Someone had suggested that perhaps a cable jumped a pulley- perhaps that could cause the change in path length. Hard to believe it wouldn't jam tight or get really sloppy though. The regulator isn't too pricey - I put in a dorman regulator from Amazon. Around $50 from what I recall. Has been going strong.

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David.X5
2001 X5 4.4i Sport
SOLD! at 160k miles