My drivers side mirror just swings freely and i'm looking at a few options to fix it I guess.
The motor to move the mirror glass still works and the mirror that would fold the mirror in still works or so the sound would lead me to believe. At some point before I bought it i'm guessing some genius decided to manually fold it in and snapped something in the catch.

So I can buy a new one at the dealer and have it painted - huge $$$$

Buy an after market one and have it painted still pretty large $$$$

Buy a used one from a wrecker Still large $$$$ for a used mirror and i'm having trouble finding one in the burgandy color

My other options might be to pull the mirror off and attempt to fix what ever is broken in the catch system. Can this be done does anyone have a PDF diagram of it?

Buy the cheapest used one I can find and swap the exterior painted plastic from mine on to it. Again I have no idea if this can be done on this car.

 

The outter shell is swappable, all you have to do is remove the mirror. (Pry from the bottom) Then you will see 4 Phillip screws.

 

is there a way to disassemble the whole mirror assembly from the motor with out taking the door panel off.

I want to see what is broken and if I can find a cheap and easy fix first.

 

Yes, as mentioned, you can start by prying the mirror glass off (pry up from the bottom of the mirror). You will then see the internals. 4 screws and the plastic mirror covers separate. There are threads on "how to".

 

sweet thanks

 

If you've got the money and time i would defenitely try and disassemble the mirror and lube and check the worm gears to keep them in track.

Or if you dont mind a bit of redneck engineering on a Japanese luxury vehicle (i can understand that its almost a sin to do all this but,,, have other things to worry about than the looks), take the door panel off and snip the green wire that power's the gear motor (mine kept swinging out) and tape the sucker down with some gorilla clear tape. Mine's held fast through cold and rain for about 4 months now.

 

Best bet would be to get a known good mirror and use it for parts if you don't want to shell out the 500.00 for a new color matched mirror from Lexus. EBay usually has a good selection.

I bought a brand new color matched mirror from Lexus for my 2005. It took less than an hour to remove the door panel and install the new mirror. I should have just ordered the little motor for a few bucks to fix my small issue with the up/down adjustment and saved a few hundred bucks.

That being said I do have a spare mirror that the folding functions perfectly. Just needs the little motor that controls the glass tilt for up and down to be like new again.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-LS430-TYPE-A-BURGUNDY-MIRROR-DRIVER-SIDE-LEFT-SIDE-/321741501299?hash=item4ae949b373:g:r7cAAOSwymxVQZU7&vxp=mtr

this is worth a look.