Saturday, September 27, 2008

Civic 96-98 M3 Mirror Install

NOPI Part numbers:
875+1073 = 3 Wire M3 Power Mirrors
892+0034 = Mirror bracket Civic 4dr 96-00

First off let me say that if I wouldn't buy these again because:
1. They didn't even come close to fitting the car correctly out of the box
2. One of the mirrors was internally wired in reverse so U=D and D=U
3. The screws they included were so cheap they actually broke off when I tried to UNSCREW it from the plastic..

Ok, so now on to the install. I only had time to list the modification steps, so you'll have to fill in the blanks to figure out all the steps.

1. Remove your old factory mirrors and cut the white connector off leaving as much wiring hanging off as possible. Make sure you unscrew the connector from the old mirror first. You may also need to adjust the wire inside the housing with a long thin screw driver to get more slack.

2. drill the 3 mount holes a bit in your car door to make the holes more oblong shaped.

3. Trim the 3 pegs in the mirror bracket to make the 2 lower pegs about 1.6cm and the top peg about 1.3cm. You may need to carefully drill into the hole to get some extra depth.

4. Cut the lower ridge off one side of the triangular seal that came off the factory mirror. This will help it fit the new mirror bracket.

5. Using the 3 bolts from the old mirror, screw them into the 3 pegs in the new mounting bracket. Screw the new mirrors into their mounting brackets and test fit the entire assembly on the car including the triangular seal.

6. If you're satisfied with the fitment, fill the mounting pegs with epoxy and screw the bolts into the holes. Make sure you put them in all the way, but don't overtighten.

7. Take a multimeter with a DC voltage settting and figure out which wires control the U+D and L+R on your car. The ground wires were grey on the drivers side and pink on the passengers side for me. You should see +12 or -12 on the mutlimeter when you have it hooked up correctly while moving the mirror control pad in the car. Make sure you solder these wires together correctly with the new mirror according to the instructions that came with the mirror. (using the white connector, don't just solder them right to the car wiring...) I also recommend using electrical tape to keep everything insulated from each other.

8. After the epoxy has set, assemble all the pieces and attach it to the car.

Expect your new mirrors to vibrate much more than the OEM mirrors and also give you a much narrower field of vision.