Cheap Ebay wing mirrors - warning!

[shedpete]

Just had to replace a driver side wing mirror - must have got bashed while I was parked.

Foolishly thought I'd go for one of the gazillions of cheap offerings on Ebay. £21.85 including postage for the whole assembly, including heated glass. Got a black one because despite my Berlingo being blue I'd read somewhere that you could just move the cover plates over, and all of the cheap ones are black. But the new one has no slots for the old cover to snap into. You'd need to cut the 'prongs' off the old cover and glue it on somehow I guess.

On my Mk 2 (2003) model you have to remove the door trim (and make a tear in the foam lining) to do the replacement (to get to the electrical connector for the heating - otherwise no need, the main mounting screws are easily accessible). But not hard with the help of Haynes, and went a lot quicker the second time...

When I'd got the old one off I noticed it is a lot heavier and more solid than the new one (1450g vs 850g). Original has serious metal castings inside. New one is basically just plastic.

Anyway it seemed to fit OK and I left positive feedback, foolishly before going for a drive.

Went for a drive and discovered that the adjuster would just not stay put. Mirror just 'flops' slowly down from the vibration of driving. Not enough tension on the adjuster cables I assume - but despite there being a promising looking thread, there is no way to adjust this.

So I ordered a genuine spare from a breaker, which came today and have just fitted. Rock solid. And it was £18.99 posted (also Ebay), so was actually cheaper than the crappy new one...

On this experience I would not recommend the cheap copy mirrors... better to get a used genuine one.

Or maybe I just got a bad one?

[iscom]

I had to replace my driver side mirror ( a Jaguar F-Pacer  crame round a bend and both wing mirrors touch  lucky I had dash cam showing him over the line)   but I bought a cheap one off EBay a diferent type of fitting but it did fit ok and is  Wide Angle Wing mirror  but I  did order one with the orginal fitting with had a solid backing plate but was the wrong size ( to Big)    But when a dealer wants 450 euro + Vat  for a replacement when you can buy on the net for 60ukp  and easy to fit,  its no wonder insurance cost so much Hate to think  what the Jag wing mirror cost

[geoff]

A couple of years back I bought a pair of mirrors for my van from eBay seller " energizedcustoms2 " and was really pleased with his stuff.

Current feedback rating of 99.8 % on 156335 sales !

Here is an example .... ebay 320588565567

Obviously they were not as good as genuine but still excellent.

[Opensauce]

I'd hate to think how much a body coloured mirror cost to replace. How is that done? Do you have to get it sprayed or can your order correct colour from Cit parts at great cost? Not busted a mirror yet but I'm thinking that 2 good quality black aftermkt mirrors might be cheaper than one coloured mirror from Cit parts & would look ok if both mirrors were black.

[Gadgetman]

The mirrors for the M49 / M59 have coloured plastic inserts.
(Ususally comes in gray, and you need to paint them yourself, or transfer the insert from the broken mirror to the new one)
Except... The very earliest years, up to about 98, I think. Those mirrors were all black.
(my 98 model had all-black mirrors, but my 99 have red inserts. Of course, it's possible that the 98 had replacement mirrors from an even older car... )
Mechanically they're the same, so if someone has the all-black, they can upgrade their cars to more stylish mirrors if they want to.
(Just check the specs for whether or not it's heated and how it's adjusted)

I know that some garages will cut the wires where they enter the old mirror, then splice them with the wires on the new mirror in order to save themselves the hassle of removing the door card and the protective film.

I use a sharp knife that I lay flat against the metal to cut through the glue when removing the film. Then it's easy to stick it back on, too.
(I recently replaced the passenger-side mirror... Then I used the opportunity to add thick 'sound insulation' foam in the door. I do that kind of work any time I have to open a panel)