Door Mirror, Sourcing and Replacing
Door Mirrors
The Elise S1, S2, Exige and the new Europa all share the same door mirror and plastic shroud (Parts 1, 3 & 4 in the diagram below). The same parts are used on the MGF/MGTF and all the Vauxhall VX 220 variants.
(The new Europa door mount is different from the Elise. The 340R mirror and mount is completely different).
The door mirror and shroud were originally standard fitment on the Rover 100's and some late Mini Metro, so 2nd hand/new ones are plentiful and cheap.
(Early Mini Metro mirrors are not the same. It is very easy to see the difference if you compare them side by side. Just be wary if buying without seeing)
No Lotus Elise variant ever had electric mirrors, manual adjusters or heated mirrors but some Rovers and MGs did.
The door mount and rubber collar (parts 2 & 5 in the diagram below) is Lotus specific
Parts 1, 3 and 4 are not "handed" so any mirror sourced will fit any side of the car. Part 2 is handed.
Exploded view of door mirror, painted shroud and door mount
Sourcing
A breakers yard is a good cheap source from the Metro/MG models.
Search Ebay for Rover/Metro door mirror will always throw up 2nd hand and new after market pattern parts.
Don't discount a manually adjusted mirror. The adjuster can be removed. See Replacing a Mirror.
Any decent motor factor will also be able to supply a new pattern part cheaper than Lotus
The actual glass itself is about £25 each from Lotus but can be bought MUCH cheaper on Ebay (~£5).
A 2nd hand or pattern part is likely to be unpainted (black) or in the wrong colour (Metro Beige on you Exige anyone !!!). Compared with the price of the part, having the shroud painted will be relitively expensive given its size. If you can salvage the coloured shroud from your old damaged mirror you can save some money here. See Replacing a Mirror for instructions on swapping the parts.
Typical Rover Pattern Part (shows metal manual adjuster and 2 long plastic dowels)
Replacing a Mirror
The door mirror and its painted shroud (mirror assy) are located onto the door mount by two plastic dowels. The lower dowel is screwed to the mount with a single cross head (phillips) self tapping screw. The screw is located behind a black sticker on the rear of the mount. Breakage of these dowels appear to be a common fault if the mirror assy is struck by force (ie parking dings and vandalism)
“Door mount showing broken bottom dowel from mirror still screwed in place”
Accessing the screw to remove the mirror assy requires a cranked screwdriver due to the awkward location. Here I used a screwdriver bit in its holder and a thin allen key as a lever.
Note that this screw may be a Torx type. Use a T20 driver to remove (it was on a 2003 111s) - (T15 Torx key worked on 2005 111R)
“Door mirror mounting screw”
The mirror assy has 2 plastic locating dowels that fit into 2 holes in the door mount. If you are replacing a broken mirror assy with a 2nd hand (Rover/MG) mirror then the plastic dowels will need to be shortened to fit the Lotus door mount. A 2 minute job with a junior hacksaw. Just make sure you don’t cut them too short !!!!
If your 2nd hand door mirror assy was from a car with a manual adjuster attached, simply hacksaw off the manual adjuster at the point indicated on the picture below. The metal is aluminium and will cut easily at the point shown below
“Where to cut off any manual adjuster if fitted to replacement part”
Replacing the Painted Shroud
If you were lucky enough to save the painted plastic shroud from your old broken mirror assy then you can swap this onto a 2nd hand or new pattern part and thus save the cost of having the new part re-sprayed.
“Dis-assembled Mirror Assy showing Mirror Frame with Glass, Shroud and Clip Locations”
"Clip Position on Mirror Frame (and how easy they are to break !!)
The mirror glass is and its frame are just clipped to the painted shroud.
You can lever the mirror/frame off the shroud. Use a thin metal/plastic blade to prise the mirror frame from the shroud. You may mark the plastic inserting the blade, so start working from the underside of the mirror assy, nearest to the door. The clips are on the shroud part. The mirror frame has slots that the clips fit into.
Once you get a few clips off the parts should separate easily
The plastic around the slots is fragile. Expect to break a few bits of plastic around the slots
Easy to do, but take your time to avoid damaging the clips as little as possible. If you break too many you can still glue the shroud to the mirror frame
The top and bottom clips nearest the door on an MG TF mirror shroud part may need filing down as they're thicker than the OEM ones and will prevent the glass frame from locating properly.
Multivex Mirrors
An enhancement of the mirror is replacement of the flat glass with a wide viewing angle mirror from MultiVex. These are available in pairs and are intended to be stuck over your existing mirrors using double sided sticky pads.
Multivex mirrors are increasingly convex towards the outside and give a much wider field of view than standard fitment. They are particularly popular with track day enthusiasts as they eliminate the notorious blind spot. Also useful on motorways (and when travelling abroad) to avoid having to lean forward to check the mirror view fully.
MultiVex have a website at Multivex.co.uk explaining more. Now stocked by the Bell and Colvill shop, Elise Parts and Hangar 111. Check the benefits pages for the latest discounts.
If they are fitting with the supplied pads they protrude past the mirror frame and look a bit ungainly
As an alternatively the original glass can be removed and the Multivex fitted in its place with a bit of DIY enthusiasm.
Remove the original mirror from the frame by easing it out of its clips
The Multivex mirror can be fitted into the frame, but note that it is a slightly smaller size
I bonded it into place from the rear using black silicon sealant (Sikaflex could be used but would be harder to remove!!)
Once it was cured on the inside, run a bead around the front (use masking tape), smooth it out and refit to the shroud
