2007 S550: replace/repair side mirror

[kevm14]

The only current code is for the dead pass door mirror heater, which has been like this the entire time I've had the car. I should pop some new glass in there and hopefully solve that.

The power folding also gets stuck sometimes and got stuck today worse than it ever has. Had to drive around at lunch with it folded in. After some time, Ed hit the button and it faithfully motored right out as normal. I set the auto folding to off just until I can deal with this.

Ordered a used one on eBay for $55. Attaching OEM stuff for kicks. It's not clear if there is a single P/N to order the entire mirror assembly. My experience is EPC is difficult with that but the online parts catalog that they have at the dealer now will often show a new P/N that orders the entire thing, so I could call and ask. Or ask when I pick up the M272 parts.

[kevm14]

It's not clear if there is a single P/N to order the entire mirror assembly. My experience is EPC is difficult with that but the online parts catalog that they have at the dealer now will often show a new P/N that orders the entire thing, so I could call and ask. Or ask when I pick up the M272 parts.

There is no consolidated P/N. And the silver shell is no longer available, either.

[kevm14]

Turns out I had to pull the door panel to unplug the mirror harness from the door module. Door panel comes off pretty normally. Remove tweeter, pop two little covers off (very well hidden) to reveal two T30 head secret screws. Door panel uses plastic retaining pins and then a hook in the upper middle, plus the channel along the window seal. Pretty normal.

I thought maybe I could pop this cover off and unplug the mirror from the door module but the plugs are buried under the door panel so that was a no go.

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Hung the eBay one to check it out. Folding seems faster and more confident which is good. Mirror heater still throws the same code so I think my chance of finding a good used heater is slim. But then I was reminded that the cosmetics kind of suck.

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Compare to my original.

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Decided to try taking the old one apart. The idea was I could swap the good parts of my old mirror into the eBay one. It is designed to come apart because you can service the mirror glass, adjustment motor, puddle lamp, LED turn signal strip and I guess remove the bezel and shell. T10 bolts. However the triangle piece that fits into the base of the A pillar is part of the mirror frame so I wouldn't be able to swap over that part of mine.

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Puddle lamp is a W6W. Similar to a W5W but 6 watts instead of 5. I had W5W markers in my STS headlights but 6W seems fancy. Typical 194s are quite a bit less than 5.

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Decided to do touchup paint and clear on the triangle part of the mirror base. Not perfect but I guess the car isn't perfect. Sucks that my original was nicer though. I could maybe return it on the basis that the mirror heat doesn't work but then I'd be rolling the dice with another folding motor and this one seems good.

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Got the door panel all hung and snapped in. Had Ian try the door functions. Everything was good. Except he couldn't get out. The door handle was just flapping and loose. The cable had popped off. GRRRR.

Took it all back apart and I didn't snap the cable thing into the little plastic adapter in the door handle. Figures. Take 2 was good.

So I think this is the plan: drive with this for a while and exercise the folding. Make sure there are no failures as that was the main point of this job. In the meantime, I ordered an OEM bulb (couldn't find a W6W but maybe didn't look that hard) and mirror glass which should fix the heater issue finally. The mirror is designed to be serviced on the car so I will:
- Pop out the mirror glass
- Remove the bezel
- Remove the power motor
- Fold the mirror in to remove the shell
- Remove the LED turn signal strip
- Install LED turn signal strip in my original shell
- Replace puddle lamp bulb with new one
- Snap in puddle lamp (I think that is the order)
- Install shell to mirror frame
- Consider using my old mirror motor as this one seems a little chalky but I'll play with it
- Install bezel
- Plug new mirror glass in and snap into motor

If the folding motor takes a crap during my tests I guess I'll consider sending it back and dealing with having to find another one. Maybe I'll find a cleaner one and this guy can enjoy free touchup paint....hopefully it's fine though.

[kevm14]

My mirror glass and bulb are ready for pickup.

I've been folding the mirror automatically and it is working well. It's faster than the driver's side and doesn't make that whining noise right after it reaches fully folded like the old one often did.

Still not sure whether to replace the power adjuster. Tilting down in reverse is jerky. Maybe I can pull the adjuster motor and soak it in white lithium or something. I think I will have it out to swap the shell and bezel over.