Hi Chaps I'm getting my 355 door mirrors repainted as they weren't quite the same colour as the body (from a previous re-spray where the door mirrors were obviously left out). So, should I take the glass off and risk breaking it, or get the shop to feather the paint as far in as they can get it with the glass in place? The paint shop don't want to risk it, but I have seen a photo of a 360 door mirror with the glass out and the retaining mechanism looks identical the that of my Fiat Coupé's mirrors which I took apart recently to paint. With those you just gently and carefully prize the glass off and the plastic grip at the back comes apart. Would the 355's be the same? What would you advise please? I can't seem to find replacement glass in the listings of spare part companies so are they not available? Andrew - UK
I'd rather have the non-visible inside of the mirror be slightly a different shade of the same color than the risk the chance of having the very visible glass be non OEM. Just have them tape it off and spray what they can with a small HPLV gun before they shoot the whole thing. I mean, we are picky owners, but come on lol. Ferrari themselves didn't even paint our door jams the same color.
The door mirror glasses were never available as a separate part, even when the cars were new - You had to pay £2500 for an entire mirror assembly if you broke your glass!
Here's how to remove the mirror... https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/355-side-mirror-glass-replacement.557453/#post-145504156
I've just returned from the Paint shop. Horah! I have removed the mirrors. I can confirm that they are held on just as shown above for the 348 with the exception that the clip ends are to be found beneath the outer end of the mirror as opposed to the inner (car) end as above. I made a special tool (I bent the end of a stiff bit of wire into a small hook) and it was a doddle. I would go so far as to say that when you know how it fixes and how to release it, and have a suitable hook to release it, that you can remove it practically without any risk of breaking it (as long as you don't drop it!). I anticipate that putting it back will go just as well, but I'll update on that when I have done it.
LOL... I realised this and wrote a post apologising for my error... Seems I posted my apology in the wrong thread
It took quite a bit of force to engage the glass into the clip on reassembly. I used a bit of grease and try pushing centrally and not around the edge of the glass. I did all this not knowing the original mirror glass was not available on its own so it was a good job I didn't break them. Im not sure if you will succeed in engaging the wire clip in reverse of removal method but good luck. May have better access on the 355.
To conclude my story, I did get the mirrors back in OK, but at first I was trying to place the glass in position and then hook the clip back into its place, i.e. the reverse of the disassembly, but I couldn't, so I clipped the clip into position and then firmly pushed the mirror (with the even pressure in the centre area of the glass) into the socket and it just snapped into place. Maybe I had trouble because objects in the rear-view mirror are closer than they appear.