B3 electric door mirrors
 

The motor in the driver's side door mirror on my B3 90 20v is making weird noises and I am minded to swap it for a good spare one I have had "in stock" for some years. Ideally, I would like to dismantle so as to just swap the internals to avoid having to repaint the shell but I can't see any way of getting the motor assembly out of the mirror shell without cutting the cable as the connector plug is too big to pass through the mounting. :wall:

Am I missing a trick somewhere or is cutting the only way out?

P.S. Off to France for a week in the Audi next Monday so there may be a delay in replying to any help.

Yep its a crap design, i've tried to figure out ways to avoid cutting but I'm afraid that's the only option unless you de-solder the terminals on the motor, cutting is the less riskier method. the locking collar is also a pig to remove to get the mirror casing completely off.

Looks like re-painting the shell is the least troublesome option. I'm lucky I have a very competent spray painter nearby to do that little job for me.