Re-attaching rear view mirror

[Solarfusion]

Hi does anyone know how to re-attach the roof mounted rear view mirror in a Leon Mk2 as have managed to knock it out of the metal socket its connectect with.

Appears to have a spring that clips it in place but I can't for the life of me compress the spring and at the same time push the mirror back into the socket. Is there a trick to doing this?

Looks as if the metal socket / clip is designed to come apart easily if the mirror is knocked so in theory it should be easy to put back together!

Thanks.

 

[Solarfusion]

Remove the light!

Relatively easy once the light unit has been removed as per: http://leon2passion.com/tutorials-leon-2-f24/tuto-montage-ampoules-navettes-w5w-plafonniers-t1117.htm

In order to get the two sprung pins into the upper mounting, you need to push a screwdriver into the hole in the middle of the mounting and lever the spring down slightly taking care not to completely dislodge it.

Will post a picture once I get it off my camera phone.

 

[Solarfusion]

Found a pic and annotated it:

 

[darrellr]

Just done the same thing too.

I've got the light unit out but can't suss out the mirror clip. Any clearer instructions anyone?

 

[darrellr]

Just done the same thing too.

I've got the light unit out but can't suss out the mirror clip. Any clearer instructions anyone?

AAARRRGGHHHH Now I've popped the spring out - bad to worse

 

[Solarfusion]

oh no! did the same thing myself and still have the scar on my hand from getting it back in! but it can be done.

Bit difficult to explain how to get the mirror back into the clip but I'll try... Get the mirror clip almost into position to the stage where you need to get the two little lugs into the rectangular hole. You then need to get a screwdriver through the round hole in the center and lever the spring up slightly in order to slacken off the lugs. At the same time push the mirror up.

HTH

 

[Phosgene]

Given that I have just done this also, I'll add at the bottom the search terms that took me a bit to get here. Anyway, I pinged the spring out and had to use a set of mole grips to squish it back into the holder. Once I was back at square one, I got a thin flat bladed screwdriver, got the left lug as in as far as it would go and then through the hole instead of lifting up (or down) I put the blade through the spring very close to the right side. I then used the right hand side of the hole as a pivot and moved the screwdriver to the right and therefore moved the blade to the left. This gave me enough slack in the bolts / lugs to push the mirror home.

But this has not been a complete waste of time for me as I now know where the Bluetooth microphone is (it is in the holder at the bottom of the well in the fourth image on the previous French light removal instructions (under the bit that says "08.871.90" upside down)) So a qualified result I think.


fit rear mirror
replace rear mirror
fit rearview mirror
replace rearview mirror
fit rear view mirror
replace rear view mirror
put back fit replace

Bluetooth microphone placement

 

[OldDevonian]

Had this happen to mine yesterday, took mine to the dealer who put it back in no time.

 

[kevarms]

Apologies for reviving an old thread. I'm trying to reattach my rear view mirror after knocking it out with my head while I was cleaning the interior. I'm stuck at the first hurdle - removing the interior light unit!!! I tried viewing the tutorial that Solarfusion linked to but the website isn't letting me even after registering.
Any quick guide on getting it out. I'm guessing it involves wedging in the flat end of a screwdriver but I'm reluctant to go hacking away at it without knowing exactly where I should be digging.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Nath.]

No need to remove the light at all.

All you need to do is spray a small amount of WD40 into the 2 balls and springs, then pop the left hand spring loaded ball into the left hand socket. With the mirror now pointing at about 45 degrees and the left hand spring now in place and not under tension as it is in place and relaxed. All you do is Then pivot/lean the mirror to the right and pop the right hand side in. This means that you are only fighting the right hand spring. You can pop both sides in together but this is twice as hard and can only be done with a hard thump that may crack the mirror or faffing about poking a screwdriver in and attempting to compress the springs.

One spring clip at a time is the way.

I did it loads of times when I modded my mirror with red LED mood lighting.

 

[Solarfusion]

This forum won't let me update the link for removing the light unit but there's another thread for it on here (edit the URL in your browser) t=131784

 

[Phosgene]

Sorry for the delay. If you don't get any joy with the suggestion from Nath. here are two pictures I took last night (terrible camera work but it was pitch black.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28222963@N00/5386609887 and then http://www.flickr.com/photos/28222963@N00/5386609969

I would have posted them as embeded images or links but apparently I need 10 more posts to do that.
Ho hum.

 

[Phosgene]

Shows I should type faster. ;-) The link from Solarfusion should sort you out too.

 

[ZBOYD]

This forum won't let me update the link for removing the light unit but there's another thread for it on here (edit the URL in your browser) t=131784

Try it now.

Newbie rule put in place to help prevent spam. But genuinely helpful requests are always considered.

 

[ZBOYD]

I would have posted them as embeded images or links but apparently I need 10 more posts to do that.
Ho hum.

Same as above applied, but fixed for you.

 

[berkeley12]

Top advice!

No need to remove the light at all.

All you need to do is spray a small amount of WD40 into the 2 balls and springs, then pop the left hand spring loaded ball into the left hand socket. With the mirror now pointing at about 45 degrees and the left hand spring now in place and not under tension as it is in place and relaxed. All you do is Then pivot/lean the mirror to the right and pop the right hand side in. This means that you are only fighting the right hand spring. You can pop both sides in together but this is twice as hard and can only be done with a hard thump that may crack the mirror or faffing about poking a screwdriver in and attempting to compress the springs.

One spring clip at a time is the way.

I did it loads of times when I modded my mirror with red LED mood lighting.

Just sorted mine after following your instructions. Thanks

 

[Scotty2hotty]

What a pain in the arse this is, took ages to fix

As has been said already its so easy for the spring to be popped out of the actual fixture so be careful not to do this as the spring itself is so difficult to put back in and it's so tight.

I had to disconnect the light which makes it easier to get access to the unit, with grit and damn frustration managed to get the whole unit back in by angling the mirror in and pushing the right hand ball bearing or round piece of metal in with a screwdriver, if you push this instead of shimmying the spring itself from the centre this prevents the spring from becoming dislodged
Difficult to explain but persistence is key, I almost sodding threw the mirror out all together at one stage! WHY do manufacturers make this stuff so difficult, I can understand why it's difficult to get back in as it has to be sturdy but the unit is overly complicated

Oli

 

[Ale]

No need to remove the light at all.

All you need to do is spray a small amount of WD40 into the 2 balls and springs, then pop the left hand spring loaded ball into the left hand socket. With the mirror now pointing at about 45 degrees and the left hand spring now in place and not under tension as it is in place and relaxed. All you do is Then pivot/lean the mirror to the right and pop the right hand side in. This means that you are only fighting the right hand spring. You can pop both sides in together but this is twice as hard and can only be done with a hard thump that may crack the mirror or faffing about poking a screwdriver in and attempting to compress the springs.

One spring clip at a time is the way.

I did it loads of times when I modded my mirror with red LED mood lighting.

I can confirm that it does work. I tried to put it back for half an hour or so, before I found this post. WD40 really does wonders here. I did it in 30 seconds. You do not even need to apply much pressure. Thanks Nath, you saved my day.

 

[Haribo7]

Help how to get the spring back in?

Help!

About 2 weeks ago I did this trick, so read the forum and all is great no problem getting the light unit out etc but... I've popped the spring out and can't get it back in!

I've tried pliers, scissors and pliers, nail clipper handles and just pushing like hell but can't get that spring in!

Any tips from anyone how to do it? Maybe a tool to do the job after all it went in on the assembly line!

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

 

[andy550]

I belted mine off at a toll booth in France. IIRC if you push hard enough it just goes back in, unless I'm forgetting something. Tried doing it at 80 on the motorway but gave up on that and just forced it in at a service station.