Stolen - mirror glass and surroundings - C Class

[devnull10]

Came out from work to the public car park tonight to find some **** has stolen the wing mirror surroundings and glass! Looks like they knew what they were doing because it's been done pretty carefully, all unclipped etc, rather than just ripping the whole thing off. Obviously it's pretty expensive because it's the auto dimming, heated glass. Manchester area. If anyone see's any for sale anywhere in the near future around Manchester, drop me a private message please.

 

[Gazwould]

Scum .

 

[bob6600]

Unfortunately you are unlikely to see it again, most likely stolen for their own vehicle

 

[devnull10]

Yep, that's what I thought. Weird thing is that they were so careful in removing them, rather than just pulling the whole thing off.

 

[unimog]

I took the factory carbon mirror caps off my car for this reason.... apparently there is a certain set of folk who like to steal them.

if its not Uber drivers taking mirrors off its thieving scumbags. A special place in hell courtesy of a slow and painful death awaits these sub humans.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Sorry to hear your news, very frustrating.

We had the mirror glass stolen from an ML ten years or so ago. They took the glass from both sides, and caused no damage. Fortunately it wasn’t dimming glass and so the replacement cost wasn’t too bad.

Dimming glass is super expensive to buy new. I think it was £3-400 when I replaced it on C-class because it started to break down with age - again more than ten years ago.

It’s difficult to find secondhand too, not many cars have it, and it breaks down with age, so very few become available secondhand when cars are broken for parts. Good luck with search.

 

[devnull10]

I'm just going to take it to the dealership - I used the Mercedes Assistance because they provide a cover car (not worth going through insurance) - so they just collect mine and take it straight to the dealers. Expecting it to be an expensive job though.

 

[renault12ts]

It's a 5 minute job...do you need them to take it away for a day?

 

[Will]

Had a auto-dimming mirror glass nicked off an old W210 around ten years back also.

See quite a few MBs driving around minus the front emblem on newer models, which contains the radar sensor for distronic etc, I presume also expensive.

If you’re footing the bill for this, surely better to source the parts yourself and look into fitting options? I would fear a four-figure bill with c. £150/hour labour rate and full retail price on parts :-(

 

[Dryce]

Dimming glass is super expensive to buy new. I think it was £3-400 when I replaced it on C-class because it started to break down with age - again more than ten years ago.

I can't help feeling that that over and above normal opportunism - and justification of option pricelists - that the car manufacturers (not just MB) are setting interesting levels of margin on parts that might be expected to be commonly needed for accident repairs.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

I can't help feeling that that over and above normal opportunism - and justification of option pricelists - that the car manufacturers (not just MB) are setting interesting levels of margin on parts that might be expected to be commonly needed for accident repairs.

That would be gouging, hopefully there are laws against it.

 

[Dippo]

The problem is that if they set high margins on parts likely to be needed for accidents, then they would be penalised on the insurance groupings.

 

[Petrol Pete]

An acquaintance of mine came back to his parked E class W124 many years ago to find both his front indicators missing. Apparently they are super easy to pop open and remove without needing to lift the bonnet

 

[poormansporsche]

The rear light clusters on my Transit Luton are the same as on the Transit Tipper - the Pikeys favorite. Had them nicked twice before I put a mahoosive metal plate over them, even then the robbing bstards have tried to have a go. Replacements cost 200 quid a set from Fords, buggers. Fortunately now found a aftermarket supplier who sells them for 30 quid and always have a spare set in the cab

 

[devnull10]

If you’re footing the bill for this, surely better to source the parts yourself and look into fitting options? I would fear a four-figure bill with c. £150/hour labour rate and full retail price on parts :-(

The problem is, the car is only a few months old, and now the indicators are flashing really fast (which I presume is because of the electrics). There's not really any garages around here I'd trust, and with it being in pristine condition otherwise, I'd prefer to have it done right and make sure it's not knackered anything else. Fully expecting it to be around that ballpark though for parts and fitting. I'll be asking for itemised pricing though, if they can be removed in 5 mins then I don't expect them to be claiming several hours to fit them back on.

 

[devnull10]

OK so just spoke to the parts department separately from the dealership service department to get an idea of costs. The replacement costs are (including VAT)

Covers: £72 each
Glass: Non-dimming (Passenger): £88
Glass: Dimming (Drivers): £325

They do a non-dimming version for the drivers side, and he said it wouldn't cause any warning lights etc so I'm considering just getting them to fit that instead. I know it's not ideal, but it's going to save me £250 off what is already going to be a big bill. So assuming an hour or so labour, I'm expecting the bill will be around £700/£800, or about £500 with the non-dimming version. That's presuming they haven't damaged anything else such as connectors, wiring, electric motor etc.
If they have then I guess I can double that at least.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Russia/Eastern Europe . where owners of locally made cars used to remove their wiper blades complete with arms whenever they parked their cars because of rampant theft and little stock.
Are we heading that way ?

 

[Trickythemerc]

Before you have a non dimming glass fitted,make sure it will not affect the dimming of the interior rear view mirror as they are linked.

 

[richard]

Please don't pay an hours labour. Buy the cover and glass from the parts dept (comes sprayed the correct colour). The top cover pushes on from the top, and the mirror glass plugs in and clips on.

Interior mirror controls external dimming, so there won't be an issue. Just need to make sure the plugs are same on dimming and non-dimming mirrors. Older cars they were different - I think newer have two connectors but I can't quite remember

Richard

 

[devnull10]

What about the indicators flashing really fast? Is that likely because the wires are unplugged?

It's already at the dealers so I'm guessing I can't refuse the work now? I haven't agreed anything, but would I be within my rights to say "don't do it and I'll buy the parts and do it myself"?