After talking with Mat (MatBat), he pointed out to me that the drivers side mirror (newer style) should have a curved edge to it, to help get rid of the blind spot, and my mirror didn't have that. I assumed that the wrong glass had been fitted at some point, probably non-Volvo glass from somewhere like Halfords, and that was what the problem was. I spoke to Volvo and ordered in some new glass which I picked up today.
Unfortunatly, on fitting it, the problem remained, and I still had half of the mirror taken up with the rear of my car. I also noticed that it was original Volvo mirror glass that I'd removed, as the part code was very similar (although not quite the same) as the one I'd just replaced it with.
Upon further investigation, it turns out the part number for the mirror glass that I had removed, was for the passenger mirror glass that should be fitted to a LHD 480, and had been fitted to the drivers side of my RHD 480. From this, I can only conclude that the entire mirror is actually a passenger LHD mirror, and that's where my problem lies.
So..... I'm now on the lookout for a newer style, RHD drivers mirror for my 480. I don't need any of the actual internals of the mirror or the plastic cover, as I've got all them already, so it doesn't matter it they've been smashed or damaged. The only bit I need it the solid metal bit which attaches to the door. I've attached a picture, detailing the part in red. Can anyone help?
Also... I'm intrigued if anyone can come up with any plausable reason why I should have a LHD passenger mirror fitted the drivers side of my RHD car? The only possible reasons I could think of were:
1. It left the factory like that, as a mistake.
2. It had an accident whilst abroad somewhere and they were the only parts that could be sourced to replace it with.
My car appears to have always been serviced by Volvo themselves, and has some very expensive Volvo bills, so I can't imagine it being someone doing a bodge job repair....
This should possibly be in the "Parts" section, but as there was a story that went along with it too, I thought it may be better suited to "General Discussion".
Ben.
