Replacing Mirror In Toyota Avensis T22 2001?

[Nimenomaan]

Does anyone know (Konrad, I know you know, lol) how to remove the mirror so that I can replace it with a Rydeen mirror with a built in screen?

I've heard some horror stories of the windscreen breaking when attempting to remove the mirror/plastic part that's glued to the windscreen, so I'm a little hesitant to do this, at least without knowing exactly how to do it.

The top image shows the mirror I'm purchasing, the bottom two are taken of the mirror currently in the car.

Thanks in advance :)

[Konrad C]

Kenneth, I just checked before I go out.

Push the mirror upwards, rocking it slightly. It should slide up.

I am not sure about the base stuck to the windscreen. May be the use of a sharp blade to cut the base from the screen.

The other way is to use an adapter to fix your Rydeen mirror to the glued base. A bit of plastic work may be needed if you need to may your own.

Konrad

[Nimenomaan]

There we go, thanks again Konrad! I tried removing it by doing what you suggested, but it appears pretty firmly stuck, I'm not sure how much pressure I dare put in the upwards motion in fear of breaking the windscreen/base/original mirror. There's a Toyota repairshop near me, I guess I can drop by them and hopefully they can assist in removing it, as a last resort :).

I was hoping I wouldn't have to remove the baseplate at all, Rydeen claim it's supposed to fit most cars on the market, and it appears that it should fit the mount of my mirror, it's also not delivered with a baseplate.

If it's not a big hassle for you, could you take a picture of the mounting bracket attached to your mirror?

The pic I chose of the mirror mounting bracket isn't the best, but it appears to have groves "in the right places" (better pic below).

[Konrad C]

Right Kenneth.

I went out again and took some photos. You need to pull the mirror up hard holding close to base, jiggling whilst pulling.

The pictures taken with an old camera should show you how it's done.

May I also suggest to try a soap liquid or silicon spray to ease removal.

Konrad

[Konrad C]

Right Kenneth.

I went out again and took some photos. You need to pull the mirror up hard holding close to base, jiggling whilst pulling.

[Konrad C]

I had some issues posting the pictures, so please let me know if they cannot be opened.

Konrad

[Nimenomaan]

Thanks again, Konrad!

Unfortunately that plastic base definitely won't work with the Rydeen mirror. Do you know what kind of adapter I can use (you mentioned something about it in the second post of the thread)? If I could find a cheap toyota mirror for sale (perhaps broken mirror) that has the same mounting system I could perhaps remove it from that mirror and attach it to the Rydeen mirror.

Not all of the images showed up, but I believe it's the forum behaving strangely (the pics in my posts disappeared too), but I think I know what to do now :).

[Konrad C]

Hi Kenneth.

My idea about making your own adapter requires fabrication. You will need plastic of the correct thickness and cutting and shaping tools like dremil.

The other way is to obtain an old Toyota mirror as you mentioned, cut neatly leaving the base and a bit of material. Then shape the excess material to fit your new mirror.

Sometimes you have to be resourceful and fabricate parts, or if you search find parts. I did this when changing my Speakers from the rubbish Toyota offerings to my great sounding 6.5" JBLs 2 way Speakers. I made my own adapter/spacer/baffles, out of mdf. I also made a clip to fix a vacuum switch problem.

There are a couple of times when off the shelf solutions are not available. You make your own.

Konrad

[Nimenomaan]

Going the old mirror route will cost around 19-20 pounds extra (ordering the mirror through eBay), but it might be the best/easiest solution considering I don't really have access to any tools to cut intricate shapes in plastic with.

The third (probably the best-looking solution) is removing the old base and attaching a new one, but I'm not sure if this would cost too much to have someone do for me (professionals), I'll certainly call around to the local repair shops, see what prices they give me.

Edit: Just received a reply to an email I sent the Rydeen guys, they do ship the mirror with what they call a d-tab (the base), so I guess I might just glue this tab to the windscreen below/above (not sure where it'll fit the best) the original tab, but it won't look as nice.

[Konrad C]

Going the old mirror route will cost around 19-20 pounds extra (ordering the mirror through eBay), but it might be the best/easiest solution considering I don't really have access to any tools to cut intricate shapes in plastic with.

The third (probably the best-looking solution) is removing the old base and attaching a new one, but I'm not sure if this would cost too much to have someone do for me (professionals), I'll certainly call around to the local repair shops, see what prices they give me.

Edit: Just received a reply to an email I sent the Rydeen guys, they do ship the mirror with what they call a d-tab (the base), so I guess I might just glue this tab to the windscreen below/above (not sure where it'll fit the best) the original tab, but it won't look as nice.

Kenneth,

I assumed you did not get the D tab base in the kit. Just the mirror alone.

When you get this tab, check there is room to slide the mirror in place. Don't stick it without testing!

I still think the old base be removed so the new mirror is in the ideal place.

Konrad

[Nimenomaan]

Going the old mirror route will cost around 19-20 pounds extra (ordering the mirror through eBay), but it might be the best/easiest solution considering I don't really have access to any tools to cut intricate shapes in plastic with.

The third (probably the best-looking solution) is removing the old base and attaching a new one, but I'm not sure if this would cost too much to have someone do for me (professionals), I'll certainly call around to the local repair shops, see what prices they give me.

Edit: Just received a reply to an email I sent the Rydeen guys, they do ship the mirror with what they call a d-tab (the base), so I guess I might just glue this tab to the windscreen below/above (not sure where it'll fit the best) the original tab, but it won't look as nice.

Kenneth,

I assumed you did not get the D tab base in the kit. Just the mirror alone.

When you get this tab, check there is room to slide the mirror in place. Don't stick it without testing!

I still think the old base be removed so the new mirror is in the ideal place.

Konrad

Yeah, now that I know it's included it makes it quite a bit easier.

I'll of course make sure that the mirror has enough room to slide in before installing the tab, but thanks for the reminder anyway :).

Removing the old base is probably ideal, but if there's any risk at all of the windscreen breaking I won't risk it (if that's what the pro's say). Do you know if the tab has to be installed in the dotted area of the windscreen?

[Nimenomaan]

Going the old mirror route will cost around 19-20 pounds extra (ordering the mirror through eBay), but it might be the best/easiest solution considering I don't really have access to any tools to cut intricate shapes in plastic with.

The third (probably the best-looking solution) is removing the old base and attaching a new one, but I'm not sure if this would cost too much to have someone do for me (professionals), I'll certainly call around to the local repair shops, see what prices they give me.

Edit: Just received a reply to an email I sent the Rydeen guys, they do ship the mirror with what they call a d-tab (the base), so I guess I might just glue this tab to the windscreen below/above (not sure where it'll fit the best) the original tab, but it won't look as nice.

Kenneth,

I assumed you did not get the D tab base in the kit. Just the mirror alone.

When you get this tab, check there is room to slide the mirror in place. Don't stick it without testing!

I still think the old base be removed so the new mirror is in the ideal place.

Konrad

Yeah, now that I know it's included it makes it quite a bit easier.

I'll of course make sure that the mirror has enough room to slide in before installing the tab, but thanks for the reminder anyway :).

Removing the old base is probably ideal, but if there's any risk at all of the windscreen breaking I won't risk it (if that's what the pro's say). Do you know if the tab has to be installed in the dotted area of the windscreen?

I finally got around to installing this, lol!

I went by a carglass repair shop where I know the son of someone working there, and I had him take a look at the OEM mirror, he told me there was a risk of the glass cracking if he was going to remove the old "d-tab", but when he started banging lightly on the back of the mirror (towards the roof, to remove it) the entire thing came off! D-tab included! Apparently the guys that replaced the windscreen last August had glued the mirror to the D-tab.. And they had done a poor job at gluing the D-tab to the windscreen, lucky for me though.

So he attached the D-tab supplied with the mirror and I drove home (without a rear view mirror.. never again). There was ONE thing I had not thought of, and that is the width of the mirror, it's a centimeter too wide, so the sun visor can't be fully opened without removing the clip and pulling it down and towards the windscreen, I think I can live with it though.

[Konrad C]

Great result Kenneth.

Just because someone had done a 'bodge job' on the mirror fixing, my original advice did not work.

At least you got local help who found the real problem and got you sorted.

Konrad

[Nimenomaan]

Yup, I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't move hah, I only tried pushing it though.

Unfortunately there's quite a bit of glare in the mirror/screen when using it during the day, at night it's great!

Driver-side A-pillar, appears that some/most of the tape/straps holding the side curtain airbag have separated, any idea if this has to be sorted out ASAP?

[Konrad C]

I would leave alone, unless you can find a specialist. The straps are only to keep the air-bag in place, and are designed the separate easily when the bag is deployed. If the straps are fixed wrong, the air-bag may not deploy properly in the event of an accident.

Actually my car does not have curtain air-bags, only the side air-bags in the seats.

Your mirror is large! From what you say, the mirror does not have the same type of coating as the original mirror. That and the extra size of your new mirror may be contributing to the glare.

Konrad

[Nimenomaan]

Ya, it's pretty wide!

I should have clarified though, glare might not be the right word. When the screen is on, there's glare from the rear window, the mirror would have to be very dark/unreflective to avoid this, I believe. It's slightly darker than the OEM one, but I haven't had any problems with it.