Window motor shot? How to manually move the window?

[s8ilver]

So I get to work this morning, roll my window down about halfway to activate the parking garage gate, and pull into my spot. The window won't budge, up nor down. Checked fuse (#14)...good. Swapped switches left to right, same result. Regulator is new, everything is in place as far as sliders and whatnot. When I hit the switch I can hear a relay click behind the glove box, so I rule that out.

All I can figure is the motor finally gave up at 152k miles.

How on earth do I move the regulator with a frozen motor? IIRC, I had to bolt the motor to the regulator before placing it in the window cavity. I'm sure I could get the glass out as is, but not sure where to go from there.

Is there a manual way to move the motor in-situ? Is it possible to remove the entire assembly from the top? Luckily it's 78 and sunny today, but expecting a cold front this evening and rain and snow mix tomorrow. FML.

[s8ilver]

I appear to have found the answer. Looks fun.

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=710084

[jajou318]

Alternatively you could pull the pins out of the sliders then pop the regulator out of the sliders remove the window THEN remove the regulator.

Also sometimes you can get it to move while holding the switch in the desired direction tap the motor w/ a hammer (think bad starter). Give it a thunk or two might start working for a little, or enough to get you where you need to be.

Good luck!

[s8ilver]

Alternatively you could pull the pins out of the sliders then pop the regulator out of the sliders remove the window THEN remove the regulator.

Also sometimes you can get it to move while holding the switch in the desired direction tap the motor w/ a hammer (think bad starter). Give it a thunk or two might start working for a little, or enough to get you where you need to be.

Good luck!

Funny you say that. I was down in the garage on my lunch break tapping the motor with a hammer and socket but it wouldn't budge. I do hear the motor click as well (at least in the down direction), so at least it's getting power.

I'm pretty sure I can remove the window glass in the current position (stuck about halfway through travel which is about the position to take out the glass). IIRC, the regulator needs to be about fully collapsed to get it out the door, so that was my worry. Perhaps I can disconnect the hex bolts that hold motor to regulator once the glass is out and the assembly unbolted from the door, just not sure of space needed to fit a hand and tool in there.

Upon further inspection, I think something inside the motor may have broken. The shaft used to run about center in the regulator opening, but is now hard up against the upper edge...

20181029_122321.jpg

[s8ilver]

Bought a cheap used eBay motor and proceeded to swap that in in place of the original. Got everything bolted up, hit the window switch. Up on the switch was down on the window, and vice versa. Doah! It turns out the direction of the armature cover matters! Put on backwards, and the magnet inside reverses the polarity. Turns out the seller removes the covers to inspect the windings before he sells; this one just got reassembled backwards. I had to pull everything out all over again and reverse the cover.

Window now works better than it ever did. Happy camper here. If anyone ever has to do work on the windows, holler at me. I think I could do them blindfolded now.

Now I just have to R&R the passenger's side. The driver's side now beats that window up by a solid 3 seconds.

[ProductUser]

Nice job! My windows operate slowly which is why I rarely operate them. One of my tasks this winter is to open up the door panels and inspect the window mechanisms for operation.

Tony

[s8ilver]

Nice job! My windows operate slowly which is why I rarely operate them. One of my tasks this winter is to open up the door panels and inspect the window mechanisms for operation.

Tony

If your regulators and door mounts are fully intact (my driver's side Coupe regulator was torn in several spots and the door mount post was sheared off and spot welded mount near front of door was starting to tear), you should be able to simply replace the sliders and re-grease everything. The sliders I took out at 152k miles were fairly unrecognizable compared to new ones.

When I tackle the passenger's side, I'll probably just replace that motor as well while I'm in there. It seems the Roadster motors see less wear due to no auto-up/auto-down function that occurs when you open or close a Coupe's door. I actually got the old motor to run again after cleaning the windings, but it froze again shortly thereafter.