bloody mirrors! please help
Discussion
Hi, im trying to get my door mirrors off for some paintwork, been through the section in the bible but it dosent seem to be much help, it says remove the grub screw at the bottom of the column but that is recessed in the whole in the door (as far as I can see) or remove the torx screw from the inside of the door, but this seems to be on an angle so you cant get a screwdriver through the whole to fit onto it, any help much appreciated as im stumped! thanks, phil
Have you tried just twisting the mirror and see if the mushroom bracket twists with it.
It's possible it was clamped to the bracket before being screwed in.
You will need to undo the wiring first obviously.
Go steady, do go twisting like a gorilla and break the bracket!
It's possible it was clamped to the bracket before being screwed in.
You will need to undo the wiring first obviously.
Go steady, do go twisting like a gorilla and break the bracket!
Edited by Barreti on Wednesday 11th June 22:05
Remove the glass
Then you will see the 4 screws that hold the back on
Then you can remove the motor and the rest of the plastic and the bolt that holds the rest of it
On the car
It's something like that it's been 18 months since I repaird mine
The glass comes out with a little tag on the bottom small driver or credit card will do it
Then you will see the 4 screws that hold the back on
Then you can remove the motor and the rest of the plastic and the bolt that holds the rest of it
On the car
It's something like that it's been 18 months since I repaird mine
The glass comes out with a little tag on the bottom small driver or credit card will do it
You need to unscrew the whole mirror assembly & remove it from the car before you can access the grub screw, it also shouldn't need touching as the it's the anchor for adjustment.
In summary forget grub screw & the Torx bolt entirely and focus on getting the mirror moving on the female threaded boss glassed into the door.
Often the mirror is seized onto this threaded boss so you need a drift that's long & thin enough to get in on the male threaded part of the mirror, you can then use a hammer to get it moving.
Lift & rotate the black plastic finishing collar & look under it for the male threaded part you're going to drive around, this circular part conveniently has oval slots cast into it which are perfect to get your drift into.
On the face of it a screwdriver would seem to make the ideal drift, but be careful it doesn't start acting as a chisel as the monkey metal threaded ring you're trying to get moving is very soft so it's all too easy to start cutting into it.
Here's what your looking to get onto with your drift, obviously this is what it looks like with the shell of the mirror removed & you may not have this advantage if you struggle to remove the outer mirror shell in situe, but the picture should help you get an idea of what lays beneath when you lift the black plastic finishing collar.
Access is difficult & you'll probably need to hit the thing with quite some force to get it moving so there's always the possibility of paint damage if you slip. Be patient and exercise extreme caution, but sadly using a hammer & drift is usually the only way you'll get the damn thing moving.
Once it frees up you can easily spin the whole mirror assembly off by hand but don't forget the wires for the mirror adjusting motors, these wires need to be disconnected before you start spinning the mirror off or they'll just become coiled up inside the door.
Unfortunately this means you'll need to get the door trim off to gain access to the inside of the door, the door trim is actually made up of two parts:
1. The vinyl door trim surround
2. The carpet door covering
First remove the door speaker, then stick your arm in the hole to find three 10mm nuts on the studs that hold the vinyl door trim surround on, the furthest stud towards the door striker is quite deep in so be prepared to get your arm right in there James Herriot style.
I find a 10mm ratchet ring spanner is the perfect tool for removing the three vinyl door trim surround nuts.
Once the vinyl door trim surround is off you'll need to remove carpet part of the door trim, this is held on with self tapper screws the heads of which are usually completely hidden in the pile of the carpet, que more swearing
Once both door trim components are off the car you can peel away the plastic sheet & rubber rain curtain to get inside the door to find your mirror wiring.
More door trim removal tips with photos here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
There should be a mirror wiring connector block inside the door, but this is bulky so isn't easy to get through the female threaded mirror mounting boss glassed in the door so you may choose to do what I did & cut the wires reconnecting them using bullet connectors.
Finally you can unwind the freed mirror from the door.
Few!! what a pain in the arsh these Chimaera mirrors are, and we haven't even got onto repairing them when they break...which make no mistake they will one day
Your post is titled "Bloody Mirrors"... trust me, you're not the first to say that about these dreadful things
In summary forget grub screw & the Torx bolt entirely and focus on getting the mirror moving on the female threaded boss glassed into the door.
Often the mirror is seized onto this threaded boss so you need a drift that's long & thin enough to get in on the male threaded part of the mirror, you can then use a hammer to get it moving.
Lift & rotate the black plastic finishing collar & look under it for the male threaded part you're going to drive around, this circular part conveniently has oval slots cast into it which are perfect to get your drift into.
On the face of it a screwdriver would seem to make the ideal drift, but be careful it doesn't start acting as a chisel as the monkey metal threaded ring you're trying to get moving is very soft so it's all too easy to start cutting into it.
Here's what your looking to get onto with your drift, obviously this is what it looks like with the shell of the mirror removed & you may not have this advantage if you struggle to remove the outer mirror shell in situe, but the picture should help you get an idea of what lays beneath when you lift the black plastic finishing collar.
Access is difficult & you'll probably need to hit the thing with quite some force to get it moving so there's always the possibility of paint damage if you slip. Be patient and exercise extreme caution, but sadly using a hammer & drift is usually the only way you'll get the damn thing moving.
Once it frees up you can easily spin the whole mirror assembly off by hand but don't forget the wires for the mirror adjusting motors, these wires need to be disconnected before you start spinning the mirror off or they'll just become coiled up inside the door.
Unfortunately this means you'll need to get the door trim off to gain access to the inside of the door, the door trim is actually made up of two parts:
1. The vinyl door trim surround
2. The carpet door covering
First remove the door speaker, then stick your arm in the hole to find three 10mm nuts on the studs that hold the vinyl door trim surround on, the furthest stud towards the door striker is quite deep in so be prepared to get your arm right in there James Herriot style.
I find a 10mm ratchet ring spanner is the perfect tool for removing the three vinyl door trim surround nuts.
Once the vinyl door trim surround is off you'll need to remove carpet part of the door trim, this is held on with self tapper screws the heads of which are usually completely hidden in the pile of the carpet, que more swearing
Once both door trim components are off the car you can peel away the plastic sheet & rubber rain curtain to get inside the door to find your mirror wiring.
More door trim removal tips with photos here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
There should be a mirror wiring connector block inside the door, but this is bulky so isn't easy to get through the female threaded mirror mounting boss glassed in the door so you may choose to do what I did & cut the wires reconnecting them using bullet connectors.
Finally you can unwind the freed mirror from the door.
Few!! what a pain in the arsh these Chimaera mirrors are, and we haven't even got onto repairing them when they break...which make no mistake they will one day
Your post is titled "Bloody Mirrors"... trust me, you're not the first to say that about these dreadful things
Edited by ChimpOnGas on Wednesday 11th June 23:27
Excellent post, covers everything I can think of. However in 2 Chimaera I've owned, removing the door speaker has bee sufficient to get at the mirror wires. Taking the whole door trim off is indeed as your pic suggests. 
If it is a facelift model with the mirror housing door release button, there are 2 additional wires, both black, which broke on mine, very flimsy.
If it is a facelift model with the mirror housing door release button, there are 2 additional wires, both black, which broke on mine, very flimsy.
recently changed mine for TT mirrors, I had already planned to but became necessary as I had to remove them for some paint work like yourself and just found it impossible!mine is an early car and were almost welded into the door, got one off without damage but the other wouldn't budge and the metal gave way first. Much happier with the TT mirrors now!
a small amount of work but nothing too bad, I can always refit the old mirrors if I wanted.
I had to grind off some metal on the TT bases (just bits that stick out) make 2 holes in the fibreglass with a dremal for the bases to sit into and just fit with longer bolts and big washers, easy peasy. (the holes made are inside the door inset so are not seen)
I had to grind off some metal on the TT bases (just bits that stick out) make 2 holes in the fibreglass with a dremal for the bases to sit into and just fit with longer bolts and big washers, easy peasy. (the holes made are inside the door inset so are not seen)
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