Driver's Side Rear View Mirror Repair Topic is solved

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 18 Jul 2017, 21:17

Some bum cracked the rear view mirror on our 1996 850.
The mirror and the plastic backing for it are gone, my son took it off
and I think threw it out.
We need a replacement mirror with the plastic backing.

I see some that say stick on at ebay, are these any good?

Or I can buy the entire mirror on ebay pretty cheap.

Any tips?

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 19 Jul 2017, 09:30

This how to looks pretty good, if you swivel the mirror it makes it easier to get
at the plastic clips and screws if you need to remove them:

Post by **scot850** » 19 Jul 2017, 11:53

Hi Pete, I am easily confused, but are you talking about just the heated mirror portion needing to be replaced or the whole mirror assembly as shown in the video above?

If you are talking about the heated mirror glass only, then i (several years ago) had to replace one on a 93 850 GLT we had. I thought the motor was bad but found some of the clips were broken and someone (a PO) had used double sided tape to hold it on place and that had come loose. So although the mirror and heating element were fine the clips were broken off. I recall buying an aftermarket glass with heating element, but what I liked better then the standard Volvo glass was the aftermarket one had a fish eye outer portion to help catch the blind spot the OE part has. Fitted with no issues and worked fine for 3-4 years until we sold the car. Can't recall the brand or where I bought it from, but I had no issues with it.

Volvo do (or did) make an option mirror for the later V/S 70's (not sure if they are the same as the 850 mirror shape/fitment) that had the fish eye on it. I actually have one sitting in a box in the garage as a spare along with an aftermarket motor for that 'just in case' moment. The mirror was actually brought in from Europe buy a Volvo owner locally so not sure if it was available in North America.

Neil.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 19 Jul 2017, 22:24

The glass and the plastic backing (is that the heater?) are gone,
I noticed just the glass for sale on ebay but I'll look harder for the whole
part, I think that's all we need. Thanks for the tips.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 20 Jul 2017, 14:59

The plastic backing is what holds the glass to the motor. If it's gone, make sure you do get a new backing with the replacement mirror as most will only sell the glass itself or come with a very flimsy retainer. The heater element comes glued onto the back of the glass, just don't be surprised if you find the sockets don't match perfectly or are smaller than the original, that's however easily sorted with a pair of new crimp-on connectors or a bit of soldering.

/Teddy

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 20 Jul 2017, 16:09

Thanks, looking again on ebay I found glass plus plastic, used Volvo I think it will snap right in.