How to: Fit an Illuminated Rear View Mirror.

How to: Fit an Illuminated Rear View Mirror.

One of the features that I miss from my old Rover 400 was the illuminated ring around the ignition lock. When it was dark. It was easy to put the key in the hole. With the Rover 25, there was much fumbling to find the hole I had originally wanted to re-instate this feature, but the parts were made of unobtainium. It was suggested by another Member (Roverlike) that I fitted a illuminated rear view mirror from a MG-TF. I was skeptical. I had visions of fabricating an illuminated ring and fitting it myself. Then came along another Member (Man in the Car) who Posted up a Factory Guide for fitting the illuminated mirror. At this point, I was convinced, so I bought a mirror.

There was one thing that bothered me about the guide. There was far too much dismantling of parts and unnecessary faffing around. I thought I could simplify the job and make it easier to do. Now. I must point out one thing. This guide is for Rover 25's that don't have a sun roof. If you have a sun roof. You want the factory guide here:

The Fine Art of Owning:...

The first thing you'll need to do is to remove the original rear view mirror. All you have to do is; Lift the mirror upwards. It's not glued in. Very little force is required. Once done, you'll see the metal retainer glued to the windscreen.

Next is the removal of the courtesy light lens.

Insert a screwdriver into the slot on the side as shown and twist. The lens will then 'pop'. The lens can then be removed.

Next you'll need to remove the two 8mm bolts that hold on the courtesy light.

Once done. Simply unclip the loom from the courtesy light. The light can then be put to one side.

The fold down sun screens from the front of the roof can now be removed. Each screen is held in place with 3 screws.

Once done. It's time to heat up a soldering iron.

I'm a cheapskate. I used the cheapest and most easily available cable to solder to the courtesy light. Yup. I used lightweight 3 core mains cable! You'll need a Metre of cable for the job. Before you solder anything. Make sure that the tracks on the courtesy light are clean! Solder will not stick to dirty tracks. Even better. Score the tracks to ensure a greater surface area for the solder to stick too.

Make a note of where the coloured wires are soldered. This will be helpful when the wires are connected to the mirror.

The next step is to thread the wires through the gap between the head lining and the roof. There is a hole in the spar that the cable needs to be threaded through.

The cable from the courtesy light is on the right. The cable on the left will be going to the illuminated mirror. Here's another view:

Now you will need to thread the cable through the headlining gap to the front. You'll need a stiff piece of wire (A wire coat hanger is common enough). Tape the cable to the end of the wire (I used an airgun cleaning rod) and push the cable towards the front of the head lining.

I think you'll understand now why this method is no good if you have a sun roof. With luck, you'll see this:

You can now remove the cable from the wire, rod etc and remove. The cable can now be pulled through. You can also refit the courtesy light. Come to thing of it. You'll have too. The negative wire is an Earth. If the light isn't bolted back into place, the mirror won't work!

Now is the time to connect the cable to the mirror. Fit the illuminated mirror onto the metal retainer on the windscreen. This is a temporary thing, but it will make the wires easier to connect. I used Scotch clips to connect the wires. How you connect the wires is up to you.

Now. As I understand it. The colours on the mirror vary. I had Black. Purple and Green. Connecting the wires can be Pot Luck if yours are different. However. On my mirror the connections went: Blue to Black. Brown to Purple and Green/Yellow to Green. If you've got the same colour wires as me, then you're onto a winner.

If everything works as it should (Test and test again for the correct function). Then everything can be screwed back together gain. The mirror can be removed again and the cable slotted into the groove on the bracket. Then replace the mirror.

This will be the sight that greets you when it's dark:

But wait. The story isn't over! It was suggested by a Member (Roverlike) that LED bulbs would provide better lighting. I just had to know. The results were conclusive:

On the left is a 5W LED. On the right is a 10W bulb. I think the results speak for themselves. I should point out one thing. LED's only work one way around (LED stands for Light Emitting Diode). If you insert a LED into the socket and it doesn't work. Remove it and turn it around. It'll then work. The extra light in the cabin will then look like this:

Job done!

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How to: Fit an Illuminated Rear View Mirror.