Removing the wing mirror caps

[MattBW]

My wing mirrors are finally back from the spray shop, no longer yellow but now a nice kingsfisher blue to match in with my pod and general theme. So I want to remove the original wing mirror caps without damaging them.

The information on the internet is very sparse with only a few vague text posts detailing how they broke theirs.

Has anyone done it?

Also what adhesive strips should I use to stick a streamer to the lower grill? Painting it has clearly resulted in the glue being degraded by the paint job which means its been binned by the spray guys.

Kind regards,

Matt.

 

[GrannyJen]

I removed one of my caps but that was by driving into a french historic centre street that was narrower than the van

 

[Loz]

The issue is the clips that come up from the lower trim go up through the barbs in the top half so its ofter 1 or 2 of the clips that break as you separate them.
The lower trim is quite cheap so not too bad if you have to replace the bottom bit.

 

[Rednalong]

Had a few removed for me when parked outside our house.
Mostly they just get scuffed. Our road is narrow so it happens often, I've resorted to buying a batch in standard black and replacing when required rather than bothering with colour coding etc as they soon look tatty when they get scratched up a few times.
Its frustrating they don't fold a bit closer like the older design.

Tried removing with a flat blade to unclip the fixings but not without breaking at least one or two in the process. They're so fragile it makes me think the intention is to make the originals non-replaceable.

 

[RobinW]

Hello Matt
I recently broke my N/S mirror cap and it flew right off on it's own, putting it back together was not as simple! I bought the new parts that I needed and had the cap painted and started to re-assemble it and realised that the top painted cap is the penultimate part to fit and the last part to fit is the mirror glass. If the mirror is left until last it allows the clips to be released to enable removal if required and gives better vision to enable the cover to be fitted while you can still see what goes where.
There may be a lot of other parts in the mirror casing as I found, including the radio aerial (a flexible printed circuit board) electronics for Blind Spot lights, Mirror heating and Adjustment plus there could be other things that I have forgotten.
Like many things automotive, most plastic bits are built to snap together and not come apart again so in some respects it might be easier to budget for some expenditure other than the cover, although it seems to be a simple task, it might be best to ask your local VW Dealer for some advice, or the body shop that they use as I am sure that there are some shortcuts that they have evolved.
Regards
Robin.

BTW my mirror was on a T5.1 Caravelle, not my Cali.

 

[Walrus]

I removed one of my caps but that was by driving into a french historic centre street that was narrower than the van

I once resized a caravan using that method.

 

[GrannyJen]

I once resized a caravan using that method.

This was a very tense moment. I had my Sister in the passenger side screaming "you are scraping the wall"..... me screaming back "and I'm doing the same on this side"..... when in front looming towards me was a very low balcony jutting out

I think I missed scraping the roof-rot off by less than a millimetre

 

[Walrus]

I got stuck like a cork in a bottle. Car fitted but the caravan didn't. The town rallied round and in true French fashion first made lunch for the four of us, parents and two kids, then pushed pulled and steered the caravan back to the main road. It turned into a very positive experience. The caravan was scarred for life though.

 

[SusiBus]

The VW dealer broke the mirror cap fixing lugs on our Cali when replacing the internal aerial. They fixed it back on using silicone sealant, which I didn't discover until it was taken off to respray it. It might be a bit of a botch, but it didn't fall off

 

[hirsty]

I'd say you've got two surplus originals to learn with & two new ones to then prove you were paying attention.

Bon chance! (take pics ...)

 

[AlanC]

I think, and don't quote me, that you need to pop out the mirrors first. Then the shell clips are able to be eased back from the mirror side to release it.

I was told this by a VW Heritage service tech, but have never done it myself.

Alan

 

[Loz]

I think, and don't quote me, that you need to pop out the mirrors first. Then the shell clips are able to be eased back from the mirror side to release it.

I was told this by a VW Heritage service tech, but have never done it myself.

Alan

Removing the glas gets you at 2 screws but not the clips.

 

[MattBW]

I never did get brave enough to try this, I will have a go after the Cali meet this weekend

 

[GrannyJen]

Oh mirror mirror on the Cali
Another cap to the tally
Driving into site, barrier, key pad
Got to close, crash! Damaged bad

 

[MattBW]

Oh no!

 

[MattBW]

Finally got around to doing it and so paid the garage to fit them 30 mins and got the old ones back without being broken.

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[westfalia]

Why did you paint them blue ?

 

[MattBW]

I Just like blue has blue streamer in grill thought I’d try it and see if I liked it. Can always change them back to the grey ones


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[campandfly]

Is it possible to order and easily replace 2 new wing mirror covers in Sand Beige for my 2015 Cali?