anybody know how to take off a mirror cap without destroying the mirror?

 

Which mirror are you talking about?

 

It's designed to be able to take it apart. It's still a scary process. You need to pull the mirror off. You'll think it's going to break, but it shouldn't. Video here:

 

if you are talking about the exterior mirror you need to pull the glass mirror out and then it will expose 2-3 phillip screws holding the cap to the frame of the side mirror.

 

I had to do this to swap a mirror before. Take your time with it and don't try to do it as fast as the guy in the video does it lol (you def don't want to break a part off, especially in the assembly where the mirror clips into) Start off at the bottom left corner and work your way around.

 

I tilt mirror up (be gentle), take flat tip screwdriver (two if possible) to pry up under mirror where attaches. I believe there's two upper clips two bottom clips. Once you pry the mirror from the bottom ones, it'll come off. Sometimes with adhesive. Pull slow. Then carefully undo the heater element. Then the philips head screws will be exposed to remove the cap. It's a good time to also replace the Mirror Puddle Bulbs with bright white LEDs like I did. I used these:

http://amzn.to/2tMJMim

 

These are the exact steps i took when i replaced my puddle lights to DIY. It is one of those things that sound daunting, but is actually quite simple. Tip: before attaching back the housing, make sure the puddle light housing is in place and never apply excessive force. Check out the price of the whole mirror assembly before proceeding.