micahwitz

and if you don't know how to take off the door panel, goto your local Best Buy stereo installer. he'll take off and re-install the panel for cheap.

micahwitz

one more thing. the mirror I removed was fine except for the mirror glass having leaked. I put it on ebay and got $75 for it.

micahwitz

how did you get the glass to pop out of the housing? I could never figure that out.

ImStricken

let me clear the air:

1. the liquid is the dimming feature its like an old school lcd screen from a calculator that sits behind the mirror

2. the lines going up and down on the back side - is the heating element in the glass.

my parent's just got side swiped last night and the copper fluid is all over the door, front quarter panel, a-pillar, and left portion of the hood.

this hopefully will be just a wet-sanding, compounding, polishing and waxing job for me this weekend.

bagsbie

it is relatively easy but you do need to know where to put a flat screwdriver to pop the mirror from the pivot. To do so, push the upper corner of the mirror closest to the car body in so that the opposite lower corner of the mirror tilts out. if you look under there now you need to put the flatend screwdriver between the black mirror holder and plate pivot (white) to disconnect the two lower claws. You want to put some tape on the bottom edge of the mirror housing so you do not scratch it with the screwdriver.

Then, push the lower side of the plate pivot to tilt it down

Pull up the mirror to disconnect the two upper claws (having a replacement mirror will definitely help to visualize what you need to do in the above steps)

If the mirror is heated, which it is likely, disconnect the heater connectors (I would mark them so you connect them correctly on the new mirror)

There's the ECM connector which you also need to disconnect.

To connect the new mirror the process is in reverse. I have some pictures of the process somewhere on my PC. If I find them, I'll edit my post and put them up...

linairs

My passenger side-view mirror is leaking out. Can I purchase just the glass and pop out the faulty one and replace with new heated/auto-dimming one or do I have to get the entire mirror assembly? Also, a question in general about these mirrors. I bought this car with 135,000 miles on it a couple of years ago. The driver’s side mirror is clear. The windshield rear view mirror seems clear. The passenger mirror was always dark. Which is irritating to me. Now it’s half dark half foggy clear which is MORE irritating. What are the mirrors supposed to be? Are they supposed to be different or was one not functioning correctly from the get go? Is the passenger stuck in dimmed? Is the driver’s side stuck in non-dim? Are they both broken? I have the button turned on so I have a green light on the rear view mirror.

LSBen

Sorry to say this but you bought a car with a mirror gone bad. I did the same thing. The chemicals for the auto dim is leaking out which is causing your passenger side mirror to become dis colored. My mirror turned a dark pinkish color and became hazy, like looking thru 3D glasses. You can replace just the mirror with a factory heated autodim or a cheap aftermarket that's only heated. The cheapest I found for the OEM was $275 on ebay. Dealer was asking around $400. I bought the aftermarket for $60 shipped on eBay but they sent me a Euro spec mirror with the lines on the mirror. I complained and they refunded me half the cost so I ended up paying $30. See pics.

To pop off the mirror, place the flathead screwdriver below the tabs to pry the mirror off the tabs. Be sure the mirror is angled all the way up. Then pull up and out. Disconnect the wires after removing the clear plastic sleeve. Installation is reverse. Good luck!

LSBen

Mirror installed.

LSBen

Picture of the bad mirror

micahwitz

I had same problem on 2004 RX330. Was copper colored, not green. I found that replacing the glass was difficult and expensive. I looked on eBay, found a complete unit that matched all features and cable harness and color and bought it. The door panel comes off easy and is relatively easy to replace. Lots of good units out there from junk yards. Just make sure you match features. Auto-dim, heat, electric motor, memory settings etc dictate what the wiring harness looks like. Good luck.