It should be fairly straightforward, right? Tilt the mirror up, stick your fingers behind the mirror at the bottom, and pull out to release the clips. I’ve now tried to do this twice and exerted quite a bit of pressure and I’m afraid it’s going to break. Has anyone else done this on a 3GS?

 

Here’s what the back side looks like (picture from eBay). It looks like there are 2 guide clips on the back right side (left side in the picture) and then 4 retention clips, 2 on the bottom that need to be pulled out first and then the mirror should be rotated up to get out the top two clips.

Here’s the problem. If I buy just the housing, I’ll need to remove my mirror glass. If I buy a new assembly, I’ll need to remove my mirror glass for that too because it doesn’t come with it. The only way to not remove the mirror glass would be to buy a complete used unit and I’d rather not do that because the motor and plastic pieces in these assemblies do go bad over time.

 

I tried again and I just can’t get the mirror glass off. If I buy the new assembly, do you think there’s any chance my local dealer would remove the glass and put it in the new assembly for me? I would then take apart my door and install the new assembly with the mirror glass in it.

I am thinking they wouldn’t do this for me for two reasons: (1) I didn’t purchase the new assembly from them; and (2) they would be sending me home without a passenger side view mirror, which is illegal I think.

 

Heres a video that may help you, on a is but it looks like the same. Dont you need to remove the swivel motor aswell to get to the housing? I think maybe buying a used silver mirror is less of a hassle, and costs the same. All you got to do is pull the door panel off and 3 nuts, and a plug

 

Thank you. That looks exactly the same as the GS mirror. But for whatever reason I cannot get the lower clips to release and I don’t wanna pull too hard on it. As for removing the housing, once you get the mirror glass off, there are four screws that hold the back housing in place. Once you remove the back housing then you can take the front housing off.

The cost for the new housing is $100. It comes pre-painted. I can get a brand new assembly for about $250, but it does not come with the mirror glass so I would have to take out my existing mirror glass and put it in the new assembly and then install. The safest route would be to buy a complete used assembly for around $150, which requires taking off the door panel, unbolting the mirror, and installing the new mirror. I’ve had the door panels off before so this is not difficult for me. But I would prefer either a new housing or a new assembly, both of which require pulling off the existing mirror glass, which scares the crap out of me. And from what I understand from my research, the mirror is more likely to break upon reinstalling it as opposed to taking it off. When taking it off, you are applying pressure to the plastic backing. When reinstalling it, you are applying pressure to the mirror itself to push the clips in place.

 

Spray some wd 40 behind it and let it sit a min. then yank the thing off. If it breaks it breaks, or take it to the dealer and see if one of the guys can lend you hand at the body shop and throw him a $20

 

Good advice on both counts. I think what I may do is order the new full assembly, install it (without the mirror glass), and then go to the dealer for an oil change and ask if they could pop the old mirror glass into the newly installed assembly. Done and done.

Thanks again ibidu.