# mirrors and window pillars



## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

Tonight I took a closer look at the mirror caps and noticed that there are push tabs. Now if I could only figure out how to release them without breaking the tabs.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

I am not sure these mirrors are designed to be taken apart without breaking something. When I installed a heated mirror, I could only get to the painted mirror cover after breaking the mirror off the old assembly, and even then I broke a couple of the tabs off the cover.


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## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

There had to be a trick in order for them to swap them out for auto body paint and repair. I doubt the insurance company lets me scratvh a whole mirror if just the cover is busted.


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## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

I have an LTZ which has the painted mirror covers but i wanna take them off and hydro dip them.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

Since I didn't care about my old mirror because I was upgrading from a non-heated mirror to a heated mirror, I didn't care that I broke the old mirror. All I cared about was getting access to the inside of the mirror housing so I could get to the tabs that held the painted mirror cover on. This is so I could swap it to the new heated mirror assembly that I got (which came with an unpainted cover not installed and that I didn't use). 

I will post pictures here so you can see what the inside of the mirror assembly looks like.

Here is my old mirror I "broke" off.










Here is the other side of the mirror. I see no way to get to these tabs to remove it without breaking the mirror.










You can't get to the screws (indicated by the green arrows) that hold the mirror motor assembly to the housing because the mirror would be in the way. Removing the mirror first is the only way I can see getting access to the inside of the mirror assembly.










After I gained access to the inside, I managed to pry some of the tabs loose (indicated by green arrows), and in the process broke two other tabs off(indicated by red arrows). Note that there is a third tab to the right of the the two broken tabs that did not break (at the edge of the picture, no arrow). Btw, even with the broken tabs, the my old painted mirror cover attached tightly to the new mirror assembly with no sign of looseness.










So, the only possible way I could see you could get your mirror cover off is by somehow prying loose the three tab locations (indicated by the green arrows in the picture below), but these tabs are extremely thin and breakable. I don't see how you could pry them loose without breaking them. There is no way to access the other three tabs that are more centrally located unless going through the mirror side. IF you somehow managed to pry those three tabs loose on the edge, how would you get the other three?










Do you see anything I don't see that would allow you to get the mirror cover off without breaking anything?


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

It looks like you can get just the mirror covers from gmpartsdirect.com for less than $20 each. Good luck.


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## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

Why do these things have to be such a pain in the ass?


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

Order two unpainted mirror covers from gmpartsdirect, do what you want to them, and remove (break  ) the old covers. Not hard at all... lol


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## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

Actually they come apart with ease.

1) remove black cover inside the car door usually where tweeter would be mounted. It has a pull tab and when removing be sure to pull upward.

2) unplug the power mirror

3) remove the three 10mm bolts. This will free the mirror from the car and make it a lot easier to work on. 

4) slight apply pressure to the corner of the mirror and pull towards you. The mirror is held in place with pop tabs and if enough press is applied evenly the mirror itself will pop right out. 

5) remove the three torq screws that hild the morror in place.

6) you should now be able to see the tabs and with a long, small, flat head screw driver you can gently press on the tabs and remove the cover without breaking it.




































So the mirror covers can be removed it just takes a little work and a light touch. Also once the mirrors are removed you can access the trim that goes along the bottom of the window.


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## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

I was going to vinyl wrap them carbon fiber but the back side curve has proved to be impossible to wrap and not have any wrinkles. So i just popped them back on and put the car back together. I kinda feel like i wasted 5 hours of my day but at least we now know you can remove the mirror covers without breaking them.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

Well done!

You were obviously more patient than I was when removing the covers.


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## neginfluence04 (May 14, 2015)

They came off no biggie just had to use a little flay head to help pry the tabs apart.


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## Scotch&Dry (Feb 27, 2017)

This thread came in real handy today. I went from this;










To this;


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Scotch&Dry said:


> This thread came in real handy today. I went from this;
> 
> View attachment 294347
> 
> ...


Longtime No See!

The mirrors look good. What did you use to refurbish them?


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## Scotch&Dry (Feb 27, 2017)

Blasirl said:


> Longtime No See!
> 
> The mirrors look good. What did you use to refurbish them?


Hi @Blasirl, I didn't refurb them. I actually pulled it off a 2013 model at my local junk yard and swapped it over but had to put my blue 'casing' on the new mirror because originally it was from a silver 2013 Cruze. The black plastic on that newer model mirror is completely different looking and feeling. I am guessing its the same type used for all the US Cruzes but my original mirror on the 2010 seems to have a porous type plastic on it. Hence the discolouration.


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