Window Regulator clip

[AV8R4AA]

Originally Posted by TriX5

AV8R, the popping is the tell-tale sign that your window clip is about to give up. Mine were sure fire, as soon as the new clips were in, the popping was gone. The problem is that it will finally give up at that moment which is the most inopportune for you ;-)

Those are the black window clips?
is that a dealer only item, or are others okay?

Thank you.

[cn90]

There are 2 separate issues:

1. The black window clip is only 90 cents at dealer, two (2) per door.
Or eight (8) per car.

2. The rectangular clip: aftermarket market only b/c dealers only sell the whole window regulator and not the rectangular clip.

We discussed that in the DIY below:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...dow-clips.html

[Rush]

My driver's window stayed down the other day, so I ordered the RegulatorFix.com clips and gave them to my repair guy when I dropped the car off.

He threw them in and all is well. Question, he left this on the seat:



I'm assuming that this one didn't need replacing, but why are the plastic ones from RegulatorFix considered an upgrade? They're better than the metal ones? Or, are they just a way of not having to replace the entire regulator?

I would have thought he would just replace the broken one and left the good one in place.

Thoughts, anyone?

[IgotBMW]

The metal piece doesn't break. It's those plastice pieces that break. Did the mechanice tell you why your windows stayed down all day if these weren't broken?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rush]

No, I picked the car up after hours, so I haven't talked to him after seeing the unbroken clip on the front seat.

The window works fine, and given the price, the full regulator certainly wasn't replaced.

Going forward, should a clip break, should I have the metal one reinstalled or use RegulatorFix clips.

[Ricky Bobby]

^The RegulatorFix clips are much beefier - I wouldn't have the stock one reinstalled as its been known to get weak with age/use.

[Rush]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

^The RegulatorFix clips are much beefier - I wouldn't have the stock one reinstalled as its been known to get weak with age/use.

Thank you.

I'm surprised that the steel fails. Though, it does have the feel of a Mattel Hot Wheels.

Jeebus I loved those things.

A lot cheaper to keep and maintain, too.

[oldskewel]

The one in the photo is broken. Pretty much dead center on the part is a ~rectangular hole for the cylindrical nubbin on the regulator cable to fit into. Immediately above and below that are plastic sections that guide the cable and hold everything exactly in place. I can see that the plastic below the rectangular hole in the photo has this plastic broken off. That's how they fail. When that plastic breaks off, the cable no longer stays where it should be and eventually the cylindrical nubbin comes partially out of the rectangular hole and jams or breaks completely free. Then your window is stuck.

It's broken, so don't use it, of course.

BTW, an earlier comment said that there were 2 of the black plastic window clips on each of the 4 windows. For my 2001 X5, that is true for the front two windows. But the rear windows have only one clip each, they are white/natural in color, different part numbers, and to make up for only needing one per window, they cost 6x as much!

Part numbers for my 2001 E53. Prices are from RMEuropean.com, where I bought them a week or so ago:
Front, 2 per front window, black in color, PN 51-33-8-254-781, $1.29 each
Rear, 1 per rear window, white/natural in color, PN 51-35-7-011-680, $8.31 each

[Ricky Bobby]

^This is true - and there is also only one "regulator clip" on the rear windows as well in addition to one "window clip"