Broken / Fixed(?) wing mirror

[acer]

There are some very narrow roads in Slovenia and some commercial vans that like to take more of it than they should. This is was the result:

I thought that I would try to make it driveable until VW took a look, but I think that I have managed to clip it all back together again. One or two of the clips have broken inside but the result is still pretty good and a minor scuff should polish out.

My question is should I be worried about the little bit of give in the casing? I’m tempted to squeeze a little spot of glue in there. It would be good to save the £500 - £600 that VW will no doubt charge me for a complete new unit.

 

[vbk1975]

There are some very narrow roads in Slovenia and some commercial vans that like to take more of it than they should. This is was the result:
View attachment 148140
View attachment 148141I thought that I would try to make it driveable until VW took a look, but I think that I have managed to clip it all back together again. One or two of the clips have broken inside but the result is still pretty good and a minor scuff should polish out.

My question is should I be worried about the little bit of give in the casing? I’m tempted to squeeze a little spot of glue in there. It would be good to save the £500 - £600 that VW will no doubt charge me for a complete new unit.
View attachment 148142View attachment 148143

Well done!! I would avoid using glue if you can unless you think you can pull the parts apart later without damage if you use glue. The black plastic is part of the whole mirror housing moulding, so that isn’t going anywhere. If you are concerned about the painted shell coming off then maybe some heavy duty double sided tape.

 

[WelshGas]

There are some very narrow roads in Slovenia and some commercial vans that like to take more of it than they should. This is was the result:
View attachment 148140
View attachment 148141I thought that I would try to make it driveable until VW took a look, but I think that I have managed to clip it all back together again. One or two of the clips have broken inside but the result is still pretty good and a minor scuff should polish out.

My question is should I be worried about the little bit of give in the casing? I’m tempted to squeeze a little spot of glue in there. It would be good to save the £500 - £600 that VW will no doubt charge me for a complete new unit.
View attachment 148142View attachment 148143

As above, or I would probably use 1 or 2 small blobs of clear silicone sealant. It doesn't harden and should still allow removal if needed.

 

[acer]

As above, or I would probably use 1 or 2 small blobs of clear silicone sealant. It doesn't harden and should still allow removal if needed.

Yes, I like that. Waterproof and easily removable. I’ll do that when I return.
The mirror angle adjusts ok, but I’m holding off testing the ‘fold-in’ function until we get back. It would be just my luck to be able to fold in but not open back out again.

 

[Resfeber]

Yes, I like that. Waterproof and easily removable. I’ll do that when I return.
The mirror angle adjusts ok, but I’m holding off testing the ‘fold-in’ function until we get back. It would be just my luck to be able to fold in but not open back out again.

From the pictures and how the re assembled mirror looks, I think you have probably dodged the need to replace the whole unit. A number of the clips are damaged that hold the painted shell case to the base body
(See your photo ringed in red)



but as the mirror was folded back into the van by the passing vehicle, the screw fixing (circled in white my edit of your photo)


looks good.that holds the Matt base of the mirror to the internals)
You can get a painted colour matched shell (see https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25624382...7779&msclkid=57f87dfcd78d11c7e68118ceeecb5b49
)
That would correct the loose fit of your replaced original and as you had it apart and refitted the original should be just a repeat of what you did the first time.

 

[acer]

From the pictures and how the re assembled mirror looks, I think you have probably dodged the need to replace the whole unit. A number of the clips are damaged that hold the painted shell case to the base body
(See your photo ringed in red)

View attachment 148359

but as the mirror was folded back into the van by the passing vehicle, the screw fixing (circled in white my edit of your photo)
View attachment 148360

looks good.that holds the Matt base of the mirror to the internals)
You can get a painted colour matched shell (see https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25624382...7779&msclkid=57f87dfcd78d11c7e68118ceeecb5b49
)
That would correct the loose fit of your replaced original and as you had it apart and refitted the original should be just a repeat of what you did the first time.

Excellent forensic analysis. Thank you!

 

[Resfeber]

Excellent forensic analysis. Thank you!

The reason for the detail is I took my passenger side mirror case off when I took my eye off the ball reversing my old T6 into my garage and did slightly more damage to the passenger mirror and had to replace the shell and rebuild the plastic columns that the base part screw into.
After polishing out the scratches in the base and a new shell looked original.

 

[briwy]

New ones available on eBay if want to do it yourself.

 

[chris151151]

There are some very narrow roads in Slovenia and some commercial vans that like to take more of it than they should. This is was the result:
View attachment 148140
View attachment 148141I thought that I would try to make it driveable until VW took a look, but I think that I have managed to clip it all back together again. One or two of the clips have broken inside but the result is still pretty good and a minor scuff should polish out.

My question is should I be worried about the little bit of give in the casing? I’m tempted to squeeze a little spot of glue in there. It would be good to save the £500 - £600 that VW will no doubt charge me for a complete new unit.
View attachment 148142View attachment 148143

We got narrer roads here in Suffik too bor! I'm am amazed how robust the mirrors are, twice left with dangling wires, just pushed back together. It's almost as though the design has taken into account the likelihood of damage.

 

[MattStubbs]

There are some very narrow roads in Slovenia and some commercial vans that like to take more of it than they should. This is was the result:
View attachment 148140
View attachment 148141I thought that I would try to make it driveable until VW took a look, but I think that I have managed to clip it all back together again. One or two of the clips have broken inside but the result is still pretty good and a minor scuff should polish out.

My question is should I be worried about the little bit of give in the casing? I’m tempted to squeeze a little spot of glue in there. It would be good to save the £500 - £600 that VW will no doubt charge me for a complete new unit.
View attachment 148142View attachment 148143

Our outer casing, the painted shell was loose from an argument with a branch, I put a thin bead of araldite on it, sorted it!

 

[Blanco]

Yes, I like that. Waterproof and easily removable. I’ll do that when I return.
The mirror angle adjusts ok, but I’m holding off testing the ‘fold-in’ function until we get back. It would be just my luck to be able to fold in but not open back out again.

I used a pin-head size spot of superglue to fix one of my mirror covers that had come loose at exactly the same place. Figured I'd be able to break the joint if I ever need to.

If you're using silicon use neutral cure it resists the elements for far longer than acetoxy. downside is that it also sticks very well.

When the sealant around UPVC windows starts peeling away the fitters used acetoxy .. because its cheaper.