Hello All

I'm in the UK and I have a 1998 XJ8, 3.2, with 36K miles on the clock, which I inherited it from my late father, and it has a few faults. Overall it's in very good condition, but I'm having to work my way through a few issues. The first I tackled was the lights in the luggage compartment not lighting up, which is now done, but sadly, after having driven it for a couple of weeks, a new fault has arisen, in that the interior rear view mirror has failed.

I have never had a nice car before, and this was a slightly gimmicky feature that I was enjoying having, and then lo and behold, sods law, if it doesn't quit on me. Anyway, I have been reading this forum about this particular fault, for the last few days, and have already overcome the most scary bit of removing the mirror, thanks to the guidance found here.

My mirror is a Donnelly 011530, at least one of the ones prone to this failure, and it has 6 wires and the yellow connector. I'm trying to source a correct replacement, preferably with the new gel, which is less likely to fail. I have been browsing around on eBay, and similar online resources, but I'm struggling to find the right one. I have found working 011530s, but I'd prefer the 'fixed' model, but I haven't been able to find one. I'm hoping if I post pictures of my mirror here, then someone might have a suggestion.

I see that for around $100 I could have the original unit fixed in the USA, by Sybesma, but I'd prefer to use a local resource, for many reasons, not least the cost of carriage both ways.

If needs must, then I'll get an ebay 011530, but I'd prefer a newer alternative, that will be a direct replacement, if that is possible?

Pictures, though probably not necessary for you guys from the description, but just in case.





The technique I used for removing the mirror, having disconnected the wires, was to squirt some WD40 in there, and then very gently wiggle, ever so slightly, whilst pulling down, directly in line with the screen itself. With a bright head torch, I could see as I very gently wiggled, it was ever so slowly moving down, so I persisted, until all of a sudden it moved much more freely and came away, at which point, I breathed more freely again, lol. I already had a towel over the gear selector and console, in case the mirror fluid had leaked, as recommended in this forum, which proved useful, because some WD40 dripped down onto it, so it save me cleaning up.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards

Sutty