictures.

The first picture shows the broken spring hook. Apparently this is the common failure. The pot metal spring hook on the mirror eventually weakens and gives way, thus letting the mirror housing flop back and forth. The spring hook should be vertical, 90° to the right and positioned in the rectangular box.

After "talking" with NHDOC and understanding his fix, I determined that the same fix might not work for me, since the remaining tabs on mine were bent too much for a screw head to hold under them and I was afraid that if I tried to straighten them, I might break off more of the pot metal and really be in a bind. Also, the new and improved mirror housings have a rod going from side to side rather than just a hook sticking up for the mirror to attach to. I decided to try to implement the plan roughed out in photo #2 which I thought might be stronger and more like the current version.

I first removed the mirror glass and the plastic adjustment assembly just to make sure I didn't damage anything while drilling and fitting everything. The mirror adjustment assembly is held in place by three T-10 torx screws. It is very easy to disassemble. Then I proceeded to drill a 5/16ths inch hole through both sides of the pot metal bracket where the screw would go. This would allow the machine screw to slide in easily. I was worried about the pot metal shattering or breaking when I drilled it, but there were no problems. I center punched the point for the first hole and then went at it.

I then put a washer on the machine screw and slide it in place, also putting a washer and threading the nut on once it was through the first side of the bracket. I had thought about putting another nut on the opposite side once it went through the second hole, but the wasn't enough clearance for the nut to go on. I really don't think it's needed anyway. The next two photos show the screw in place from the top and bottom.

Then it was time to reassemble and reinstall to see if in fact this fix worked. I waited until I had the mirror "guts" reinstalled on the door before trying to reattach the spring. It is held in place by three Phillips screws. Once the mirror is firmly attached, then use whatever tools you feel comfortable with and attempt to reattach the spring. It can be a real PIA. Needle nose pliers, channel locks and screw drivers eventually worked for me. Installing the spring using this method causes one end of the spring to be rotated 90° from its normal position. So I tried to untwist the spring a little to make it fit a little better. I'm not sure I changed its factory position too much, but I think it helped a little. Otherwise it seems like as you try to attach one end of the spring, the other end tried to rotate off of its retainer. The last photo shows the spring reattached and the guts reattached to the door.

Then test the assembly and if it works reinstall the outer plastic colored housing. So far it all seems to work for me. Time will tell if this is a long term fix or not. At least now I'm ready to fix the passenger side when it decides to give up.

KarTek · #17 02-12-2009, 08:39 AM

Hey, nice fix!

barkford · #18 02-12-2009, 04:42 PM

sokoloff - great post and absolutely fantastic fix. Talent!

donwo · #19 02-12-2009, 05:39 PM

sokoloff,

You 'da man! great fix and great pics!

ddiller · #20 06-08-2009, 11:52 AM

(just registered for the purposes of responding to this thread)

Boy, I'm glad these forums exist, and I'm glad mdisav pointed me to them when I bought the car. Just never needed them till now. :-)

I bumped my driver's mirror yesterday morning pretty hard squeezing past it, it snapped forward, snapped back, and flopped. I had to go one a 250mi round trip later that afternoon, and a floppy drivers mirror did not strike me as the best way to go, so I figured out how to remove it, initially assuming that with the "snap" I gave it had just popped the spring loose inside. Then I checked here after struggling with taking it apart, and discovered I was not alone ;-)

So I got it apart and did sokoloffs' modified repair method [photo below] with a vertical #8 x 3/4" screw (I drilled a 9/32" hole to minimize material loss) through the top and bottom of the frame, and it's back on the car and working fine. I agree 100% with the recommendation to remount the assembly to the car before trying to get the spring reattached; it gives you a solid structure to leverage against. Definitely connect the car side of the spring first, and then tightly clamp vise grips onto the mirror end and lean on it. Popped right on first try. Sure looked funny on the car without the cover though! [completed photo below]

The biggest missing detail for me was in getting the mirror glass apart from the rest. It would have helped to know that there is a layer of double sticky tape between the mirror and the motorized platform. If I had known that I would have felt more comfortable prying as I would know what I was prying against, instead of being very paranoid about breaking an expensive piece of heated electro-chromatic glass. Also, I wasn't 100% sure of precisely WHERE the two pieces were supposed to separate. So I took a photo [below] with the two pieces apart for others in the same situation, so you can tell what actually comes apart if you've never touched one of these before. Top/bottom orientation is correct, but the mirror is flipped over, as you can tell from looking at the two sides of the wire harness for the glass heating element.

Also, while you're looking at that pic - taking it apart from the top by releasing the wire clip is "more correct" than prying at the bottom. Looking at the back of the mirror glass, note the plastic bits at the rim of the circle at approximate clock positions 2:30, 4:30, 7:30, and 9:30. The bottom two mate with the projections in the same positions on the motor drive platform, so by prying at the bottom you're actually working against (and risking snapping off) those in addition to the adhesive. The top two plastic bits actually snap around the platform disk itself, and the fifth and final attachment point is held in by the spring.

So the challenge then is getting sufficient access to the spring, to be able to pop it, and thus allow you to pry the double sticky tape apart and remove the glass. In hindsight, now that I've done it once: Marty says to remove the glass first, and then loosen the wire bail inside the assembly to separate the housing from the guts. Instead, reverse it - fold the mirror assembly against the car and pop the bail loose FIRST. Then, return the assembly to normal position and adjust the mirror glass by hand so that it is "looking" as far "out" (away from the car) as possible, to get the largest gap you can between the inside edge of the plastic housing and the mirror glass. Now, you should be able to shift the loose housing around sufficiently to give adequate access to the back side of the mirror piece, [photo below].

---

'98 E300, 148k, ludicrously loaded with every option

harry7155 · #21 06-23-2009, 12:50 AM

Passenger side mirror & 4x4 carport post collide, post wins. Read this article, repaired mirror & all's well. Thanks guys, what a great bunch.

lupin..the..3rd · #22 07-27-2009, 11:01 PM

Fixed my drivers side mirror this evening, thanks to this thread!

found a machine screw that was just a tiny bit longer than the width of that channel that the spring lays in. Drilled two holes, threaded the screw in, and now good to go!

Worked wonderfully and now I have a working mirror again. Thanks!

pwells · #23 10-26-2009, 08:11 AM

Just repaired both of my mirrors (1999 e430), I suspect they were damaged by children grabbing onto them when learning to skateboard. FYI I did not need to remove the mirror glasses, with the mirror folded back I could reach inside and unclip the vertical spring bar that retains the cover. Then with the side of the mirror close to the car pushed in the cover will slide off, it jams at around half way off but if you move the mirror to the other extreme then it will come off. The hardest part was reattaching the springs.

Great suggestion, thanks,

Peter

delta · #24 01-30-2010, 05:00 PM

Thank those who posted the repair. I was able to follow the directions here and fix my mirror. I was having a hell of a time trying to pull the spring unto the newly installed bolt, but with a help of a friend I was able to hook it on.

Thanks.....

micl9 · #25 05-05-2010, 08:51 PM

Hi All,
I am still searching for my exact problem, but thought it we be good to post here.
My spring post broke on the part attached to the car. Its getting dark so I did not have time to disassemble and figure out a fix.
Anyone had the inner post break?

pot metal!

ddiller · #26 05-08-2010, 08:52 PM

Eleven months to the day after I post my experiences above on fixing my drivers' side, I manage to break the passenger side. LOL. Easier fix this time, glad I recorded screw specs... I just had to find the rest of the bag I bought last time and repeat ;-)

Interestingly, unlike last time, there was no double-sticky tape holding this mirror to the platform... it was only clipped into place, so it came apart a LOT easier as I didn't have to pry things apart. I also managed to angle the mirror sufficiently this time to completely remove the outer housing while the mirror was still attached to the platform, which then made things pretty straightforward.

Oh, and I actually drilled a 9/64" hole for the 8-32 screw, not a 9/32" as I mis-stated above. 9/32 is way too big ;-) This is snug enough that you end up threading the screw into the hole, but it goes right in with a screwdriver. Probably gives it a bit more stability overall, since you're cutting threads into the housing and the screw is held in tightly.

nelbur · #27 05-09-2010, 11:03 PM

Just thought I would point out that it is not necessary to remove the mirror glass to remove the mirror cover on a w210. If you adjust the inside edge so that it is just recessed enough to clear the cover (abt. 1/4"), the cover will slip over that edge, and since the cover is tapered, it will also clear the outer edge. Once the glass is recessed, bend the mirror back against the door, look into the works, and pry the wire bail out from behind the two tabs on the mirror cover, then carefully slide the cover off. I have repaired both of mine.

micl9 · #28 05-13-2010, 04:43 PM

Follow up
I fixed mine by drilling holes on either side of the original boss (after removing mirror of course!).
Then I took some SS welding wire and threaded it thru the holes and the spring, winding it 4-5 times and twisting it off underneath. Stuffed the tail up into where the boss used to be and good to go.
Oh and don't puncture the rubber piece it looks to be a weather tight seal.

Pot metal!?

harry7155 · #29 06-13-2010, 01:59 AM

I did this fix a while back from your post & it worked great. Last week I took my 98E300 in for a smog check (something new for diesels in Ca. stared this year) and when i got the car home the mirror was flopping again. Pulled out my saved copy of your fix and the post I put in bent off & the semi-circular channel was now way to big for a new post. There's a small rectangular slot where an unpainted cover snaps in, so I was able to bend the end of the spring 1/4 turn & fit into slot. Bingo, it works "doc." Thanks again.

dlssmith · #30 02-10-2013, 10:31 PM

With the help of the teenager at the car wash who tugged on my passenger side mirror, the spring gave way and I had a flapping mirror.

I managed the fix with the help of the previous posts in this thread and took some photos to add to the narrative. The operative part of the fix besides putting a screw in place of the broken spring hook, was removing the cover of the mirror - surprisingly simple once you know what you're doing.

Once you unhook the spring and push back the mirror (or in my case the spring hook was broken) far enough to see inside and to get at the clip. Unhook the clip using a small straight blade screwdriver. Then just wiggle the shell a little and it should slide right off allowing access to the guts without removing the mirror or unscrewing the mirror frame from the door.

1st pic is the screw fix - I threaded the machine screw directly into the hole drilled one size (1/32) smaller than the screw. I tapped it with the screw and it seems to have held nicely in the aluminum frame. You can see where the broken spring hook was next to the screw.

2nd pic is the clip unhooked.
3rd pic is the clip hooked in place

Don't forget to re-hook the clip before sliding the cover back on. Nothing need be forced much for this job.