R129 mirror disassembly

[DrNick]

Whilst reversing, I caught the drivers mirror on a bush which bent it backwards. Although it survived, it’s pulled away part of the casing.
(See picture). Facelift version -1999.
Does anyone know how to either get it to go back together, or how to separate it completely so it can be repaired?
It looks like it should snap back in but I’ve been quite brutal and it won’t go. Likewise I’ve tried leveraging it apart but it’s not showing any signs of that either. No obvious signs of tabs snapping off either.
Has anybody taken one apart, or safely removed the glass. New ones are horrifically expensive so this needs to be repaired rather than replaced!

 

[jasmine]

looks like the cobwebs were holding it together .............

 

[Wearsthefoxhat]

You can turn the mirror downward, as far as it will go so looking at the road. You can now get a small hook, screwdriver down the back to unclip a small retaining clip. Do not drop the mirror at this point. iirc there are then two screws inside the casing that will allow it to be taken apart, clips around the edge.. I found some good clips on YouTube when I needed to get mine orf..

 

[DrNick]

looks like the cobwebs were holding it together .............

You'd think, but it is surprisingly resilient to any encouragement to fall apart

 

[DrNick]

You can turn the mirror downward, as far as it will go so looking at the road. You can now get a small hook, screwdriver down the back to unclip a small retaining clip. Do not drop the mirror at this point. iirc there are then two screws inside the casing that will allow it to be taken apart, clips around the edge.. I found some good clips on YouTube when I needed to get mine orf..

Thanks for this. Any clues as to how the retaining clip unclips (pull up, move left etc) as I'm guessing I'm not going to be able to see anything!

 

[Trickythemerc]

Is this not the same mirror that the W209 uses ? If it is you need to remove the whole mirror and prepare for some pretty fiddly stuff to get the plastic mirror cover off. You will probably find a broken tag or two but it should go back together with a bit of super glue.