Garage Diaries • Veleno • 2018 Fiat 124 Spider Abarth
Three BoltsOne Entire Door
I backed Veleno into my own Lexus and broke the passenger mirror. The replacement is held on by three bolts. Getting to those three bolts required disassembling the door down to its soul. My brother helped. This is the story.
Death by Tire Carrier
Here's how it happened. I backed Veleno, my black 2018 124 Spider Abarth, into the Lexus. Specifically, the passenger mirror met the LX450's rear tire carrier. Whoops.
In fairness to me, the tire carrier is a giant steel swing-out arm hanging off the back of a triple-locked, 5,000-pound Land Cruiser. In fairness to the tire carrier, it was parked. It didn't move. It didn't even flinch. My own truck took out my own car, and only one of them noticed.
So the Lexus won, the Fiat lost, and I got a project.
The good news came next. I went looking online and found the entire mirror assembly at a salvage yard. The whole thing. And, against all odds, it was already the right color.
The right color. On a Fiat. From a salvage yard. I should have bought a lottery ticket that day, because it's clearly the last bit of luck this project was going to give me.
How Hard Could It Be?
A mirror is on the outside of the door. You'd think it bolts on from the outside, or maybe from behind a little triangle cover. Pop the cover, three bolts, done before the coffee gets cold.
That's not how this works. The 124 Spider is built by Mazda in Hiroshima on the same bones as the ND Miata, and Mazda in its infinite wisdom put the three mirror bolts inside the door, behind the window glass, behind the glass guide, behind the module panel, behind the speaker, behind the door trim. It's a Russian nesting doll where every doll has clips that break if you look at them wrong.
To get to three bolts, you remove: the door trim, the speaker, the pressure sensor, the module panel, the window glass and the glass guide. Then the three bolts. Then you put all of it back.
Three bolts. One entire door.
The Real MVP: My Brother
I would like to formally thank my brother, without whom this mirror would still be sitting in a box and the door would still be in pieces.
The door glass is the part that turns a "me" job into an "us" job. You loosen it, lift it straight up, tilt it and walk it out of the door without scratching it, dropping it or snapping the regulator. That takes two people: one holding the glass and one asking, "Is it supposed to do that?"
Every job has a guy holding the flashlight, a guy holding the glass and a guy saying words I can't print on this blog. I had one brother and he covered two of those. That's family.
Okay, Here's How to Actually Do It
If you also broke a mirror on a 124 Spider (or an ND Miata, same idea), here's the basic order of operations. The procedure comes from the Mazda ND MX-5 factory service manual. Under the skin, the 124's door is the same as the ND's, mirror mounting included. The only real difference is the door trim panel, which is styled a little differently on the Fiat, so expect your clips and covers to sit in slightly different spots than the manual pictures. The manual is posted online, and I've linked each step to the matching page. Read those first. The diagrams show you where the clips and bolts are, which is the part I'd have liked to know before I started.
Full manual: 2016+ MX-5 (ND) service manual, Body and Accessories.
- Disconnect the negative battery cable. The manual says to do this first, every time. There's a side-airbag pressure sensor in that door. You do not want to learn about it the exciting way.
- Park the window. Before anything comes apart, use the switch to close the glass, mark where its rear edge sits on the beltline molding, then lower it to the position the manual shows. This is the door glass preparation step, and it matters later.
- Pull the door trim. This is the one part where the 124 differs from the ND: the panel is shaped a little differently, so the clip spots won't match the pictures exactly. Pop the inner handle cover and the recess cover, remove one screw, then release the clips around the panel in order and lift it off. Unplug the inner handle. Door trim removal.
- Remove the door speaker. Unplug it, remove its bolts and pull it free. Hold it by the frame, not the cone. Door speaker removal.
- Remove the pressure sensor and the door module panel. Screws, a fastener, a harness clip and a protector that's glued on and doesn't want to leave. Don't force it, or the panel bends. Door module panel removal.
- Remove the door glass. Pop the stabilizer tab with a small flathead, remove the nuts holding the glass to the carrier plate, then lift it straight up, tilt it and walk it out of the door. This is the part where you want a second person. Door glass removal.
- Remove the glass guide. Yes, there's more. Door quarter glass / glass guide removal.
- Finally: the mirror. Unclip the harness, unplug the connector, remove the three bolts, then pull the mirror off while releasing its clip and pins. Power outer mirror removal/installation.
- Put it all back in reverse. Route the new mirror's harness behind the glass guide, or the window will chew on it every time it moves. Then reinstall everything you just spent way too long taking out. Run the window up and down before the trim goes back on.
Tips From Someone Who Learned Them the Hard Way
Get a trim tool kit. Plastic, not a screwdriver. The clips will break anyway, but at least you won't scratch anything.
Bag and label every fastener. There are more of them than you think, and they're all slightly different.
Bring a second person for the glass. Not optional.
Buy the whole assembly if you can. A complete used mirror, already the right color, beats a bare housing, a separate glass and a can of touch-up paint.
Test before you button it up. Plug in the mirror, check that it adjusts, and run the window up and down before the trim goes back on. Nobody wants to do the door twice.
Verdict: It's Fixed. I'm Tired.
Veleno has two mirrors again. They match. As far as anyone driving behind me knows, nothing ever happened.
But I know. I know what's inside that door now. I've seen the module panel. I've held the glass. I've met all three bolts personally.
Would I do it again? No. Will I have to? Probably, because I'm the one who broke it the first time.
Fixing Your Own Fiat?
If you're about to take a 124 door apart and want to compare notes, or you just want to tell me I did it wrong, send me a message. Misery loves company.
Drive Fast · Take Chances · Never Lift.
