Quote:
Originally Posted by luvmy03E53
...Oldskewel, in my situation, would it not be better to just replace the complete passenger door window regulator assembly? It seems to me that in the time it would take to replace the clips, I could install a new regulator. Also, my fear is that replacing the clips only will resolve the issue for now, but that in a year or two I'll be back in there again to replace the regulator. Do you trust a regulator with a price so significantly lower than OEM? I'm a bit of a stickler for using OEM when I can. Not that I'm opposed to saving money, just don't want to sacrifice reliability (read chinese parts)...
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Once you've got the door panel off, figured out what you're going to do, and got all the parts in hand, you're 90% of the way there (unless you triggered the airbag light, but that's another story). So complete new regulator vs. just new regulator clips is not much difference.
New regulator (with clips) takes about the same time as putting new regulator clips on an existing regulator. Yes, it will take a minute or two to R+R the regulator clips on the original regulator, but if getting a new regulator, you'll need to R+R the motor (3 Torx T30 screws = easy). So about the same effort either way. Either way, the regulator has to come out of the door (5 10mm screws = easy).
From examining the regulator clip that came off my car, vs. the ones on the replacement regulator, vs. the ones on ebay, I don't see anything that would make me trust one much more than any of the others.
When I bought my $30 regulator with clips, I figured I was getting clips for $14 and the rest of the regulator for $16. The regulator that was in there looked to be just fine and I figured I would swap the new regulator clips onto the old regulator, keeping the new regulator as an almost free spare, if the new one looked marginal in any way. But it's a pretty simple thing - some pulleys, cables, sheet metal. The new one fit perfectly and looked to be a functionally exact match, so I used the new one (not R+R'ing the regulator clips) and instead saved the original one as a spare that I don't expect to ever use.
Works fine, of course.
Regarding longer term durabilty, I've got to say that I've been driving and repairing my own cars for about 30 years now, and before buying the x5 last month, I had never even heard the term "window regulator." So here's a case where it's not like BMW is an especially trusted supplier.
If I could have found an OE regulator for $50, I would have paid the extra and hoped it was real. I don't understand pricing of many parts, but that $30 regulator I got looked just fine.