Rear View Mirror Fell Off

[uscharalph]

My rear view mirror fell off today. The PO had had it fixed in August of 2003. The repair almost lasted 2 years. Anyway the button came off with the mirror itself. I can't seem to get it apart. It seems it would be much easier to glue just the button to the windshield and then reattach the mirror to the button. Any tips? Otherwise I'll try to do it the hard way and glue the whole assembly up. If I do it that way I'll probably have to hold the whole thing in position for 5-10 minutes right?

[uscharalph]

I know! Some of you'll try and talk me into upgrading the mirror at this time, but I've got a few project in the works right now and really just want to get the mirror functional. That upgrade will just take away time and money from my other projects.

[winfred]

you can get the glue kit at a autozone type place and it's a easy process, the kit comes with everything you need except a razor blade to scrape the spot on the glass, the button comes off the mirror with a twist in ether direction

[uscharalph]

I actually had a rear view mirror glue kit left over from my last car (1986 Nissan 200SX) which I sold. I thought I had put that rear view mirror button on upside down, but I didn't.

I used a razor blade and rubbing alcohol to clean up the old adhesive. I used needle nose pliers in 2 of the 4 little cutouts on the button to be able to turn it and remove it from the mirror. That rubber cover for the button makes this instal on the windshield look pretty clean. It's now drying / curing out back at the office before I put the mirror back on after work.

[uscharalph]

Man I love those BMW engineer's work. That rear view mirror mechanism is simple and solid. The adhesive had about 5 hours with just the button on the windshield, so I put the mirror back on. Put the arm over the button at an angle and turn. It's like so many of the things on these cars, once you know how it works, its easy. I'll probably think about an upgrade sometime down the road (No pun intended).