Thanks in advance.
Don’t believe so, you would need to replace the entire unit…
Thank you. Seems odd as I’ve never known that but confirms what I thought. I think it’s a few rungs above my skill level so will have to give it some thought!
I wanted to change mine on my 2010 NC from red to gloss black but didn’t want to pay for new ones, think they were about £150 each at the time…???
I’d already sprayed a few bits gloss black myself so found a few YouTube vids on how to get the wing mirrors off and sprayed them myself. Granted they don’t have the smoothest finish and are not as glossy as new ones, but for the cost of some primer, paint and lacquer, probably £40 all in, they’ll do for me…
If you went down the route of buying new units I’d reckon it’s only 30 mins each side…
Just a case of getting the door card off, undoing some bolts, disconnecting the power to the mirror, then a few more bolts to remove it from the car. Bit more of a fiddle getting the cable back through the door but easily a DIY job….
Thank you! I think they are a bit more than that now but half hoping mx5 parts have a good saving at the national again like last year. I’m still not sure what you describe is an easy diy job for my level but once I have them may be tempted to have a go! Still seems weird you can’t just buy the caps to me!
Some car mirrors you can replace the covers, they clip on. The MX-5 mirrors are one whole moulding. I’ve never tried it but it looks difficult to actually get inside one to strip it down. For ease of replacement for the motor industry they just supply the whole unit.
You can probably get SH units in colour from a breaker, they might end up needing paint anyway. If yours aren’t cracked or chunks missing out, just paint scuffed, I’d do a DIY paint job on them.
For guidance the brilliant black A3F available at mx5parts, use a lacquer to finish.
If you do attempt the job and buy a replacement mirror, remember NC1 are slightly different to NC2 mirrors, also the removal of the door card is slightly different between the models, from memory I think the arm rest/door grab handle screw access is different.
Another tip is before you pull the mirror wires out of the door, tie a length of cord to the end of the wire, pull the wires out and leave the cord in the door so you can tie it to the replacement mirror wires and pull them back through inside the door.
Thanks all for the advice so far. These are the mirrors. Passenger and then driver side. It seems as though I have a realistic choice of leaving them as is or paying out £300 plus and then realistically finding somebody kind to help me do them (as I’m still doubtful of my ability). If it were you would you pay out or leave them? Cheers.
There might be a middle ground - get a paint shop to paint them in situ. Would probably cost a lot less than £300, but you’d have perfect mirrors at the end.
In your place I would approach a car body shop and ask their advice. From the photo, I’m not sure if anything can be done with the passenger side one. Could always see if you can track down a “preloved” one and get them sprayed as Philip suggests.
