This sounds like a basic question, but how do I get the white square plastic cover off the headliner that covers the bolts holding the inside rearview mirror off? I have pryed on them but they don't come off. I want to swap the mirror with one from my parts car. I don't want to destroy one to find out how it's done. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Mark
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' 93 240 (Quinn), AW70, 117K. '90 240 (Amanual), M47II, 89K. '92 240 (Edgar), AW70, 170K, totalled parts car. Love to drive them when my kids let me!

jdouglas has the correct procedure. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the description and indeed I broke both units, but now I see how to do it. I used two putty knives and broke the tabs. Here's how it should be done:

Sit in the car and grab the mirror with both hands, one hand on either side of the bracket. Gently but firmly push the mirror toward the windshield. A quick pulse is best. The mirror and bracket are held in place with two spring bars that hold the central ball mounted to the top of the bracket. The mirror, bracket and plastic trim come off as one piece. The white trim can then be removed.

The mirror is designed to come out of the roof if hit in a crash, perhaps even from the force of the crash itself.

To put the unit back. Gently remove the trim piece (now that you can get to the tabs), put the mirror bracket in place and wack it with the side of your fist. Snap the white trim back into place.

I did not do this. Can anyone say Blue RTV of stick on velcro?

Mark
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' 93 240 (Quinn), AW70, 117K. '90 240 (Amanual), M47II, 89K. '92 240 (Edgar), AW70, 170K, totalled parts car. Love to drive them when my kids let me!

HA! I beat you to it. Sorry man, Rob and I gave you bum advice. Anyway, I figued out the same thing, and thanks to jdouglas I didn't break the trim piece in my '93. To support our findings I've taken a picture:



This should make it a little easier for people in the future, a visual of what you're dealing with under brittle pieces of trim is always helpful.

I don't know that I would describe the process quite the way you have though. I'd say to grab ahold of the mirror arm and pull down.

Here's another illustration of the proceedure. I hope this helps many people in the future (you know, If they can actually find it with a search)


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-Sean, Thinking of calling my car 'Black Lung' for the cigarette burns in the seats, the Marlboro wrappers under the handbrake cover and the nicotine film all over the instrument cluster.

Yes, I definitely feel like an idiot. Oh well to quote The Carpenters "So it's one more round for experience, end we're on the road again".

Thanks everybody for your help.

Mark
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' 93 240 (Quinn), AW70, 117K. '90 240 (Amanual), M47II, 89K. '92 240 (Edgar), AW70, 170K, totalled parts car. Love to drive them when my kids let me!

This is easier than your friends would have you believe. You pull the whole mirror down out of its ball socket, and THEN pry loose the plastic trim from the assembly. Installation is reverse of removal (application of sudden force).

I was skeptical about this until I just tried it - yup, the mirror assembly is designed that way. There's a screw holding the mirror to the plate that attaches to the roof. This screw is rounded on the bottom and rests between two steel rods. When you pull down with enough force, the rods separate and the screw pops out, brining with it the mirror and the trim piece which clips onto the mirror. Then you can leisurely (but still CAREFULLY) pop the trim piece off from the back.

I feel like an idiot, how 'bout you, Rob?
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-Sean, Thinking of calling my car 'Black Lung' for the cigarette burns in the seats, the Marlboro wrappers under the handbrake cover and the nicotine film all over the instrument cluster.

Hell yeah, I like it. I'm gonna do this sometime going down the road and freak out my wife.

To quote South Park: "I learned something today."

I had seen that breakaway spring but didn't realize that it was actually how you were supposed to remove the thing.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244-M47-207K ::: 90 745GL-M47-268K ::: 88 245DL-AW70-230K ::: 88 244 SOLD! 87 244 SOLD! Still looking for a bright red or black 244 with sunroof...

Heh I just did this... twice. Swapped the mirror from my parts car onto my 92.

The cover is held on with 4 1/4 inch thick X about 1/4 inch long tabs almost in the center of it. You could maybe use something very slim like a long knife blade or maybe a letter opener or a paint scraper, one on each side, and push in to release two of the tabs.

I broke the first one, then thought I had the second one coming off and if cracked too. The design is really stupid, as you'll find out when you have the broken white plastic in your hands.

Once it's off, there's 3 phillips (on early cars) or 3 Torx (T25 I think, on later cars) that are captive in the mirror assembly. The mirror comes off just fine once the cover self destructs! :)

Good luck with it.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244-M47-207K ::: 90 745GL-M47-268K ::: 88 245DL-AW70-230K ::: 88 244 SOLD! 87 244 SOLD! Still looking for a bright red or black 244 with sunroof...

Ditto. Did the exact same thing recently, stole the mirror from the '82 to swap it with the one from my '93 which seems to have been glued together by a kindergarten class because there's crusty crap - looks like dried adhesive - all around the edges.

Caring little for the '82 I pried it off and actually only broke one clip. In my '93 I've yet to build up the courage to pop it off. Good luck, I think with a very thin flat head screwdriver you could reach in there and pop the tabs carefully out.
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-Sean, Thinking of calling my car 'Black Lung' for the cigarette burns in the seats, the Marlboro wrappers under the handbrake cover and the nicotine film all over the instrument cluster.

Yeah I replaced the 92 with the one from the 89 because of yellowed crusty stuff all along the bottom. My car has been attacked by madmen bearing epoxy, and I thought that perhaps they assaulted the mirror as well, since I did find epoxy on trim and things all over the car. But it looks like this is some kind of factory goo. Dunno what it's from or what it does, or why it leaks out and hardens like this.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244-M47-207K ::: 90 745GL-M47-268K ::: 88 245DL-AW70-230K ::: 88 244 SOLD! 87 244 SOLD! Still looking for a bright red or black 244 with sunroof...

Huh. I assumed the same thing - that my car had been the victim of poorly applied epoxy - but since both of our mirrors were that way, I'll assume it's factory.

I also found a bunch of similar crusty goo in the seam between the gauge cluster and the little window that protects it. Of course, I popped it off and cleaned thoroughly when I replaced the odo gear and swapped in a tach. I hate breaking those off because I'm always afraid I'll shatter the window - and DID leave a tiny crack - but it makes it SOOO much easier to clean the thing and to remove the cluster.

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-Sean, Thinking of calling my car 'Black Lung' for the cigarette burns in the seats, the Marlboro wrappers under the handbrake cover and the nicotine film all over the instrument cluster.