subscribing for some great info! thank goodness for the search function...saves me from buying a new regulator or motor. hopefully this does the job for me!
Great write up but since I've repaired numerous windows with different problems the First thing I'm going to try is.... SILICONE. To be honest with you (as a paint and body man) I hate the stuff. It (silicone) can cause major problems in a paint shop. For solving slow or dragging window problems, it's the stuff. Both windows in my '97 Z were slow or dragging. Instead of looking in the shop I just bought a new can of spray silicone (less than $3.00 at Walmart). If you buy silicone do not buy the Liquid Wrench stuff, it has an oil base. If you spray the silicone on your finger tips it should be totally dry in less than 1 minute. If you spray it on your fingers and it stays oily Don't Use It. The can I got from Walmart has a spray tube that attaches to the spray nozzle. I sprayed all the window channels with the windows down. Then operate the window and spray more between the window and channel . Now both my windows operate very nicely with no dragging. If this hadn't fixed them, the next thing would have been to pull the door pannels off!
Did mine Memorial Day, very easy with these instructions.
Sticky?
Tim
2009 e90 328i 6MT
Did mine using these instructions - here's a picture showing how to "pry the ball end out of the slider" since this is the hardest thing to do on this job (I used 2 screwdrivers together since I didn't have a large enough flat bladed one to use on its own):
<Click to enlarge>
This image shows where the clip is located in the slider (on the other door this time since it's easier to see):
<Click to enlarge>
Current...1998 ///M Coupe
Previous...1997 Z3 2.8
Holy shit. The tab snapped that comes off of the door bar. I just finished welding that and the stupid regulator. Great design BMW!
Did this procedure again today on the new(er) Z3. Thanks, again, to the OP for the excellent instructions. Though, this time I didn't need to reference them (much), except regarding the airbag (which I decided to leave in place and work around.
This time, in preparation, I made sure I had plenty of new door panel clips, and replaced all those that looked iffy. In addition, as soon as the door panels were removed, I inspected each of the door clip mounts. A couple were loose... in that one edge could be lifted, and a couple clips were left in the door because a previous removal resulted in the clip mounts being torn from the door panel.
I used a 5 minute epoxy (actually 1 hour to 'full strength') to re-glue all appropriate clip mounts.
Windows work great now. Only bummer is that I carelessly seem to have lost one of the 'Air Bag' tabs (or clips) that cover the rear mounting screw. Hopefully it turns up sometime soon.
JWhite
Last edited by JWhite; 04-08-2010 at 07:37 AM.
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My driver side window no longer goes down, does that mean this will not fix my problem even if I was manually able to put it down. It was sluggish going down at first and does not move at all now. If I have to purchase a new window regulator and motor where would be the best and cheapest place to do so? Thanks
Yeah I just wastnt sure I could do that because I thought your window had to go down to be able replace them.
I'd go ahead and buy the sliders. They're really cheap and you're going to want to replace them in any case.
You will be able to move the window up/down manually once you get in there. Go slowly and watch your fingers. If you replace the sliders and it still doesn't work, then move on to the regulator.
As always, consult a trained professional if you don't feel comfortable with any of this.
Last edited by Gofast; 04-07-2010 at 08:48 PM.
I was thinking the same thing. So I hear Ebay is the best place.. I also heard if you have to replace the regulator you have to replace the motor as well. Would be nice to know if that were true. I already have the door panel off but havent tried moving the window manually. I can definately see some gobs of grease in the tracks. Not looking good but ill clean this crap out and follow the steps accordingly. Thanks again.
I did this as a maintenance when I first got the car. I ended up using the wrong grease - it dried up and got gunky made my windows not want to slide down (or slide down slowly) so I took them apart and did them again.
This time using some grease from Lucas Oils and they work great now.
I thought I could figure out how to make the window go down manually but I just dont know where to start. So far ive removed the door panel and fixed window. Should I remove some other bolts or the motor? Or should I leave the rest intact and use shear force to push it down?
When you push the button to lower the window, does it make a noise like it's trying to go down?
If so, you might try pushing the button while "helping" the window down. Don't force it though.
If not, remove/re-apply battery power and check your fuses, you might have overloaded the window and blown something.
You can check this out for an idea of how things go together:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...=51&fg=10&hl=3
My personal advice, I'd try to take piece 9 and 10 off as a single unit.
Don't take piece 9 off of piece 10 while it's inside the door. It will let you move the window, but it's really hard to put those pieces back together.
Success...
On the picture below you will see 3 golden screws.. Those are what hold the motor to the regulator should you ever have to remove it while keeping the regulator intact. I put the motor next to it so you can see how it lines up. There is one screw at the top and two down at the bottum. I had to do this in order to put my window down because the window switch wouldnt do it for me.
Here are the wonderful condition of my sliders... The little piece missing on the left simply rubbed off suggesting cracking/corrosion
Here is the window sill without the window and outer and inner weather stripping
I plugged in the motor and it works. The problem is that as soon as i turn the ignition the motor starts turning in the up position. My driver side window (up) button is messed up so im going to look into that. However when the window worked the button did too even though it did not make the click sound and push down like the normal buttons do. I decided to hook up the regulator to the motor to see if it would work itself out. Well it didnt, the only way to stop it from moving is to hold the window (down) switch. Any ideas would be appreciated. Im going to fool with it some more now.
Last edited by GoldenEye; 04-10-2010 at 06:18 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Just finished this awesome fix :
It achieved what relentless lubing couldn't!!
Thanks a lot, I got quick and silent, brand new-like windows now!!
Cool! Glad you're making progress!
You might try putting the motor back into the window and trying it again.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the regulator might use the resistance of the window to "feel" the top for the first time. Thus it rolls up until it hits the top, and then it knows where the top is.
As a benchmark can someone tell me just how fast in seconds it should take for the windows to go down? I just purchased my first Z3 last October so I have nothing to compare it to.
Fleet:
2003 BMW Z4 Roadster 3.0i
2013 Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited
That's a good question, just when out and timed mines, driver side took 3.46secs to go down and 3.79secs to go up. Pass side much slower at over 4secs to go up or down. Got the sliders sitting somewhere in the garage, one of this days
this is definitely ocd but,
driver's window 3.8 s down and 3.9 s up
passenger window 3.8 s down and 4.4 s up
Times taken with ignition on and engine off.
Ferris,
Thanks for the great DIY! I did this today and completed both doors in 2 hours. Much easier than I had anticipated after reading the replies on this discussion string. The hardest part was getting the top edge of the door panel to pop into the rubber seal at the top edge of the door. Thanks for your help.
Fleet:
2003 BMW Z4 Roadster 3.0i
2013 Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited
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