Front window problem

[Skyline]

As of about an hour ago, our X5's front passenger window is stuck in the down position. Hitting the switch, the glass mover about 1/8" and stops.

Any tips on getting the glass out to check out the motor/regulator assembly out with the window stuck all the way down? I have the door panel off already.

[TwinTurboGTR]

I assuming the regulator is a goner. Check to see if there are plastic bits. If there are and the reg is broken, just snip the sleep wires and slide the glass up, remove the regulator, and replace it.

[Skyline]

Originally Posted by TwinTurboGTR

I assuming the regulator is a goner. Check to see if there are plastic bits. If there are and the reg is broken, just snip the sleep wires and slide the glass up, remove the regulator, and replace it.

OK, I cut the cables. I was able to easily remove the rear regulator bar. But the window will still not budge. It does look like its off its track at the front bottom. I could get to the bolt that hold the rearward regular to the glass, but I see no way of removing the front bolt. I can move the rear of the window up and down about an inch, but the front seems wedged in.

Now what????

[theblue]

I bet you have the problem that I had and you have now made a horrible mistake.

If I am correct the plastic clip at the bottom of the window (the left side when you are looking inside the guts of the door) broke. As a result when the window was down the top of the window glass fell forward towards the outside of the door. When you tried to make the window go up the glass is hitting the door handle carrier.

All you needed to do was reach up in the door and fish the glass around until it comes free and then replace the plastic clip.

If you started cutting window cables and bars you will now have to replace them.

In a sense I hope I'm wrong, but having just gone through this I bet I'm right.

[Skyline]

Well I got the glass and the remains of the regulator out. I had cut the two cables running to the rear regulator bar, but I missed the lower one going to the front regular bar. Cutting that gave me enough room to move the front regulator bar to an angle, move the rear of the glass up a foot or so, and then unbolt and remove the glass.

While there was some damage to the clips, they did not look all that bad. I think the culprit here was the idiot previous mechanic who installed the last window regulator had a couple of pairs of the wires in the wrong place, and the wires were pulled tight across the front track. Once the window went down, the wires acted as a lever to pry the window out of the front track. If this wild guess is correct, I probably just cut up a fairly new regulator. But I saw no alternative. The glass was totally locked in position, and I had no way to get to the front bolt holding the regulator to the glass.

[Skyline]

New regulator installed, car back together, everything good. Again thanks to the assistance and DIY threads here.

[Skyline]

One other thing I'd like to add here. The Bentley manual said to remove the trim below the window on the outside of the door. This is not only hard to do without damaging the trim, but it is 100% unnecessary to remove the glass. Instead, I removed the top seal on the inside of the door. Much easier to get off and on again without damaging anything, and gives plenty of room to get the glass out/in. I really don't know what the folks at Bentley were thinking.