I got it out of the car with just a tiny screwdriver and some guitar picks!
There’s a hole visible here in the bottom center of the mirror that lets you pass a small flathead through, press up onto the release of the connector, and pry it out.
Detail of connector bottom
Also, after careful guitar picking (detailed earlier in spare mirror) the whole front half comes off.
CAREFUL HERE – the compass is still connected. Detail of connection here.
I then did the same procedure as before BUT REMOVE THE BOARD/COMPASS FIRST!! to separate the glass from the plastic board carrier, heat + gentle prying. Traced the board carrier with sharpie first to easily align the new glass, then did a scan + print of the old glass back to lay on the new for a scratch guide.
Placed some wax paper on the adhesive so it didn’t get messed up while I scraped…and scraped…and scraped. @jeffintheusa was right, should’ve used paint remover. JEEZE. A little of the silver backing got messed up, but it’s not TOO awful.
Desoldered old wires,
stuck on the new plastic board carrier + board (aligned with my handy-dandy paper guide, which I then pulled out from under) and soldered two wires for new glass. Didn’t need much heat. Wires kind of slot down into two metal tines, solder was pretty soft. Added a tiny bit more to one wire to ensure a solid connection.
Here’s the old next to the new…big improvement.
….and the final product. Doesn’t look nearly as terrible as before.
Would I recommend doing this? If you have the regular auto dim mirror, hell frickin yeah. It’s easy mode.
If you have the compass, buy compass glass. I wish I had. I was mad that I scratched the backing, and honestly idk if paint remover would do any better.
UPDATE: Have since nabbed compass glass, and it’s much better. Also, sometimes the compass and non-compass glass have reversed polarization for dimming, so that’s something to check before putting in random glass (use an AA battery to confirm polarization – if it dims with the battery one way and brightens the other, just make sure the new glass does the same.)
Me: 2007 VR gt Slicktop Titanium Grey/Nordkap Wife: 2015 XC60 T6 AWD Ocean Race Past: 2006 V70 2.5T Willow Green/Oak, 2005 S60 2.5T AWD Silver/Black