Wedge Door Mirror Glass

[PV7998]

Is there anyone that knows for sure the origin of the glass used in the pod type door mirror on the later 350i and the 400SE?

It's not SD1 Rover and it doesn't look like it's Mk3 Capri either.

As a last resort I was thinking of using this company............
http://www.carwingmirrors.co.uk/custom-size-wing-m...

I'm not quite sure what I'd end up with though.......has anyone used them before

[ElvisWedgely]

My glass mirror flew off a previous Wedge 400SE on a motorway when I was doing around the legal limit, eheeem, sorry just my sore throat, and I couldn't get one anywhere. So, I drew the shape over the mirror, cut it out on card board and took it to a glass place and had one cut. Job done.

Tony. TCB.

[PV7998]

That's what I've done.............I've got a lovely cardboard template staring at me right now.

What sort of glass place do you go to?........my local(ish) one is great for double glazing bit don't look like they do door mirrors.

[Big Al.]

I used to be a Quality Control manager in an automotive glass mirror cutting company,

You first need to work out what type of glass to need to replace.

There are primarily three basic types of glass in three formats, flat, convex and aspheric.

Basic types =
Silver
First surface chrome
& Second surface chrome.

Basic formats.
Flat is obvious.
Convex means it has a curve in the glass
Aspheric means it has an inbuilt blind spot mirror (these usually are laser engraved mirrors with a line showing the blind spot area).

You first need to establish is your mirror flat or convex?

Put a small flat straight edge on the mirror, does it rock? No, then it's flat.

If it does rock then it's convex.

So is it first or second surface? it's probably first but here's the check

Take a pencil/pen and put the point on the glass does the pen tip actually touch the glass or does there appear to be a small gap? it sounds silly but try it, it will make sense.
If it touches the glass then it's first surface glass and it's probably chrome. Chrome appears slightly grey in appearance, if it is silver then it you will definitely see a small gap and the colour is more yellowish.
Silver is really only used on vintage cars now, and only come in flat (similar to bathroom mirror glass)

First surface chrome would be my guess.

So, you now know what glass to are after, make a thin cardboard cut out template and take it to Halfords they will send it on the an auto glass cutter.

HTH.

[PV7998]

Big Al thanks.............This is for a conversion to pod mirrors from the door mounted mirrors on my FHC.

I've got some pods from TET and I've made a template out of card - I'll go with your guess of First Surface Flat chrome - TBH as long as it fits it should be OK.

I didn't know Halfords did that but I'll give it a go this week.

Thanks

[JamesMK]

I believe mine came from a Ford Orion

[PV7998]

Looking at them online it looks as if they could come from an Orion, which apparently would also include Mk1 Fiesta and Mk3 Escort, although there appears to be variations within the models - there are 3 different types of Orion glass available.

I might still end up at Halfords...........

[TVRleigh_BBWR]

The 280i Electric mirrors use the same glass and mechanism. this may make it easier to work out where they are from, as they don't have a custom housing.
I'll post a picture tomorrow.

[Jack Valiant]

When mine got cracked I made a paper template, took it to Halfords and spent 10 mins going through their replacement mirror stand and found one almost exactly the right shape... (it was a smidge smaller) cost about £10 as I recall job done

Chris

[mk1fan]

I'd recommend getting a blue tint too, to help eleviate glare/dazzle.