Pass. side mirror

[Naj ✝︎]

I saw a 230sl the other day with the gasket of the goose neck about 70mm from the door edge. It gives good vision. Unfortunately, I fitted mine at 30mm and vision is partly obscured by the windscreen pillar.
naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[George Des]

Naj--I'm assuming you have the "goosenecks" on your 230SL. When you say 70mm is that on the driver's side and is what are you taking the measurements from and to. I've got two "clean" doors to fit the old style mirrors to and I'm agonizing over this since you only get one shot at it.

Thnaks--George Des

[Naj ✝︎]

George,
Yes, I have goose necks on the 230sl and I screwed up my one shot[!].
70mm is from the edge of the door to the gasket edge (front to back), a line parallel to the window chrome trim.
The gap between the trim and gasket is about 20mm. Any more and the outer edge will hang out over the door curve.
You can remove the studs off the mirror mounting using two nuts and get somebody to hold the mirror for you while you look. Try both horizontal and vertical lens positions to be satisfied .
If you feel under the door skin where the mirror goes, you will find there is a reinforcing plate about 5 inches long welded in. As long as both holes are on the plate, then it should be okay, right?
If you're fitting both mirrors then they should both be the same distances to maintain symetry??. Thats what I did anyway.

naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[Joe]

I recently mounted a RHS mirror; already had the LHS. The few 113s I've seen all had both mirrors set back the same distance from the front.

After reading postings here about placement of the mirror, I decided the RHS should be placed further back from the front. I decided on one inch. Using the new rubber gasket as a template, I marked the centers of the holes. I started with a very small drill, because it wouldn't drift off the mark, and then finished with the proper size.

After putting the new mirror on, I found I had to bend the reinforcing metal inside the door in order to get the nuts on, but that wasn't a big problem, and nothing inside the door was affected by this bending.

As for vision, I wish I had set the mirror 1.5 inches back. I can use the mirror as it is now, but part of it is obscured by the front window post. It would take a very critical eye to tell the mirrors are not placed equally, and going to 1.5 inches would not be noticable, either.

Also, the mirror will not affect a passenger's vision, regardless of the placement. That was a concern I had, too.

Both mirrors are placed the same distance out from the window. I don't recall that measurement, but others have given it here.
Joe

[Ed Cave]

Whew! This is one exhaustive string of information and yet, I'm not certain the answer I need is here. I am of the assumption that every 113 has the metal mounting plate in each door, regardless of whether it was originally fitted with both a LH and RH mirror or not. True statement?

Now, without regard to my height, on a 1971 US left hand drive 280sl, was the RH mirror, when installed at the factory as original equipment placed in the same location as the LH mirror?

Or does anybody really know?

Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA

1964 356C
1971 280SL

[TheEngineer]

Ed:
Attached is a picture of my car and you can see the passenger side mirror I installed. It is mounted exactly in the same location as the driver's side mirror. The flat glass they come with, is almost useless. I did replace it with a convex glass I had cut from a Peterbilt truck mirror. I did see one 280SL with a convex glass that came from a 280SEL, I think. I have been unable to confirm that yet, but I bought such a mirror from a local junk yard. It is a driver's side mirror, and yet it is a little convex. The Peterbilt mirror has more curvature and works well. I bought a motorcycle mirror, the one kind, that fits all, and removed the rubber which holds the glass in place. I used that rubber to hold my glass. And, yes, my door had the doubler in place.

Download Attachment: MyFogLts.JPG
49.11 KB

1969 280SL,Signal Red,  Retired engineer, West- Seattle, WA

[Naj ✝︎]

Ed,
Even my '65 230sl which had no factory mirrors has the reinforcing plates on both doors, so fair assumption that all doors have them??.
The positioning of the mirrors on the doors is more of an issue with the early 'goose neck' mirror arms as they swing forward and if they are mounted too far forward, (retro)vision is obstructed by the 'A' post.

Joe,
You could move your mirror back another 1/2 inch if you don't mind drilling two more holes. The 'old' holes would be covered by the gasket.

naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[Richard Madison]

When I added a passeneger side mirror to the late 280 SL, there was no reinforcing plate in the door. The installer cut a rectangular plate from some aluminum and fashioned a plate to go inside the door under the mirror.

We put the mirror in just about the same place as the driver side mirror but we held the mirror in place first to check the view from the driver seat and checked the window clearance.

Richard M

[Klaus]

Ed,
Engelen's Book "Mercedes-Benz 190 SL - 280 SL, Vom Barock zur Pagode" contains Price Lists with options from 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1971. Aussenspiegel rechts/Right outside rearview mirror, code 502, was always available, but in the lists for 1966 and 1967 the description expressly said "Aussenspiegel rechts vorn auf Kotfluegel" - "Right outside mirror up front on the fender". It does not say this for any of the other years.
On the other hand, all photos in the book that show a right-hand mirror show it mounted on the door, never on the fender. But the photos do not identify the production year of the car.

For the standard left side mirror, the parts catalogue shows that there was a mirror version 1 for 230/250 SL up to 250 SL 043..002979, and a version 2 from 043...002980 and all 280 SL.

Klaus
1969 280 SL