Warning Stolen Wing Mirrors

[Coilte]

I am not sure if this has been brought to the attention of everyone previously but my friend who lives in north london and owns a mini One (2005) has had his wing mirrors stolen.

Although that is gutting enough, anouther mini down his road also had his wing mirrors stolen on the same night also a 2005. My friends mirrors were the chrome ones while the others stolen were plain black.

I want to ask if there are any measures which can help secure the wing mirrors better, as he is having to fork out £150 each for new ones and is worried he will just be targeted again. Unfortunately he can not park anywhere else except for the street. ANY SUGGESTIONS????

Another worrying thing is that we have noticed a lot of mini wing mirrors for sale on e-bay????????????????? Where the hell are they coming from???? I can only conclude that a proportion of these are stolen and are being sold close to retail value, PLEASE DONT BUY THEM OF e-bay!!

So if anyone has any suggestions would be much appreciated, my mate has just bought the car and aint enjoying worrying about it every five minutes when it is just parked outside his house!!!

[I love MINI, Laura]

It has also happened down here in Portsmouth. My sister also had her wing mirrors stolen. Her's were the chequered mirrors. What annoyed me is they ripped the mirrors off instead of nicely removing them. Therefore I can only deduce that they wanted the mirror caps not the mirrors themselves. Its discusting and unfortunately theres not much we can do to protect our wing mirrors from people having them. My sister unfortunately went back to standard black Ones in the end as she was sick of replacing her mirrors like you say.

Its a real shame. I always try to turn mine in as they aren't so obvious but if they want them they'll get them. Sad world.

[Coilte]

Really sorry to hear that!!!!

I cant believe that BMW/Mini would not have designed the mirrors better in the first place to deter this!! My mate said that MINI told him they were fixed with secure bolts, but this did not prove any difficulty as the mirrors were taken of with no damage except for a slight scratch to the body work!!

I dont know to much about alarm systems, but seen as his car is on the street outside his bedroom window, is there any good reasonably priced alarm systems which could detect interference with the mirrors???? If it happens again he said he will have get rid of the car, which would be a shame!!!

[I love MINI, Laura]

OH no! Can't let that happen! Can't really think of a way to protect them Maybe take the mirror caps off and swap with standard Plastic matt black ones not the advanced ones.

[Fin]

The mirror caps are not secured by bolts, there are 5 clips which hold them on (and they can be a bugger to get off). Not all mirror caps on eBay are stolen though; I have some black ones from my previous MCS after I replaced them for CF ones. They're not on eBay at the mo, but I plan to put them on soon.

[Coilte]

If they are secured by just clips, then it makes the matter worse! Both his and another mini mirrors were taken of in the same night in full sight of houses, the other mini mirrors were just matt black so it doesnt seem to matter to them what kind they are.

They must be easy enough for someone to take them of, as the cars are located on a busy street, he also tucked the mirrors in. I told him to get just the matt black ones so as not draw attention and just hope and pray they dont strike the same place twice. Weird to see two minis parked up with no mirrors.

There is another convertible mini on the street but the lady said she was luckily away wednesday night when it happened. Wait and see if hers get taken now!!!

[I love MINI, Laura]

The mirror housing comes as 2 connected parts. There is the stump that attaches to the body work and then the pivotting mirror housing connected to this. The pivoting mirror can be ripped out from the stump (I'm assuming quite easily) as this is what happened to my sister. The stump is held to the bodywork by 3 allen key screws which are easily undone but you need to know how. The wing mirror cover (chrome, white, black whatever) is then clipped onto the pivotting mirror by 5 clips these clips are hidden inside behind the mirror.

I'm assuming they ripped out your friends mirror too and left the stump there and didn't undo the screws and take the stump part too? It is quite easy to just take the whole assembly off the body work and unplug the wiring.

[russyellocoops]

I've had a mirror knocked off but has been done in a car park as an accident!

Cheeky bugger has then pushed the stalk part back in for it to come out at 60mph and start baning against the door!

Solution 3 screws unbolted, remove broken Stub

motor mirror and cap removed from old Mirror

New Mirror purchased from Woodmans Mini- Only £36 - cheaper than any hooky ebay dealer!

Bolted on, all parts attached bingo!

But think it gets expensive with caps motors and mirror needs buying!

[Randall Raines]

This was the latest victim of wing mirror theft, the Hamster didn't get harmed making the pic, however he didn't get over the missing wing mirrors and died a short time later R.I.P. "COOPER" .

On a serious note, the mirrors are all too easy to remove by either unbolting them or ripping them off, in a way it's better that they do come off quite easily (while being ripped off) because if they were harder to get off the door may get damaged as-well leaving the owner without mirrors and a large repair bill for the door , at least all of the mentioned seem to have been taken (stolen), on our street some idiot seems to take pleasure in knocking wing mirrors off for fun at the weekends

There are plenty of genuine sellers on eBay who sell their old mirror caps (other parts as-well) to recover some of the cost of their new ones, not everyone saves them.

[Wurzel]

My whole mirror was nicked from south east london, caused £1500 in damage as door got dented and scratched. When the jobless hooded scrotum pulled my mirror off it created a 1 foot vertical crease in the door just below the mirror.

[ButtonIt]

Mine were ripped off in West London (Hammersmith). Snapped off just above the pivot.

Thieving scumbags. Luckily there wasn't too much damage, but still expensive to replace

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by Wurzel (original)

My whole mirror was nicked from south east london, caused £1500 in damage as door got dented and scratched. When the jobless hooded scrotum pulled my mirror off it created a 1 foot vertical crease in the door just below the mirror.

Sorry to hear about that, they (wing mirrors) don't usually cause too much damage to the rest of the MINI when they have been forcibly removed, they (jobless hooded scrotum) must have either bent yours the wrong way trying to snap it off 1st or used their knee as leverage.

I've replaced quite a few mirrors due to theft and most off the time there isn't too much damaged caused to the rest off the MINI whether forcibly removed or unbolted, however as pointed out in other posts it can still cost quite a bit to replace / repair the mirrors .

[scottp1908]

I brought my new mirror plates from ebay, never even entered my head they could have been stolen, hope this does not become a growing trend!

[danielroseclubman]

Great guy sorted my mirrors out. H.Horwich Motor Engineers Manchester (google it). He makes anti theft kits for mercs and minis. Highly recommended.

[Leedz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Coilte (original)

Really sorry to hear that!!!!

I cant believe that BMW/Mini would not have designed the mirrors better in the first place to deter this!!

I imagine most manufacturers affix door mirors in much the same way. I guess because MINI make a feature of the door mirrors they then become more desirable, though I would have thought just taking the clip on covers would have satisfied this 'demand'.