c230 mirror --- damage or not? How to fix??

The mirror housing is designed to swing in toward the car when a force hits it coming from the front toward the back of the car (opposite of what you described). I don't know that it is supposed to swing the other way though, so you might have broken something. Swing the mirror in the correct direction and take a look at the innards. Did it just break a spring? You could go to a junkyard and pick up the parts you need off a wrecked car. If you search some of the Mercedes websites with message boards, you should find complete directions on how to take of the cover/shell to access the innards and unscrew them from the body of the car for full replacement. I think it is about $500 if you want the dealer to replace the parts and install them.

If the mirror is still in the correct place, then I wouldn't worry about it at all.. Give it a wiggle... make sure it is still tight on the car.

It is hard to break those mirror off the car... bolted in. As for the give, newer cars allows the mirror to be moved both way to a certain extent.

The mirror housing does swivel both directions, though more space to flip rearward than forward.

I don't understand what you mean by "hanging there, in the correct position". Its correct position is attaching to the door firmly, so what is hanging? Can you move the whole housing freely without much force? Then either the hinge or the spring holders are broken. The hinge has its own part number but MB only sells the entire assembly (i.e. the whole mirror minus the glass and the shell) which is something like three hundred dollars.

Ours (96 C280) was broken on the driver side. Luckily I was able to attach it back snugly. It is not as firm as before and hitting anything may break it again but it stays there (for the last 1-2 years).

The shell has three tabs (near the door side). Bent the mirror forward so you can see them. Once they are disengaged, the shell can slide out. The hinge has double frame (so it can flip both directions). See if any part is broken. The spring goes thru the middle. You need a strong hook to deattch/attach the spring. I used the brake shoes tool.

If the mirror does need replacement, a used one is not easy to find. However, color isn't important since the shell can reuse your existing one. If you have plenty time, a left side mirror shares about half the parts (e.g. the hinge) though I do mean "plenty" of time to work on.

Good luck

snipped-for-privacy@murklago> A close relative has a beautiful 1999 c230 with 30,000 miles on it. >

A close relative has a beautiful 1999 c230 with 30,000 miles on it.

However, while getting backed out of the garage there was an error in judging distance and the passenger side mirror hit the garage door ..knocking the mirror backwards of course.

The mirror is hanging there, in the correct position while the vehicle is sitting or being driven at lower city speeds, and the electronic controls that work the mirror's adjustments work just fine. The mirror itself, as much as I can see, does not appear damaged.

I cannot tell from looking at this whether the mirror is somehow just dismounted from the vehicle and can be somehow reattached; or whether the mirror must be replaced.

I mean, is the mirror designed to take this sort of hit by breaking loose to later be reattached, or is it broken beyond repair.

This relative is very sad they 'broke the car'.

So educate me, please .. what should I do now? What should I expect.

Any advice will be appreciated ......

You can find a use one at one of these locations and have someone put it on for you.

If the cover is just loose and not cracked, it probably just needs to be snapped back on. There is a C clip and you may just need to mess with that. Search some of the archives of Benzwold and MBWorld where they have discussions about fixing the mirror housing.

Just looking at the Mercedes-Benz epc it looks like you will have to buy the complete mirror mechanism assembly as the only components offered are the cover, motor and mirror glass.

To see the illustration follow this link where it will be posted for a week or so

A close relative has a beautiful 1999 c230 with 30,000 miles on it.

However, while getting backed out of the garage there was an error in judging distance and the passenger side mirror hit the garage door ..knocking the mirror backwards of course.

The mirror is hanging there, in the correct position while the vehicle is sitting or being driven at lower city speeds, and the electronic controls that work the mirror's adjustments work just fine. The mirror itself, as much as I can see, does not appear damaged.

I cannot tell from looking at this whether the mirror is somehow just dismounted from the vehicle and can be somehow reattached; or whether the mirror must be replaced.

I mean, is the mirror designed to take this sort of hit by breaking loose to later be reattached, or is it broken beyond repair.

This relative is very sad they 'broke the car'.

So educate me, please .. what should I do now? What should I expect.

Any advice will be appreciated ......

I apologize for several postings of the same thing.

I didn't ask the question well .. it is the entire assembly that is hanging there detached but working.

It was hit and forced "backwards" as they were backing out of the garage, therefore the spring mechanism that would have protected it if hit in a forward direction wasn't able to help.

And when I say "mirror" I need to be more clear.. I mean the entire assembly, case and all.

Everything that is outside the door looks fine and works, but just hangs there loosely

If you walk up to the Benz and just glance at this mirror assembly the issue is not obvious. But if you touch the overall assembly it is loose, just hanging there from the door.

Driving at slow speeds it gives just a little; at higher speeds the entire assembly trys to bend back towards the door as the air pressure increases. So much it surely would harm it if driven at highway speeds.

I appreciate the comments so far .. still have the problem and still need help.

Thanks .....

Mike

It appears in the epc that the mirror assy is affixed to the door by 3 screws, one of which is pictured there item #26.

If these have been pulled loose from the door you may be able to retighten them after removing the outer mirror cover.

I don't know if these are a sheetmetal type thread or a machine thread.

If they are a sheetmetal screw pulling the mirror out may have distorted the hole they fasten to which you may be able to straighten after removing the mirror.

If they are a machine thread than the threaded nut welded to the door may have been ripped loose and you may have to take it to a body shop to have it repaired.

If the repair doesn't become obvious to you after further inspection I recomend you teke it to a trusted repair shop and request an itemized written estimate of repairs.

I hope I have helped.

Les

As I mentioned before, the mirror folding mechanism allows folding both ways, though it has much more tolerance toward the rear since that is the norm when hitting something while driving.

The assembly allows folding toward front, only for a small degree. Folding toward front is used to reveal the locking tabs of the shell and the mounting screws.

Since it was hit while backing up, most likely the folding hinge is broken. There is no way to repair the hinge. Like Les mentions, the assembly is sold as a whole, around $350 if I remember right. I know it because I have done the same mistake and went through the hassle trying to find a cheaper solution, which did not exist.

You can try junkyard for a used assembly. But since W202 is not that old, what I found was still around $100 to $200.

I would suggest finding a body shop in your case.

snipped-for-privacy@murklago> A close relative has a beautiful 1999 c230 with 30,000 miles on it. >

In my case it is only the glass mirror that vobbling the assembly works just fine - seems like it is hanging in - If I could get a schematic of the assembly may be I can fix it on my own.

replying to mp, Pam wrote: Comments: Hi. I hope someone can help! I have a 2007 Mercedes c280 4matic, I replaced the signal in my driver side mirror and it works great. Problem when I was removing the housing the clip would not fully release, after trying for awhile I realized part of it was really tight and pressed a bit too hard and broke the latch that the clip attaches to and now although the mirror is in place it is loose. What can I do....please help!