two birds with one stone - window & handle

[we350z]

So some of you may have seen my posts about the many problems I have been having with my X5, including the following:

- Driver window not rolling up
- Bent door handle

I am happy to say that I have determined the cause of both of these. Take a look at the following picture (click to enlarge):



The regulator bolt had popped out of the hole that it bolts to in the window. I plugged the window switch back in and shimmied the window up and down a little and then was able to pull the window up back into place. I didn't realize it at first but my bent door handle popped right back into place and is now functioning just fine. The weight of the window must have been pushing on the door handle carrier assembly. The window also rolls up and down smoothly like it did before, although it does sound a little weak so I may still need the replacement regulator I bought eventually.

So i am pretty happy that i was able to figure this out, but my question is how the hell did it pop out of the hole in the first place? Is their supposed to be a washer on the other side of the bolt that popped out of the window hole to prevent this from happening, because i don't see one. I would like to make sure this doesn't happen again because removing the door panel is a whore.

thanks guys