window regulator cable keeper metal replacement

[myeaglescout]

Does anyone know of a repair that can be done to replace the plastic cable end keepers on the rear (or front) door window regulators with metal keepers? Both of mine crapped out at the same time, and it's because the ends of the cables are contained in a plastic carrier that simply breaks. I've found repair kits online, but all the clips look plastic (sometimes hard to tell from photos, and not mentioned in description). This isn't the first time they have failed on this truck, and I'd like not to revisit this anytime soon.

[cn90]

Can you post a photo to show what you mean?

[crystalworks]

I believe he's referring to the cable slider clips. I am not aware of any metal ones. Plenty of plastic "upgrade" ones or there though. I always order those and then zip tie the cable to the clip. That usually alleviates any future issues. At least I've never had a second failure...

[cn90]

I was "lucky" bc a few years ago I bought the sliding clip on ebay (the seller name is "regulatorfix" or something like that).

In my case, I was lucky bc the slot where the cable metal ferrule sits is so tight that I have to use a pair of channel locks or C-clamps to squeeze it in.

I posted the trick in post #43 in the thread below. Normally the force of cable when going up is exerted on the 2 small tabs on the top and with time, these flimsy tabs break. Now, the cable ferrule is held by very tight friction. So far so good.


https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...w-clips-5.html

[myeaglescout]

I have found some that have both metal and plastic, but not all metal, and wouldn't you know it, the part that keeps breaking is the part that's still made of plastic. Anyone had experience with both to know the difference?

[myeaglescout]

thx for the reply cn90. My particular situation is for the rear doors, and the clip is quite different. I'll try to post a photo of a rebuild kit here to demonstrate. The listing says "metal" as you can see(if the photo worked), but it's only partly true. As you may be able to tell, the ends of the cables are held with springs to take up some of the shock, but the whole part around the cable ends is plastic. So, the force is actually trying to pull the unit apart from both directions and is destined to fail prematurely. I was hoping someone designed one with that part made of metal, but not so far as I've seen.

[oldskewel]

Correct, the rears are very different. I have similarly not seen any full metal ones. Just the all-plastic or metal+plastic as you show in the pic. BTW for that pic - odd that they show the cable routed through that hole in the metal; it does not go through there at all.

What I have found is that for the rear, there is no real way I can see to strengthen it to make it last longer. Vs. on the fronts, I typically use zip ties and epoxy to solidify things. As it is in the fronts, the tension in the cable causes some off-axis bending of the plastic, eventually leading to failure. The zip ties keep things better aligned, so not off axis, and the epoxy keeps it in place and strengthens it.

In the rear, there are little springs there that are supposed to provide some compliance, so I do not think epoxy will help. And they look to be on-axis, so no need for zip ties.

In general, since the pic there appears to be a slider clip + cable set, I'll say that if your broken regulator is an OE one (Brose, I believe was the OES for my car's regulators; or of course a genuine BMW one), it may be worth rebuilding. But anything else, I'd replace with new. Even a cheap new China brand one, since it will be newer junk vs. older junk.

And of course you'll need a new window clip to hold that slider clip to the window itself. Different parts for front vs. rear. Front needs 2, rear needs 1. Rear costs 6x what the front does.

[cn90]

I wonder if you want to install extra ferrule (just cut a slit and slide it in, then crimp it) on each end, just a few mm outside of the spring area. This way when the cable is pulled on the spring, it will be caught by the ferrule on either end.