[W126 Coupe] Rear view mirror upgrade - link to pics

[Jonathan Hodgman]

Talbir,
As always a first class write up!  Just as a bit of info, these
mirrors do fail rather regularly..  I receive a healthy number of
calls/emails a year from people who's auto dimming mirrors died..:-/

Hopefully yours was built on a Tuesday!
Jonathan



On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 14:13:52 +0000, Sharan Bains
<sharanbains@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hope everyone has had a great Christmas.
> 
> I just did this on my W124 500E over the Christmas break - since W124, W126
> and W201 mirrors are all identical, the process would be exactly the same
> for the SEC's. Indeed I am going to be doing this on my 560 and 500SEC's
> shortly - the process will be exactly the same.
> 
> I updated the rear view mirror to one from a late 1998 W140 mirror - this
> mirror is AUTO-DIM, and has red and green LED's for the alarm system.
> Moreover, the late W140/r129 mirrors just look so much better, rounded and
> updated - and as can be seen from the pics, the mirror really does update
> the interior. Best thing is, late w140/r129 mirrors are color-coded to the
> interior. This one I have fitted is black, as it matches my black 500e
> interior. I have a grey w140 mirror for my 560 which is grey interior and
> beige one for my 300Se beige interior. The original w124/w126/w201 mirrors
> are very dated, flat and all black.
> 
> However, this auto dim mirror, brand new from MB, costs approx $500. The
> standard W140 mirror (with LED's but no auto dim, costs approx $200). So it
> ain't cheap - I was lucky to get one new from my breaker at
> half-price....there are electrically adjustable ones too, but we'll save
> that for another day....
> 
> Here is a link to the pics - there are other pics from upgrades on my 500E,
> namely
> 
> - fitment of electric steering column
> - refurbishment of AMG 2-piece alloys
> - lowering of rear suspension
> - late 1998 W140 walnut/leather steering wheel fitment
> - late W220 walnut/leather gearshift fitment
> 
> http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=hakkinen&album_id=191832
> 
> The W140 mirror spring, which hooks up to the mounting plate on the roof is
> identical to the spring on the W14/w126 - so the mirror can infact be hooked
> straight up and all you need do then is wire up the loom for the auto-dim
> sensor and alarm LED's sensors. BUT, and this is the sticking point, the
> W140 mirror stalk base is very different to the stalk base on the W124/126 -
> as a result, you have gaps showing, and it ends up looking tacky. The other
> major difference is that thw w124/w126 stalk attached to mirror from the
> back, whereas the w140 stalk attaches to mirror from back but comes into it
> vertically.
> 
> So a little work is requried to make it look original :
> 
> - open up w140 mirror and remove circulating ball, which is held onto stalk
> with T15 torx bit
> 
> - open up W124/w126 mirror and remove stalk, which is held onto circulating
> ball by Phillips screw
> 
> - attached w124/w126 stalk to w140 ball - they fit onto each other
> perfectly. The w124/w126 stalk has a sqaure piece of metal which fits into
> ball and then screw holds it in place. The w140 ball has a recess for this
> square piece, and it's exactly the same size as on the W124 stalk. So the
> w140 ball bolts straight up to the W124 stalk.
> 
> - attach w124/w126 stalk with w140 ball to w140 mirror, reassemble mirror
> and casing. Rear casing has a cut-out at top for stalk - this may need to be
> filed to make it slightly bigger to allow more adjustment room with the
> w124/w126 stalk (which is angled more). The casing is plastic and is easily
> filed down and if done properly with correct tools, looks very original
> 
> - now a 3mm hole needs to be drilled into the w124/w126 stalk, at an angle,
> to allow the loom to be run from mirror, up stalk, and then under headliner
> down to the alarm control unit and power distribution unit, to power the
> auto-dim facility
> 
> - wiring is simple. two wires for auto-dim, brown wire to ground and
> grey/blue wire to night-time illumination wire (which is also grey/blue on
> w124/w126 wiring), so auto-dim facility is only activated when you turn on
> the lights.
> 
> - alarm led's - this depends on alarm system in car, but I wired up the red
> LED so that it flashes when alarm is armed, and green LED flashes with
> indicators when alarm is being armed via remote. A relay was used to ensure
> green LED only flashes when indicators light up with alarm arming/disarming
> - green LED's will not light up once key is in ignition. The red LED was
> made flashing through use of a flasher diode and flashes only when
> alarm/immobiliser are armed.
> 
> And that's it. Once wiring was complete and stalk transfer complete, simply
> push in the mirror onto the existing roof mount. Running the loom up to the
> mirror is a bit tedious, but straightforward.
> 
> The auto-dim is brilliant - mirror glass turns dark within seconds of light
> shining onto it brightly. The mirror has a rotating knob on the bottom, as
> all w140/r129 mirrors have, but on this mirror that knob is not functional,
> since it is auto-dim. On the standard mirrors, that knob has the function of
> dipping the mirror to make it dimmer.
> 
> More mods to come soon....
> 
> talbir
> 
> The MB Coupes Website!
> W126 SEC Mailing List
> Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.
> 


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