DIY: Broken Mirror Switch knob fix

[JustCruisn]

So I snapped off the knob for controlling the mirrors !!
After looking around I came across a very odd listing on Ebay for VW Golf mirror control switch - mirror remote control button.
WTF some plastic tube thingy that goes inside the switch.
Well I bought it cause it was only 1 quid and 3.5 quid postage.
Ebay seller NonStopAuto




This is the little thing.



Get the mirror switch out of the door.
You need to take off the door card, a simple thing for any VW tinkerer.
The pop the switch out by releasing the tabs and push.
This vid covers it How to remove a Volkswagen Mirror Switch, Simple 10 minute job - YouTube



Remove the broken piece from the knob.

It looks like the clear plastic inside the knob is all 1 piece. I actually started to drill a hole in there. I tried to snap off more of the plastic rod so drilling would be easier. I gripped with pliers and it came out. Sweet.
So you need to take the broken knob and hold it in a vice, get some pliers and grab the little bit of plastic sticking out. Grip well and pull like all hell.
Here you have the broken bits and the new bit.


Now pull apart the switch !
Simply release the tabs and seperate the 2 halves, not much force required, pretty simple stuff.
So one side has the electrics in it, there is a blue touch pad inside the hole.

The other side houses the mechanical bits


The piece sticking up is the plastic rod that has snapped. It has a spring loaded nib on the end which presses on the touch pad in the electrics side.
We want to replace that plastic rod.
So pull out the broken one, swap over the spring and nib, then pop in the new one. Put the switch back together.


Almost done.
Take note of the position of the switch, left / right / centre, line up the knob and push it on. It will make bit of a click once it is seated correctly.
Go put it back in the car and adjust your mirrors like a pro.

[Stan]

awesome tutorial thanks!

[Brisbane's Bora]

I would totally do this but when mine broke recently I was doing about 100km/h with the window open. That knob is never to be seen again.

[echineon]

first post double post

[echineon]

Thread necro but you can buy a whole knob from HK for $6 ish if you lost the knob. Just make sure you got a right handed one. Cheers.

[mikk]

Thread necro but you can buy a whole knob from HK for $6 ish if you lost the knob. Just make sure you got a right handed one. Cheers.

I've bought a few HK ones and the illumination is bad thanks to the type of led they use. I ended up unsoldering the leds off the original switch and putting on the HK one. Still not quite as good as genuine but close enough. Genuine ones usually have slightly better printing too. A bit pedantic but one of the HK ones I got was so much darker than all the other lighting I could barely see it.

[RubAVeeDubDub]

Or just head to your local wreckers and pick one off either a MKIV VW or a Audi Passat of the same vintage

[amk]

I've bought a few HK ones and the illumination is bad thanks to the type of led they use. I ended up unsoldering the leds off the original switch and putting on the HK one. Still not quite as good as genuine but close enough. Genuine ones usually have slightly better printing too. A bit pedantic but one of the HK ones I got was so much darker than all the other lighting I could barely see it.

Can you tell me if the LH drive and RH drive mirror adjustment switches are interchangeable?

[Umai Naa!!]

The markings for left and right are upside down.

RHD switches aren't hard to find on Ebay. Last one I bought was about $15.

[mikk]

The markings for left and right are upside down.

RHD switches aren't hard to find on Ebay. Last one I bought was about $15.

Yeah, easy to find. My last one cost me about $3.30 and the illumination was better than the switch I bought years prior to that which had prompted me to swap in the original LEDs. I used the latest switch without changing LEDs and it was fine, with lighting only very slightly different from the original but almost impossible to tell unless you're specifically trying to find the difference.

The heated mirror switch with L "heated mirror" R will work in the place of an L 0 R switch and they're usually cheaper.

i've also used a 4 position folding mirror switch in place of an L 0 R switch and it also worked. I have heard that the UK folding mirror switch and the Japanese folding mirror switch look the same but that there may be different variants at some point in time. Not sure of the details of this and I have not tested. I do also know that there are different ways the folding mirrors are wired up.

Also I bought one switch and the seller accidentally sent me a LHD one instead of a RHD one. They part refunded but now I have a LHD switch I don't need that cost me next to nothing.