Both vanity mirrors have broken twice...the flimsy piece of plastic that holds the mirror door on is very fragile....very POOR design...it appears the spring pressure also puts more tension than it can handle. Looking at my wife's Pilot and son's Xterra the mirrors are strongly attached....Mini needs to improve the quality....too much plastic all over!

2010 Mini S hatchback.

 

My Mini is an '03 and, yes, that vanity mirror is VERY poorly designed. Basically, these tiny pieces of plastic are what 'lock in' to more plastic. It takes nothing to break one of the pieces off and then the darned cover on the mirror won't stay up. I replaced mine myself -- once. It cost $95 for the part. I figured, OK, I know this is a weakness but I'll be VERY careful. One of the tiny plastic pieces broke within 6 months. At least the original visor lasted for several years before it broke.

My solution (I was NOT going to shell out $95 again) was to use superglue to glue the door in place over the mirror. Then I bought a tiny round purse mirror and superglued it to the outside of the vanity cover. Presto! I have a mirror when I pull the visor down and I don't have any problems with broken visors. The one on the passenger side is still the original one. It simply isn't used as much so it hasn't broken.

I see that you have a 2010 model. I'm shocked that Mini hasn't come up with a better product for this area by now. I figured that it was just the earlier makes that had the crappy plastic 'hinges'.

 

Just had the passenger's side one come off on mine the other day when I was opening it trying to hunt down a spider that'd been running around in my car...

seems the bits on the mirror-cover that hold onto the plastic posts in the visor are pretty weak. They came completely apart on mine, and it was the first time I'd ever opened it.

 

No excuse for that. I see you have a 2011 model? Ridiculous. I can't believe Mini doesn't know about this problem. It may be considered trivial but it isn't when your visor falls down in front of your face while you're driving.

 

They'll replace the whole visor under warranty. I had my driver's side replaced about 6 months ago. Just waiting for it to break again...

 

+1!!
Had Molly's Passenger Vanity Mirror Cover come apart, Dealer replaced it without any questions, said "it shouldn't have broke."!!

 

It's just the little flip down cover for the mirror. The rest of the visor is just fine. The little tabs that hold onto the plastic post it pivots on are what broke. It's a weak point in the design, but not one I'd say is a major issue.

 

Poor design. They break often and replaced under warranty. Just need to break them every 2 years and keep replacing them under warranty. Don't think MINI will ever redesign it. Just like the melting hood scoops. Known issue and still using the same flawed parts to repair it.