Replacing sliders and greasing front door tracks

[pwhitt]

I'm missing some of the black rubber that goes on the side of the window (front area going up). I had to tear it off once because the window would not go up. Anyone know what it is called?

This one? https://www.ecstuning.com/ES93938/ ?

If not, try
http://realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpart...diagId=51_2325
http://realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpart...diagId=41_1629
http://realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpart...diagId=51_2351

328 power 04 - i don't think that's what he was looking for... resurrecting this thread from the dead to add to the record and seek any alternatives.

i got the door panels off, replaced the sliders using the shortcut (popped out without disassembly), lubed the appropriate spots.

after putting the new guides in they were still slow and straining. a little faster, but something was obviously still wrong...

so i took it all apart - pulled the quarter window and found the weather strip on the quarter window had torn. i think that's what mermedia was talking about - the vertical strip that runs up the quarter window.

that weatherstrip is stretched down the channel and glued at the bottom. both of mine had torn about 3-5" up from bottom edge. the tear allowed the weatherstrip to bunch up and slide up with the window, and both had small portions near the tear folding up into the channel with the window when it traveled up.

RealOEM says the quarter windows are PNs 51328410161 (left) & 51328410162 (right), both listed for $186.

google shows them oing for $375, and ebay has some used for less than $50 - both none of the photos show the weatherstrip. on one i couldn't even tell if it had weatherstrip.

so - i cut off the bottom 6" on each, being careful to make clean tapered cuts. i'm guessing the pressure from the window will hold it in the frame, but i don't count on this lasting.

short of paying a bajillion dollars for the whole window assembly, are their options for replacing only the weatherstrip?

my plan priorities are: 1) find whole pieces and replace, 2) find weather strip that fits the profile and splice it in to the current setup as best i'm able, using adhesive to bond the new part to the old, 3) stretch my modified (chopped up) stripping and wedge it in place, bond the bottom of whats left to the channel and cross my fingers.

for now, it's all back together and working great - as good as new. but at some point that strip is going to bind up again or slide out of the channel.

[MellowYellow M3]

Excellent write-up! I am going to do this DIY on my drivers side door and attempt the non-window removal method.

One question: what exact brand of lube should I use? and any photos of where exactly to apply them to?

[Jakechan]

I did my driver's door recently. The rear bush didn't want to come out, but I changed the front one. It wasn't worn much just the original grease had hardened. I then liberally applied grease to both tracks.
I did mine "window in", unbolt the airbag and hang it from the door, that way the window can be raised and lowered to work the grease it. Unless you have a reset tool of course.

[s8ilver]

Excellent write-up! I am going to do this DIY on my drivers side door and attempt the non-window removal method.

One question: what exact brand of lube should I use? and any photos of where exactly to apply them to?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

- - - Updated - - -

You can also just disconnect the battery, remove the airbag, and then reconnect it to move the windows. I find just removing the windows makes everything much easier to clean (you can't see the dried grease in situ), and it's a grand total of 3 extra bolts to get both windows out. Just remember that when you reinstall the triangular widow to replace the "shim stack" below the post. It's just a stack of 2 or 3 washers installed at the factory, but easy to omit if you didn't know to look for them.

[amancuso]

Very informative thread. I'm having an issue no one here seems to have experienced. On the passenger side door, when raising the glass the front edge of the window seems to be getting jammed in the channel on the quarter window, it starts tilting until it jams (obviously I do not raise it till it jams). I have tried lubing that channel in silicone but nothing seems to help. I removed the sliders, and greased the tracks they sit in. My thought was that the quarter window channel pushes the glass towards the rear of the door as it slides on the sliders. Maybe my sliders are just done and need replacing. I have a set on order that will arrive in 2 days, so when they do I will disassemble everything, clean and lube.

Do you guys think lithium or silicone is better?

Thanks,
Al.

[IndianaRoadster]

You want something that doesn't Harden. I used red line synthetic CV-2
20200930_203734.jpg

[amancuso]

Is that a CV joint grease? Hopefully I can find it locally.

[IndianaRoadster]

Is that a CV joint grease? Hopefully I can find it locally.

I ordered it online, Turner Motorsport has it.

[solimans]

Maybe this stuff, safe on rubber / plastic?

AGS SIL-Glyde Silicone Lubricant, Tube, 4 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036VMLH0..._MtvDFbQKRPJQB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[s8ilver]

Is that a CV joint grease? Hopefully I can find it locally.

This stuff was recommended to me by Clownshoe Motorsports as well as a local BMW shop in my neck of the woods. I like the brush; easy to get in the grooves.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm sure any non-hardening sticky type grease will do the trick, so just an alternative.

[cyberman]

Hi - since this thread was revived, I have a question. I read the whole thread and don't see an answer, but maybe someone with deeper knowledge has a clue. I just removed my door panels to replace and repair broken clips. I will also be going back in when I do the audio system so I held up on replacing the sliders for now, and yes, the windows move slowly - not bad, but obviously in need of lubing and slider replacement.

But here's the question. I wasn't sure until I replaced the panel clips, but when the door is closed, I hear a rattling at the bottom of both doors near the bottom and on the rearward side of the door. It sounds like something is loose, but any what? Advanced notice would help so I can gather the parts before disassembling it again. If I'd have to guess, I seems like the bottom of the window is moving/rattling around, but it could be the track or any number of parts. The noise is apparent on both doors but worse on the driver's side.

[smoothsix]

cyberman- I'd guess that you lost the washer at the bottom of the fixed window. When you undo the bolt at the bottom, there's a washer just sitting in the door. I had to be careful to make sure my bolt picked it back up when re-inserting the bolt.

Just did this work today and wanted to echo the thanks of everyone here. I haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know if my comments are already covered, but here was my experience.

It was actually quite a bit easier than I expected/had feared. I already had the door panels off as I'm working on a stereo install. (tore some particleboard in the door panels in the process so I'll be doing some epoxying).

My first windows (driver's side) came out in under an hour, and that includes my setup time (moving tools and workbench to the driveway to do the chore. All in, the whole job probably took me 5 hours including a close to 1 hour lunch break. This does not include door cards though, they were already off.

I took the time to clean the windows really well. I suspect that putting the fixed (triangle) window back in is easier on a coupe. Honestly, I just pushed it all the way 'back' into the sliding window, and it was pretty good. one was a tad "loose" fitting to the a-pillar but then I ended up moving it too far forward and the door didn't close properly. I might need to do a bit more fine-tuning but i can still do that with the vapor barrier re-sealed and the airbag back in place.

My windows aren't as much quicker as I had expected/hoped- they were fine until a year or two ago and then got slow and I got popping at least once, maybe twice -- no broken metal that I saw, though. The windows operate like they're "supposed" to, eg, how I remember them being when the car was 'only' 10 years old. I definitely cleaned extremely well, replaced the sliders, and lubed everything, including the gears.

I saw wear on the face of the window sliders (the black metal tracks). I think the regulator arms had been bending under load and scraping on them. Looking back, I remember some rubbing/scraping sounds but never thought too much of it.

Now that things are cleaned and lubed, no more of that!

thanks again.

[cyberman]

cyberman- I'd guess that you lost the washer at the bottom of the fixed window.

Yes there was some bits and pieces floating around the bottom. But the main (and horrendous) rattling was coming from the anti-theft plates tack welded to the rear window track. Originally, there was foam glued on them to prevent rattling where they could contact metal, but that form disintegrated and almost none of it was left. In a convertible, it's easy to slice the top to get in so I decided to grind off those places and it's quiet now. The driver's door window makes a big bump sound as it traverses the end of it's travel and I suspect something bad is happening but haven't figured it out yet.