I've changed window motors in Nissan products, fixed window auto close sensors in Infiniti's so I'm familiar with arm rest removal and carefully popping interior door panels off.
Is there anything to be particularly aware of when replacing the driver's side exterior mirror on the above named model?

Many thanks.

 

Try browsing in here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-c-244/

 

I've completed the replacement of the mirror and thought I would follow up with my experience.

First of all, this YouTube video will never win any prizes for videography but it gives you a good handle on what needs to be taken apart.


Second, this took me 45 minutes, start to finish to complete, so it's not a very difficult job. You could do it in less time once you know the tricks.

Fact: For the IS 250C, you must buy the expensive, dealer only mirror for mirror memory. The units without mirror memory have a different electrical connection and will not fit the connector. I found this mirror for $500 online. There appears to be only one configuration for the IS 250C.

Etc: A nice thing about the expensive mirror is that it is an exact fit right down to the last detail. If you look at the aftermarket mirror installed in the video, you'll see that the guy either had to engineer or leave bits and pieces out.

Tip 1: While you can find tons of the cheaper mirrors with no mirror memory that can be painted, it is apparently impossible to find an unpainted mirror with memory that is not already color matched. FWIW, when I removed the old mirror, the paint underneath the mirror mount was just ever so slightly lighter than the rest of the car... but with the new mirror in place, the eye cannot distinguish any color difference.

Tip 2: The door panel is quite heavy and you don't want to leave it hanging on the wiring harness (and nor do you really want to undo a whole bunch of stuff). I made a 'S' shaped piece out of 1/8 threaded rod that I had lying around so that I could hang the panel on the door. Put a clean rag on the door to avoid scratching the paint. You really only need to move the panel towards the back by about 5 or 6 inches.

Tip 3: As noted in the video, you must be careful when removing the nuts from the mirror to avoid dropping them into the bottom of the door. I did this with no problem. However, knowing my luck I was concerned that I might drop a nut while trying to place it and thread it on the mirror stud. So, I used just a very small chunk of duct tape to fasten the nut to the socket. It started easily, and once threaded on, I pulled the socket off with the tape, or used a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the tape off the nut.

Cheers.