Re: losing battle E36 window motor??

[alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx]

BMWracing9@domain.elided wrote:
> hi fellows,
> yesterday while raising my passenger window, it made some 
> clanking sounds at the top.. then, again when i lowered it
> and it reached the bottom... i tried a few more times and 
> then it did not want to go up, kept trying and the noise 
> got worse... are my gears stripped? do i need a new motor?
> please help... 

Nico,
The two times I had this problem, the culprit was the $3 plastic clip that 
connect the window motor to the window rail. It's a rectangular piece of 
plastic that slides on the lithium-greased window rail. Front door windows 
have two of them, rears just one.  As lube hardens with age, the force 
transferred through the slider increases and eventually breaks it. 
Luckily, the replacement is cheap and almost always stocked at the dealer.
To investigate, remove the inner door panel held in place by plastic clips 
(just pry it out of the frame with a lever). The moving parts and the clip 
will be plainly visible.
The only tricks to installing the new clip is to liberally grease the 
window rail and be both gentle and forceful with inserting the regulator 
arm into the clip. Only use your hands to avoid breaking the window itself 
and make sure the clip clicks twice. The second click will come with a bit 
of effort.

> how much is it to repair this window? 

Most likely $3 and 1/2 hour of your DIY time.

> the window did finally go up but it sounds like something 
> is slipping...

Don't touch the window buttons again until you are prepared to fix the 
problem. Mostly likely one of your clips is broken while the other one is 
on its last legs.
When the second clip breaks, the window will drop down. If you have tint 
on the inside of the glass, it will get scratched. 

HTH,
alex f

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