Need Advice on Replacing Left Door Mirror on 1999 Forester

Some detail might help.

Presumably you are replacing the mirror because it is broken. How badly? Is it just the glass or is the whole unit ripped off of the car? Or is it merely that the power adjustment no longer works?

John,

The inside of the mirror unit is broken (not the mirror itself) and the mirror unit just hangs by the cable. I taped it and the power adjustment feature still works. I want to replace the entire power mirror unit. Do I need to remove the entire door panel or is there an easier way? I can see where the two screws are that hold it on.

Thanks, Mike

If it's anything like my 98 Legacy GT (non-hinged power mirrors), there are three screws accessible from the inside after removing the triangular tweeter panel. These pass through the door and go into treads embedded into the inner structure of the mirror.

If the outside of the mirror is undamaged you could try to epoxy the inside structure back together but you'll likely end up with a weaker repair. I myself found a used replacement for under $100 incl shipping online and put it on myself.

You will probably need to remove the door panel since the cable connectors for the electric motors are usually behind the door panel. This is not that hard to remove once you've located the location of the screws and clips.

It's a wise investment to get the Haynes manual or the proper pages off to avoid frustration and damage during disassembly.

Florian

I don't think you need to remove the entire door panel. There's like a triangular area right behind where the mirror attaches. That area could also hold the speaker tweeter. Just remove that and you'll have access to the screws. I think you can just pull it off.