Just as the warranty on my 2005 RL expired (of course!) I developed a shimmy in both of my side view mirrors. The dealer said that the mirrors would need to be replaced-at a cost of over $600.00 apiece. I declined but the problem has gotten worse and now I can even hear a thump as the mirror housing moves out of place on bumpy roads. This changes the mirror angle so that the setting isn't correct until the car goes over another bump and the mirror shifts back.The mirror itself seems OK-even moves as it should in reverse or when setting it; it's the housing which has loosened up.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I really need new mirrors or is there a way to tighten the existing ones?

It outrages me to have this problem so soon on a $50,000.00 car.

 

happynana
i dont know how loose they are, but my 05, driver side mirror became loose as well. i read up on it and found out that u can take the bottom cover off the mirror and tighten the mirror, apond doing so, i found out that i didnt have the right tool to tighten it, anyways i was having some service done, and told them about it at the acura dealer and they tightened it for free. it would just sake when going over bumbs. i would hear the noise was well. the mirror worked totally fine when it was having the problem.

 

This seems to be a common problem, my right one was replaced around 50k miles. On a $50k (list) car, this should not be happening, there is a defect somewhere...Acura dealers should be fixing them at no cost. Never heard of any car having to have side mirrors replaced because of wear...how ridiculous.

 

IIRC, there is a thread somewhere that shows you how to do this, with pictures!

 

On the bottom of the mirror housing you can see small cover close to where the mirror housing meets the car door. You can use an exacto knife or small flat-head screwdriver to loosen the cover and remove it (it may take a little doing since the angle is a bit awkward). From there you can access the bolt to tighten the mirror housing.

 

Maybe I am wrong, I don't think this solves the problem and if you are not careful, you'll scratch the paint on the door. If this did solve the problem, Acura dealers would not be replacing the entire housing under warranty.

 

Here is the thread, sitting in the garage all the time. It is worth trying

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-2005-2012-76/e-006-sideview-mirror-rattle-vibration-fix-740334/

 

The root of this issue is that the global spec LEGEND was engineered with power folding mirrors.

This hinge must have been retrofitted with these awkward screws for the NA spec RL sans the power units.

Why we cannot have them in NA is just another of the packaging wonders Acura has made with the RL.



*Greetings from Port Stanley, Falkland Islands*

 

Falkland Islands!

How is the weather! Middle of summer? Sounds like a great trip!

 

I had this problem also on my driver side mirror when i went to get my oil change told them its shanking over bumps. He said they will look at it it should only be a screw underneath the mirror...Nope he told me its a mechanical problem and was out of warranty...blah blah bunch of bull ...
So i said next week when i bring my car for my bearing/propellor shaft change i wanna talk to a manager. He told me he will see what he can do...2 days later he told me they will change it.

 

My side mirrors were loose and i just tightened the 3 screws on the bottom and that fixed the annoying issue. The clips are a little tricky to remove but not impossible.

Thank you