rollerskate

Some remarks on installing the mirrors:

As has been said before, the installation isn't very hard,
but there is some risk of breaking the mirrors, generally
during removal (installing the new ones isn't nearly as bad).

The Stratmosphere installation sheet is very good, see it at:

http://www.stratmosphere.com/Installation%20instructions%20TT%20Mirrors.pdf

I added a couple variations when installing my mirrors...

One was that I wrapped the blade of the flat-blade screwdriver
that is used to push on the so-called "release lever" in duct tape,
so there wouldn't be any exposed metal to slip and hit the mirror
glass or scrape against the paint on the mirror housing.
The release lever doesn't release anything very much, but it
helps a little; Audi could have designed it better.

The other thing I did relates to the Audi special tool that is used
for removing the mirrors. The picture from the Bentley repair manual
is shown below; I guess the idea is to slide the slotted bar over
each of the four attachment pins and pull the mirror outward to
release it.

<img src=http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/15438/mirrortoolimage.jpg>


I didn't have the tool and didn't have a way to make one,
but if you have the materials, it might be worth a try.
However, I did happen to have a thin flat metal wrench with
an angled end that I bent to about 45 degrees in a vise, and
then wrapped in duct tape, again to protect things in
case it slipped. (gotta love duct tape :-)

<img src=http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/15438/mirrortool2.jpg>


Except for not having a slot, it's pretty close to the
correct tool. Since it wasn't slotted, I couldn't slide it
over the attaching pins, but I could slide it in next to the
pins, to allow me to pull the mirror outward at about the
right locations. The modified wrench tool is maybe 3/4" wide,
and could be slipped in fairly far behind the mirror, so
it supported it fairly well.
I really didn't want to pull the mirror outward by using
my fingers, even with the protection of gloves; you have
to pull pretty hard, and if something breaks and slips,
I didn't want to get sliced... glass is sharp...

Also, if you just use a straight screwdriver or flat blade,
you can't get in far enough behind the mirror, so you're
prying against the bottom edge - seems much more likely
to break. By using an angled tool, you can get in behind the
edge and put the flat part against the mirror back to
distribute the force a bit.

Your mileage may vary - but it worked OK for me...
you really have to pull a lot harder than you want to,
but with luck it should work. If you *do* break the
mirror, don't worry - as long as you don't change
your mind after installing the new ones, you don't
need the old ones anyway... :-) but it's still nice
to be able to keep the original set just in case.

Putting in the new mirrors is a piece of cake, just
press and they snap into place. Just be careful and
try to apply pressure over the mounting pin areas.
Good luck!

Richard (TTustin, CA)

I installed my mirrors a couple of days ago. I would add that it is easier to remove them when they are warm, i.e. after a drive and when the outside temp is above 70*. The plastic mounting bracket is more forgiving. Also in addition to the tape on the bottom of the mirror housing, I would apply tape to the inside surface of the mirror housing nearest the door. I noticed a little scuffing on the inside painted surface from when the mirrors popped free (I forgot to apply the tape). The whole job was completed in less than 15 minutes.

rollerskate

I forgot to say, that I also put tape along the inside bottom and edges
of the mirror housing, and I also put a length of tape covering most of
the face of the mirror (to limit the damage in case the mirror did break).

MichaelTT

work well and no scratches due to being nylon.