Driving around with cracked or broken wing mirror glass is not only a reason to fail your MOT but it can also make driving more difficult. For example, with broken glass, you may struggle to parallel park or move lanes on the motorway.
Therefore, it’s worthwhile replacing the wing mirror glass sooner rather than later and below is everything you need to know regarding the replacement.
Potential Complications
Unless you drive an older vehicle (mostly pre-1990’s), the likelihood is that you may need to deal with the following:
Heating Elements
To counter the negative effects that the cold weather has upon the glass, most wing mirrors have electric heating elements that help to defrost ice, snow and dew present upon the glass. Therefore, when replacing the glass, you’ll need to disconnect the heating elements from the backing plate (sounds worse than it really is to do).
Electric Adjustment
The ability to electrically adjust your car’s wing mirror was a luxury option in the 90’s but now almost all cars have this feature. Luckily, the motors are located in the housing itself and unless you have a very complex wing mirror, it shouldn’t cause an issue during the replacement of the glass.
Electrochromic Dimming
One of the most recent inclusions in wing mirror glass technology is electrochromic dimming, which alters the reflective properties of the glass. The benefit of this is that it helps to dampen any glare from the sun or drivers behind with bright headlight bulbs. Although this doesn’t effect the replacement, if you want to keep this functionality, you’ll want to ensure that the glass that you purchase has this technology. However, it’s worth pointing out that this may come at an additional cost when compared to standard glass.
How To Replace Wing Mirror Glass
1. Remove The Old Glass
The first step of replacing wing mirror glass is of course to remove the old or broken glass. Therefore, using a plastic pry bar (or worst case carefully using a flat blade screwdriver), push the glass out of the housing.
Whilst trying to pop the glass out of the housing, try not to use too much force because you don’t want to damage it. Depending upon access, you may even be able to do this with your hands, which may be the safest option.
It’s worth pointing out that as you are popping out the glass from the wing mirror housing, there is more than likely going to be wires attached to it. Therefore, don’t pull out the mirror completely until these wires are disconnected (as shown in the next step).
2. Disconnect Heating Elements
With the glass removed from the housing, you’ll then need to remove any wires that are attached to the backing plate. These wires are the heating elements (positive and negative) and you should be able to remove them easily (as shown in the images below). A top tip that we recommend at this stage is to label each connector so that you remember which connector goes on each tab because failing to put them in the right order will require you to take the glass off again.
3. Clean The Housing & Check For Damage (Optional)
With the glass successfully removed from the wing mirror, it’s a good time to give the housing a good clean. In this particular example, we sprayed a waterless car wash product into the housing and dried it with a cloth.
As well as cleaning, you’ll want to inspect the housing and double check there are no broken clips or tabs. If you spot there is a plastic component broken, you may be able to glue it in place before installing the new glass.
4. Install New Glass & Connect Heating Elements
With the new wing mirror glass to hand, connect the heating elements to the backing plate and proceed to clipping it into the housing.
As you are pushing the glass into the housing, try not to use too much force because this could break the clips/tabs on both the housing and backing plate.
Ideally, you’ll want to evenly distribute your fingers across the entire glass to pop it in place. Once you have successfully installed the glass, check that it’s attached by trying to pry it away with your hands. If there is movement in the glass, it hasn’t been installed correctly and you may want to remove it and restart the installation.
5. Adjust & Clean The Glass
Now that the wing mirror glass is securely in place, you’ll want to confirm that you are able to adjust it. Therefore, if the adjustment is electrically operated, turn the ignition on and test that the glass adjusts accordingly.
With regards to testing the heating element, you’ll have to wait for a cold morning to do this. However, from our experience, if it doesn’t work, the wires have more than likely been installed to the wrong connectors.
To complete the replacement of your new wing mirror glass, you may want to remove any fingerprints marks left behind. The best way to do this is to use a glass cleaner and microfibre cloth to buff away the product.
Installing Stick On Wing Mirror Glass
If you are taking the shortcut route by sticking your wing mirror glass on, it’s far more simpler. Rather than having to remove the glass from the housing, you can simply stick it over the top of the existing backing plate.
However, to do this, you’ll need to remove the old glass beforehand, which can be a task in itself. The best way of doing this is to use a heat gun or hairdryer to remove the adhesive behind the glass. You should then be able to pull the broken glass away from the backing plate with ease (try not to pull too hard in case you break the backing plate).
With the old glass removed, you then have the option of using the provided glass suckers or your own dedicated car adhesive. Regardless of the way you stick it to the backing plate, ensure that it is adjusted in the correct position. You can then finish the replacement by removing any fingerprint marks upon the glass using a clean car microfibre cloth.
How Much Does It Cost?
Depending upon what needs to be renewed during the replacement of wing mirror glass will determine how much it costs. For example, if you don’t need to change the backing plate, you’ll only need to purchase the glass, which will be cheaper. Other factors to consider include whether or not you purchase OEM or aftermarket wing mirror glass.
As an approximation, changing just the glass for an aftermarket alternative can cost anywhere from £10 to £20. However, if you are also replacing the backing plate, this can cost anywhere from £15 to £30.
If you are purchasing the glass or the glass and backing plate straight from the dealer, you can expect to pay at least double for an OEM part. With regards to fitting, replacing wing mirror glass is something that anyone can do without the need for any special tools. However, if you were going to pay a mechanic to do this for you, they should take approximately 15 to 30 minutes. Therefore, this can cost anywhere from £10 to £60 in labour depending upon their hourly rate.
Conclusion
Hopefully our guide to replacing wing mirror glass has walked you through the entire process and given you the confidence to try it out yourself. Whether you install OEM or aftermarket glass, as long as you have the correct size, it’s relatively easy to install yourself. However, we strongly advise that you take your time when removing any components of the wing mirror because any plastic components can easily break off during the replacement.
If you have any further questions with regards to replacing your wing mirror glass, feel free to get in touch and we will try to provide our assistance where possible.
