Power window failure

[Mun]

just to share,My rear driver side windows failed to close a two weeks ago. The glass simply drop upon closing about 3 inches. I manually pushed the glass panel by hand all the way up but then it dropped again. Pressed the button all the way down and then it just sticks inside the door!! silly me. Can still hear the motor clicks when pressed. Luckily was still in front of the house, reversed , sealed with plastic sheet and head to office with my wife's car. Googled the problem and end up at e90 post. I knew it can't be the motor which can hardly fail and my guess was right - its the regulator fault.http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=394247&page=2Thought of sending the car to workshop but suddenly tangan gatal for DIY. You know la.. most workshop guys sometimes simply cincai bikin especially when putting things back together. Not to mentioned missing screws.There was a video on the forum on how to replace the regulator which to me seem simple. I've done this before many years back on my merc 190e which was slightly harder to dismantle. There is a delicate insulation / vapor barrier layer which need extra care to remove and put back, which reinforce my decision for DIY. So call up Stuttgart for parts which cost RM 170, from taiwan.Took me less than an hour to complete the job without really rushing. Once the new regulator is in, i reconnect the power ( before closing up ) to make sure it works. It did. but there was a problem. I can't reset it. The window drops down about 3 inches after closing and the anti-trap warning signs appear on the cluster. repeat the process several times and still couldn't reset the thing. However can still close the window by lifting the button bit by bit till it just hit the top. So i've decided to leave it at that and let the workshop try to reset it on my next service. Last week decided to repeat the process but still no success.last night while queueing at McD drive thru' decided to give it a try again. rolled it all the way down. lift up button and it goes up in like 4 inches interval. repeat the process twice and voila!! it just reset itself.From the e90 post forum, it does not seem like a rare fault. The regulator is, not to say flimsy but definitely not a tough component. The cables seem a weak point for snapping but maybe it was intended for the anti trap functions.See... BMW oso got power window problems. not just proton!! he he..anyone encountered this before?

 

[moots]

aikk....e90 got pobrems oledi?

the e39,the ones above 10 years old...common.all 4 of my windows have had some form of repair of the other.in fact my rear rh door window is still faulty,but i have no use for the window to come down so i sealed it shut by rigging up the cable.

cable system power windows not as good as the e34 one....scissor design....much better...

 

[Mun]

Not sure what caused the regulator to fail, but I'm suspecting my blazer which was hung next to it at that time. The shoulder part of the blazer perhaps swung towards the window, pushing the blinds to block the glass

 

[Hikaru]

My cable just snapped whilst I was on the highway. Once it was down it won't go up again so had to turn back to get another car. Was about a hundred or two hundred dollar fix with replacing all the ralis and cable. I guess bm was trying to save weight by using a cable system as opposed to a scissor system. Oh well......

 

[kimi yap]

Same thing exactly happened to my rear driver side window few weeks ago, DIY as well, cost about ~RM370 for genuine BMW regulator. Something to share:
1) When window is firmly closed, dont try to re-close it again, the FORCE apply to the regulator is quite big and possibility damage your aged regulator/other parts.
2) If so bad luck, cant close the window and you hear some 'klak-klak' sound inside the door, which confirmed something is damaged. Dont keep trying press the window button or manually push Up & Down the window by your hand... It wont help in fact, end up u might scratch the screen or the tinted...

 

[sillycarx]

I had 2 of my windows getting this problem. Seems like always happen on the windows that is least used
Anyway, when I look at it closer, the piece that always breaks is the green plastic piece. I found a workshop in Penang which would fix it by, replacing the plastic piece with a custom metal piece... seems to be working fine now. Maybe will last longer? It has been over 1 year still good

 

[astroboy]

I had 2 of my windows getting this problem. Seems like always happen on the windows that is least used
Anyway, when I look at it closer, the piece that always breaks is the green plastic piece. I found a workshop in Penang which would fix it by, replacing the plastic piece with a custom metal piece... seems to be working fine now. Maybe will last longer? It has been over 1 year still good

sounds like a worthy upgrade to prevent failure.

1. can we get it in KL?

2. need to unplug battery terminals when opening the door card to prevent accidental trigger the airbags?

 

[sillycarx]

Actually I don't have the answer to any of your questions. But I think at least for the 2nd question, I don't think he did that, cause I think he just took the regulator out, and then fixed it by replacing the green plastic clip on the regulator with a metal one, and then put the whole regulator back.

BTW, the shop that did it for me in Penang is Chu Seng.

 

[astroboy]

I thought it's an electronic regulator..

It's called lifter in the part catalog, item 1, in fact, it's metal rail with cable to slide the window up/down.

The plastic you are referring to is the green color piece.

 

[kimi yap]

i think the green plastic break easily is to save other more expensive part, such as motor. If replace with metal, when the mechanism/window movement become tight, guess the force will break which part then?! my 2 cents

 

[astroboy]

Crumple zone eh?! :4: even JDM oso uses plastic for this part.

 

[Game-R]

I think it's both to save cost of manufacturing and also reducing potential noise problems from metal screeching against metal if the lubrication dries up.

 

[Mun]

Guess what!!! The other side now fails too. In less than a month! Beginning to sound like a routine failure... Oh well, tinkering time.