The smart fortwo is a very different from most other cars. It is also very noticeable with its contrasting colours and quirky design. Because of this, the car can sometimes be a target for petty attacks. This guide will take you through how to replace the door glass after the particular car had its glass smashed when parked on a street overnight. Nothing was stolen from the car and therefore the conclusion was that it was a mindless attack.

Being safety glass, the door glass shatters into cubes which do go everywhere but are relatively safe to clean up. Be careful when you do clean up glass as it can easily scratch paintwork and interior trim.

Although you can replace the glass just by removing the outer door panel, we found that the broken glass managed to go everywhere inside the door. Therefore, we recommend a complete strip down of the door in order to give it a thorough clean.

Start by removing the wing mirror and the outer door panel.

Now turn your attention to the inner door lining. Again, it is not essential that you do this but it is a good way of cleaning and checking the whole door.

The trim around the interior door handle has a small notch in the bottom corner. Use this to prise the trim away from the door.

To avoid damaging the trim or the door card, we used a small pry-bar wrapped in an old towel. You will find that the trim will require a bit of force but it will unclip.

The trim hooks in to the door card on the other side.

Behind the trim is a single T20 bolt which holds the door card to the door frame.

Unclip the window switch from the door handle frame as shown:

Unplug the wiring from the switch assembly by pressing the clip (small red arrows) first. Note that the white connector is for the passenger window.

This complete the work on the door card itself.

The final thing holding the inner door trim to the frame is the following split rivet. To remove this, push the centre pin all the way through first.

The other side of the split rivet is shown in the following picture. Be careful not to lose the centre pin! Remove the rivet from the trim.

You will also need to loosen the bolts which hold the small window above the handle. These are circled in the following locations:

To separate the door trim from the frame, you need to remove the wiring connector for the door lock. Push the small tab in the middle of the connector before pulling.

You also need to disconnect the wiring to the window motor as follows:

Finally, unclip the wiring grommet at the front edge of the door.

You will need to release it from the inside as well. Note the two tabs:

You can now push the door trim away from the frame. The bottom edge of the trim seems to come away easier. Note the white plastic clips which will 'pop' free:

As the trim comes away, you need to disconnect the interior door handle. Looking down from the top of the door trim you will see the belden cable attachment on the back of the handle. You need to pull the white plastic body away from the black clips in the location shown by the small red arrows. The whole assembly will come away in the direction of the long arrow.

Unhook the belden wire from the handle and the interior trim is now free.

Open the metal door frame away from the trim. The foam weather guard will lift away - but take care not to rip this on any of the wiring connectors or plastic clips.

With the weather guard out of the way, you can now access all of the door internal and thoroughly clean out the remaining broken glass.

With the securing bolts removed, lift out the small fixed window.

This will come out at an angle due to the 90 degree mounting bracket.

Remove any remnants of broken glass from the seals.

With all the broken glass removed, you can now start to install the new window glass.

The glass is secured with two mounts which attach to the window runners. With the window in its closed position, the mounts cannot be undone due the door cross member being in the way.

To lower the window mechanism, reconnect the window switch and the window motor temporarily. Press the 'down' button the window switch until the mounts are almost fully down. You can now undo the bolt on the mounts as shown:

Refit the small window but do not secure the bolts. You need this to be free in order to install the new window glass.

You can buy window glass from your smart parts department.

Slide the new glass into the door frame. You need to be careful with the small window not to damage the rubber in the top corner. With the small window loose, carefully tilt it towards the back of the car as you slide the new window glass in to place. As you push the window glass down, the two will begin to close up and align together. But remember to be careful of the rubber corner!

As you side the new glass in to place, it will come to rest on the white plastic mounts. The bottom edge of the mounts will support the glass perfectly.

Close up the mounts and tighten up the securing bolts - be careful not to over-tighten these! The bolts just need to grip the glass firmly without applying too much pressure.

Also, refit the two securing bolts for the small window.

With the window motor still connected, carefully raise the glass to the top. The glass should stop so that it is flush with the small window glass. It should also make contact with the rubber cover indicated with the arrow. Check that the glass doesn't overrun this position.

With the window fully up, re-attach the interior door trim by completing the following:

  • Fix the foam weather guard to back of the interior door trim. Make sure the interior door handle beden cable and wiring connectors pass through first.
  • Fix the belden connector onto the back of the interior door handle.
  • Whilst making sure the weather guard is correctly aligned, clip the door trim back on to the door frame.
  • Plug in the wiring connectors into the door lock and the window motor
  • Refit the split rivet
  • Refit the bolt through the interior door handle frame
  • Reinstall the window switches and door handle trim
  • Refit the cable grommet at the front edge of the door frame

Before fitting the outer door panel, check for complete and correct operation of the window and door locks.

Once satisfied, refit the outer panel.