My wing mirror was a bit loose when I got my Range so I took it apart to find out what was wrong. Hopefully the following guide will help others with the same problem.

Firstly remove the wing mirror unit from the car. There is a good video here which shows how to remove the door card to get at the housing courtesy of PowerfulUK.

To keep things simple, I'm going to use the very technical terms "arm" and "housing" to describe the 2 parts of the mirror unit.

Slacken off the wiring from where it loops round in the arm where it joins the door, behind the foam cover.

Remove the plastic cover under the joint of the arm and housing.

Undo the 4 screws shown (actually just the holes are shown as I've already separated the 2 parts.


Undo the 2 screws holding the housing trim and slide it away from the housing. Don't be tempted to undo the other 4 screws holding the motor unit for reasons which will become apparent later.


Remove the main housing trim and detach the puddle light wiring. This will give you nice easy access to everything without the risk of damage.

Undo the 3 screws on the top of the motor housing. The motor unit may fall out of the bottom so be careful.

The 2 yellow arrows show the slots that actuate the microswitch in the housing that tells the motor when the mirror is are folded. Whilst you've got everything apart give the microswitch a good squirt of switch cleaner or WD40 and make sure it is operating freely. Now carefully undo the 4 screws shown and withdraw the motor housing. Don't lose the pins or gears that may have broken off be rattling around inside the housing.




This blue arrow shows the gear that engages with the ring and turns the housing relative to the arm. Chances are the hole that holds it (red arrow) will be worn, allowing the gear to move around a bit. It is this movement that makes the mirror loose. Don't worry about the worm gear moving about (yellow arrow) as this is held in place by the motor housing when it's all put back together.



You can see here where the gear has been moving around so much it has worn away some of the motor (yellow arrow). The pins shown by the red arrows had broken off on mine allowing the whole unit to twist independent of the gear ring making it even looser. In some circumstances I can see that this could move the gear right away from the ring so the motor would work but not make the mirror fold.


I glued the pins back in using Plastic Padding Steel Glue (a bit like araldite really but cunningly coloured grey so that you think you are making metal ) Also fill the hole that the gear fits into with the epoxy glue.

Once this has set get a very small drill bit and drill out a hole for the gear. You want it as small as possible so that it's a nice, snug fit. I then applied a couple of drops of glue to the base of the housing as I didn't trust the pins to hold under the stress that the motor could generate. I clamped this up overnight.

Once it's all set, put it back together. Note that nearly everything is offset or sized so that it can only go in one way. The exception to this is the outer casing which can accidentally be installed 180 degrees out. The inner casing has 3 slots cut in the top and the largest of these should line up roughly with the microswitch triggers shown in one of the photos above. If you've got it all the right way round the pin circled below will be near the mirror, rather than the arm.



I'm not sure how long it will last before it starts wearing again but it's cheaper than �450 for a new mirror.

Admin note: original pictures are not available

super Andrew thanks will use this as a guide. Present :2008 TDV8 HSE
Gone Audi A5 2.7TDI
Gone Discovery 3 HSE
Gone Mercedes CLK
Gone Range Rover 2.5 DSE

Excellent guide Andrew, got this one coming up on my nearside following a whack by a branch !! .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

I had similar problems, that the mirrors would move under heavy braking, or acceleration. I just needed to tighten up the 4 screws from the first pic (even though there not there). If yours are tight then it must be deeper in the internals and andrews guide will be priceless!

Excellent step by step guide to mirror overhaul!,

now all owners have no excuse for the loose mirror syndrome, Driver side is on the to do list from now on!!

great effort

thanks Rob Current vehicles
4.2 SC FFRR RSE 2010- facelift
Range Rover Evogue Dynamic Lux

Gone
Rejected RRS my14.5 nightmare
Disco B4 XXV convert
Freelander 06 SE
06 RFFRR 4.2 SC Vogue RSE
Audi A8 4.2Tdi Quattro (hated with a vengence!!)
54 FFRR 2005 model V8 4.4 Cobra Variant
53 Mitsubishi Shogun V6

I'm glad it's useful.

Perhaps someone with Wiki privileges could add a link to this thread on the wing mirrors problems bit.

I have looked and looked but I cannot tell how to remove the plastic cover. it looks like to me the bottom piece is in two halfs and not just a cover peice. Do i detach the hole section that is closes to the face of the glass? i would hate to break such an over priced item.

Which plastic cover? Do you mean the one under the hinge section or the plastic glass surround?

I am referring to the one under the hinge, it connected to the arm that goes back to the window. It appears the side mirrors where modified from 2004 to 2005, they have different part numbers. See thread on other form. I am not sure how to post pictures here. http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=28029

the cover has 2 legs. one is quite long an the other short. Use a small screwdriver and lever it off. Be firm but don't go mental. There is a small slot to get the screwdriver in.
I took mine off a few weeks back. there are a few pics here:http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/post68855.html#68855 might be of some help to you.

Thanks for your help, i will try it this weekend.

Top effort for the guide Andrew! Used it today with great effect! Stan can we get this into the wiki?  [img]http://www.fuelly.com/driver/rob2529/range-rover[img/]
04, 4.4V8, Vogue Oslo Blue with LPG.
"You can sleep in your car, BUT you can't race your house!!!!"

If something can't be fixed with a hammer....... You have yourself an electrical fault!

wiki'ed...  ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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Just ripped mine apart, the pins that are supposed to hold the mirror in place are missing..

ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Guess I'll pop out tomorrow and buy the nastiest glue I can find and hope for the best..

Hello there! anyway to get the photos back? I need to do this as my mirrors are super loose on my 2007 l322 supercharged.

Greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Unnecessary quote removed