2 minutes ago, pdg33 said:

is it likely that the Ford glass (from Ford website) won't fit this as well? 

I feel you are now massively overthinking this. Go to ebay, and simply buy a full working mirror (make sure it's heated/electrically adjustable if the other side is). . Fit it, and any bits 'left over' just keep in the man drawer for next time...

May have to go for a used aftermarket unit this time - last time I bought one brand new and don't want to pay out again seeing as it seems to become a common occurrence.

32 minutes ago, pdg33 said:

that's a very good point.

it was an aftermarket complete mirror unit to save £££ on buying a Ford one.

is it likely that the Ford glass (from Ford website) won't fit this as well?    can't understand why it wouldn't but now you mention it, unsure really whether to order the Ford glass in this instance.

It's possible that genuine glass won't fit an aftermarket motor.  Aftermarket parts are built to different tolerances and in some cases may even use a different clip design.  I don't know how likely it is in this case though.

If you can take a very clear picture of your motor maybe we can compare that to a genuine one to see if there are any noticeable differences.

30 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I feel you are now massively overthinking this. Go to ebay, and simply buy a full working mirror (make sure it's heated/electrically adjustable if the other side is). . Fit it, and any bits 'left over' just keep in the man drawer for next time...

See if you aren't p*ss*d off if it happened to you (on two occasions at that).    

It's not 'overthinking' it, it's trying to see what the best - and cheapest - solution is under the circumstances seeing that it has happened twice now.

How hard can it be to find aftermarket glass for the aftermarket mirror unit - one would think the company I purchased it from would stock those, but there are none on their Ebay page so I'm not holding out hope.

 

Thanks anyway.

21 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

It's possible that genuine glass won't fit an aftermarket motor.  Aftermarket parts are built to different tolerances and in some cases may even use a different clip design.  I don't know how likely it is in this case though.

If you can take a very clear picture of your motor maybe we can compare that to a genuine one to see if there are any noticeable differences.

See photo below.

I can't spot any of the wires re: plugging into the heating element so I'm not convinced now that the part (as per my original post) was correct at all....

Where should the wires for the heating element be coming from?

 

19 minutes ago, pdg33 said:

See photo below.

I can't spot any of the wires re: plugging into the heating element so I'm not convinced now that the part (as per my original post) was correct at all....

Where should the wires for the heating element be coming from?

 

All of the wires come from the same loom at the back left.  It looks like that mirror base was a non-heated version as they should be easy to see unless they're curled up behind the motor.

The moulding shape of the genuine motor is slightly different.  Though I'm not sure whether that's enough to prevent genuine glass fitting or not.  The mirror glass has clips that should snap in around the back of the plastic ring.  On your motor it looks like there's a rubber seal tight at the back of the ring?  That could prevent the glass pushing on far enough though it's hard to tell from the photo.

Genuine Ford Focus Mk3 O/S Door Mirror Housing Dual Power HTD Signal 17- 2171867 | eBay

Thanks Tom.    I guess that's the problem when buying aftermarket parts.

I may have found a used one, not the best condition but guessing genuine Ford and need to confirm paint codes - pretty sure this is magnetic grey but any experts on that front?

 

there are a couple actually - one here too.    it's hard to tell though if it's the correct match - not sure this one is magnetic?

Can't see why they don't bother putting paint codes on their items but there we go.

 

The bottom one has a tinted indicator lens which wasn't standard.  That one also looks like Sea Grey rather than Magnetic to me, though it is hard to tell from the picture.