Window mechanism broke.

[Bstehle]

My window arm is broke and causes my window to not roll down or up without me helping it by pushing or pulling it. also, when it raises up. the window keeps going past were it should stop. Is there any way to fix this without getting a new door?

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This is a 98 roadster 1.9l . PO didnt take car of the car very well it seems. Really makes me mad

[lokijibber]

The sliders probably eroded away completely and the rail got caught and twisted off the rivet.

I've seen some that were bolted back together. Would probably be easiest to do with the door on a bench instead of the car.

[Bstehle]

There is a little bolt thing that was welded to the door and bolted to were that arm is broke. It also broke off.

[torsan]

this happened to me too and the dealer first told me I needed a new door...I didn't go for it and they eventually said they can weld the bolt back on. it didn't look too pretty but it worked!

window fix 007c.jpg

[Bstehle]

Im a decent welder so if i can get my hands on a mig machine thats the way ill go. .. This sucks

[rf900rkw]

Holy bubblegum, maybe that dealer should stick with replacing whole doors.


If it broke the mount on the intrusion bar, then it likely did damage to the main bracket on the motor end of things. For your entertainment:

http://zeeasylum.com/albums/coupe-regulator/

[PbFut]

I have the assembly out of a 99 MCoupe if you need one. Double check Real OEM to make sure it fits. I'm not sure.

[rf900rkw]

The coupe and roadster regulators have different part numbers. I've had both in a side-by-side comparision. The new coupe regulator has the roadster's part number stamped into it, with the coupe part number on a sticker placed over the stamping. The only physical difference I found was a minor change in the stop screw adjustment.

[Bstehle]

i dont think anything other than the bolt thing broke. besides what that bolt connect to. but i should be able to bend and weld it back in shape soon enough. ill just live with the non working window for now

[328 Power 04]

In case you need a driver's side Z3 roadster window regulator mechanism (without motor, I'm keeping that for the M Coupe) I have one available, will work on roadsters only.

[Bstehle]

Thanks. within a week or so im going to try welding it. If that doesn't work ill let you know

[BimmerBreaker]

I have a few whole doors. Not too interested in shipping them whole but if you need something specific out of them (other than the regulator which 328 Power so graciously offered to you) I can probably gut them and scrap the shell.

[Bstehle]

Ok. Sorry, I know it has been a while since I posted this but I am to the point where I would like to buy the mechanicals of the window setup. I shouldnt need the motor but I need the arms that move etc. Thanks! You can PM me or Email would be best. Thanks again. brandonstehle@yahoo.com

[Bstehle]

bump

[328 Power 04]

emailing now

[4DIMNZN]

Holy bubblegum, maybe that dealer should stick with replacing whole doors.


If it broke the mount on the intrusion bar, then it likely did damage to the main bracket on the motor end of things. For your entertainment:

http://zeeasylum.com/albums/coupe-regulator/

That's what happened to mine, although the whole bracket was gone and the previous owner did a kluge from hell. Indy shop in the DC area fixes this issue frequently (E36's mostly). The shop fabricated one for me and welded it in.

[328 Power 04]

emailing now

I emailed, let me know, sometimes it ends up in junk mail however.

[ClubSport332ti]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but is there any adittional work to get that dreaded dimple out of my door pannel?

[robrez]

I'm bumping this thread up as I'm dealing with the same issue as the OP - broken mounting point on the window regulator and broken stud and mangled bracket on the door's intrusion bar. Here's my damage:




Buying a new regulator is the easy part. But mounting the new regulator when the stud it mounts to is gone, is a whole 'nother issue.

From this thread, I learned there are a couple ways to skin this cat:
1) get a whole new door with attached mounting brackets
2) try to re-weld the stud back on to the bracket, example below

3) find a donor bracket from a spare door.

Fortunately, I met SteveO at Dorkfest last year. You may recall he procured a couple spare doors when he was doing his coupe window project a while back. I contacted him and he offered to cut the bracket off his spare door. He ended up cutting the whole protrusion bar off and making a jig so I can line the bracket up on my bar. I don't weld, but I have a neighbor who does, so he's going to do it when he has spare time. I'll update the thread when it's done. But in the meantime, I just wanted to share this option, and shout out a big thanks to SteveO for taking the time to help me out.


So the question is, should I paint it Topaz Blue before I weld it on?

[BMWBergy]

So the question is, should I paint it Topaz Blue before I weld it on?

I would expect nothing less, and be disappointed if you didn't.

[Randy Forbes]

The fixture is impressive__and I'm hard to please!

You can paint it if you want, but most of it will get burned off during the welding process, if it isn't ground off beforehand, to keep the paint from contaminating the weld pool.

[buckscrape]

The fixture is impressive__and I'm hard to please!

You can paint it if you want, but most of it will get burned off during the welding process, if it isn't ground off beforehand, to keep the paint from contaminating the weld pool.

Yes, WOW on the bracket. That had to take a while to fabricate. Must be a labor of love for a skilled fabricator.
Clean/grind bracket and protrusion bar (as RF states) and paint the color of your choice after welding. Just put a piece of cardboard behind protrusion bar if you want to avoid overspray. May be a little tough to get the backside, but a little to protect it from rusting is better than nothing.

[robrez]

^^^ thanks, yes I'll make sure the same level of care goes into fixing it as Steve did in providing the bracket and jig.

Unfortunately I foresee a lot more cars suffering from this bracket failure in the future. It might be smart to stock up on spares.

[vikrampatel86]

So what are the chances you made some spares???? IN NY dealing with the same problem!

Yes, WOW on the bracket. That had to take a while to fabricate. Must be a labor of love for a skilled fabricator.
Clean/grind bracket and protrusion bar (as RF states) and paint the color of your choice after welding. Just put a piece of cardboard behind protrusion bar if you want to avoid overspray. May be a little tough to get the backside, but a little to protect it from rusting is better than nothing.

[kornfeld]

On a related note, what can be done to prevent that part from failing? I know the sliders should be kept clean and greased, but beyond that, it seems like it might be helpful to reinforce that mount if it's an issue.

For those of you that have taken this apart and had a look at it, is there anything that can be done to strengthen the common failure points?

I get that this will likely just move the failure to the next weak spot in the chain, but perhaps we can improve things to the point where the chances of a future issue are minimized.