Door Mirror

I needed to replace the fixing bracket on my driver's side door mirror because the mirror was starting to wobble. This is the second time I've had to do this, I'm sure my postman knocks the mirror with his post-sack and inadvertently damages it.

Well, a new mirror from Lotus is very expensive but from Citroën, you can buy the individual parts. This web page describes how easy it is to dismantle and replace various parts of the mirror assembly.

The Broken Bracket

This is the new bracket, it is off a Citroën CX with plastic bumpers part # 95647738. This bracket fixes the mirror onto the car door's spigot and also provides the point where the mirror swivels. I paid £5.00 (UKP) for this.

Bracket on Car

There is a black, plastic cover which needs to be pulled up to expose the Allen-screw head. If you look carefully, you can see that the die-cast housing is split. However, to replace the bracket you need to dismantle the mirror because of the motor wires located inside.

Removing the Mirror Glass

There is a small, plastic nipple behind the mirror that needs to pushed in the direction towards the car (in this case to the left). If you're removing the left hand door mirror, slide this to the left too but remember that this is the direction away from the car. 

It is attached to a rotating ring behind the glass. There is only approximately 5mm of movement necessary to unlock the mechanism.

Once the mechanism is unlocked, remove the glass by pulling it towards you. Note: it should not be necessary to use a lot of force, if the mirror will not move, you haven't unlocked it enough.

Removing the Mirror Motors

The mirror motors need to be removed and disconnected via the three screws as indicated.

The motor assembly is disconnected via this socket.

Removing the Mirror Assembly

Once the cable is fully disconnected, the mirror assembly can be carefully removed.

Finally, the Bracket!

The bracket is removed by the centre star bolt.

If your mirror no-longer clicks into position, it's because there is a ratchet missing from the mirror head. As you can see, this has happened to my mirror. I've drawn where the piece of spring metal should live.

This broke months ago but it is only a minor inconvenience and I shall not be doing anything about it.