Help Front Left Window regulator replacement
 

Greetings,
My window is stuck down all the way in. I have followed the DIY to remove the door panel (one screw was stuck), but all the instructions assume the windows are working, I cannot get it up enough to detach from the regulator. Is there a trick? I tried pushing from the bottom, but no movement. So how does one detach the window from the regulator..any help is much appreciated....

Thanks
mohan

Do I have to unscrew the window regulator first and then somehow move it up enough to access the window retaining screws? In a door panel removed state :)

recently i had to replace the regulator on the front left door. the glass was wedged and did not want to move. If you are going to replace the regulator and not recycle it, you may wish to consider snipping the cables, and wiggle the glass to the point where you can disengage the glass from the carrier.

Do you have a replacement regulator already?

When I started to replace my driver side it was because the plastic clip brokeat the rear of the window. It wasn't the regulator. I did have torso ace passenger rear. The window basically tilted back and would get stuck. Try grasping the back part of the window pulling up. I ended up just wiring the clip back together around the cable. Been working the past two years.

BT is right, those cheesy clips that hold the glass break all the times, so far I had replaced them on 3 out of 4 doors, the 1st two I had to replace the whole regulator things, as when the window went out of commission, we tried to push the buttons to move the glass, and that operation totally killed the regulators' plastic pulleys. On the last door, as the glass died inside, we did not touch anything, until i got the panel off, and it was the clip. So, i ordered about 10 clips (dealer was suprised to see the quantity) and about 20 snap-on clips for the panel trip (as they break left and right) and just swapped the broken clip for a good one.

I think, having those clips on hand is a good invenstment, they are about $1.20 a piece, and the panel clips are about a $.25 a piece... so, I stocked up... lol...

Thanks for the info..yes I do have the replacement regulator, bought it just in case..will try to snip the cables..then

ok..Before I try to cut the cable..wanted to give the other suggestions..Here is what I find..I think the left side of the glass appears to move freely..the right side of the glass (bottom) is where it is stuck or jammed..I have been little bit gentle as I don't want to break the glass..does that shed any clue..Also looks like the left side the screw seems to be off..looks like the previous owner or whoever did the job tried to salvage whatever was there..
If I snip the cable will the glass come off or slide up easily? Thanks..

before snipping the cables, make sure that the wiggling does not help, because you might wiggle yourself out of replacing the whole thing and doing just the clips and if not, you still might need the clips anyways, as the regulators do not come with the clips...

The window clips are 51 33 8 254 781, for $1.11 a piece from BMW of Fairfax mail order, and panel clip is 51 41 8 224 781, for $0.24 from the same place.

you might want to try to tap on the window switch (you would need to reconnect the window switch back) and move the lifting mechanism up (or down) to align the plastic clip (or what is left of it) with the hole on the glass. The plastic clip probably broke off, and the glass wedged itself under its weight. Make sure that the door is open, when you tap the switch, you don't want the lifter go up (or down) in one single swoop... you know, when the door is open, the glass is moving as long as you hold the switch.

Anxious to hear how this works out. Got same problem with my DS front window on my '01 X5. Ordered the clips a couple of weeks ago, but have not installed yet. Been wondering if I am wasting my time and maybe the new clips, without replacing the regulator. Terminator, you have me thinking again it is just the clips.

This about sounds right, what does "to align the plastic clip (or what is left of it) with the hole on the glass", my glass is down and I don't think I have any access hole I think. will try to post a picture..

I took a flashlight and tried to look around:
* I don't see any clips on the Left side, where the glass is attached to the regulator. And whats were the inside screw that is used to attach the glass to the regulator is loose.
* I think I can see some sort of clip on the right side, hard to see. But this is the side that has no movement.
Here are the clips I ordered:
2:
I ordered this, they appear to be 51 33 8 254 781 that you gave. But from the REAL OEM site for my model year (2001,3.0) here, I don't see any part corresponding to the second one, 51 41 8 224 781?

One thing when researching to do this DIY, is every model year and within the model year there appears to be tweaks that might be slightly different from your model.
TerminatorX, thank you very much for the inputs and sticking with this thread.

Update: got it rolled up around 6"
 

Thanks TerminatorX, I managed to get the window glass up, to where I can get to the bolts where it attaches to the regulator. It appears that my left side bolt (8mm) that attaches to the clip fell off. I didn't change anything, just secured the glass to regulator, the clip seemed fine. I will test and make sure I can roll it up, maybe I don't have to take anything out. Will post the results.

The trick was, I connected the battery back, attached the door switch. I held the bottom of the glass, and in my foruth attempt of rolling it down and up with my hand on the bottom of the glass, it "latched" and rolled up.

Ok, its all well now. I just attached the loosened screw, it appears to work. The regulator seemed fine, so I did not go through with it. I will keep monitored. Thanks to all who responded with suggestions and answers.
Cheers

Excellent, I am so glad it worked... One thing though - if the bolt detached once, it may do so again. The bolt and the special nut on the back of the clip are metal, so they probably will not break off that easily. the clip, on the other hand, is plastic, and as such, is THE weakest item in the setup.

I would strongly recommend to replace the clip, it seems to be "tired", if it lost the bolt once... It is only couple bucks in parts, but will save a lot of aggravation in a long run... Also, the "wings" on the old clip may look good, but if you compare them to a brand new one, you might notice the difference in the lenghth of the plastic material.

Ask me how I know all these stupid details - the car has total of 6 of those clips - I managed to replace about 8 of them already!!!

EDIT: Wow, the clips in the links you provided are at $3 each!!! dealer is selling them at buck and a quarter!!! I am really amazed to see that the dealer is cheaper - what the world has come to?!!!!

Hooray! Replaced both plastic clips on the DS front yesterday. All is well and working now! Guess that really is all it was. Local parts store ordered for me and sold to me for $1.25 each. Wish I had some way of knowing exactly how much to tighten the bolts, though. Don't know whether to leave them looser and take a chance on them falling out, or tighten down hard and bust up those plastic clips again. :(

Seems fine for now, though!

Wahhh!!! Been working fine for over a week now with the new clips -- until today. Wife took it to a car wash, lowered the window to pay first, and it never came back up. Then she got caught in the rain at Walmart, and my name was mud.

Took the panel off tonight. The clips look intact from what I can see. Guess I'm going to have to do the regulator. But, I can't get the window up. It's all the way down and won't move more than maybe a quarter inch or so. I just want to get it up tonight and disconnect the motor so she can take son to doctor and run errands tomorrow. I'm afraid if I cut the cable the window won't stay up.

Guess I'll go try to jiggle a bit more....

clips are intact but it is still wedged? does motor make any noise? is it trying to spin? it could be that the glass was not seated in the tracks properly and eventually worked itself out. cutting cables would be last resort... try to get the glass moving, reseat it, and then use a lubricant. not WD-40, no... try graphite powder, apply to the glass tracks and other moving parts of the regulator...

Got it up! Prised up from the bottom with a plastic screwdriver handle, just hard enough to not break (I was praying) the glass, while rocking the switch up & down. Yes, the motor is working. The clips do appear to be intact (still in one piece, with full length of all "prongs/tabs"). Not sure if maybe something became unseated with them, but I don't think so. I'll look closer when I go back into it. The window is all the way up for tonight and I unplugged the motor, so wife can run errands tomorrow.

Think I'm just going ahead with shopping for a regulator and try it with all new parts. Think I need to lubricate the new parts with anything, or should it be okay as it comes from factory? Is that graphite powder necessary? Any other parts I might consider replacing, other than the clips? Thanks!

i would suggest taking the glass out of the door (when you start working on it) and run the carriers up and down... watch out for the metal tabs on carrier tracks, so they don't catch on the cables... if the carriers run fine, the regulator probably is ok... then reinstall the glass, reconnect to the regulator and try again... you would want to lube the moving parts, but you don't want to attract dust... you might use other types of lube, graphite is black and visible on the black tracks... it is about $10 at home depot... utimate option is to replace the whole thing... do NOT disconnect the airbag, just hang it by a twine or a rope out of way... otherwise you would need to reset the airbag light... i got my regulators off ebay, brand new aftermarket... if you want to, i can look up the seller for you...

Thanks, I'm shopping eBay now. They are really reasonable there, so I am just going with new parts. Feel pretty certain the motor is okay, so I'll probably reuse it.

I already tripped the airbag light while replacing the door handle mechanism a couple of years ago. Still haven't gotten it by the dealer to have it turned off. Really need to do that. Guess it's getting off the course of this thread, but I wonder if there is a DIY way to (properly) turn it off. Haven't found it in anything I have read so far.

Thanks again.

sorry, i am not much help on the airbag light... i had some guys do some light programming, like enabling euro frequencies on the radio (the even FM channels), turning off the ding-dong noise, when the key is left in the ignition... but niothing beyond that...

$39.40 with shipping. Could be much worse!

that is actually is a very good price...

Interesting. I replaced these clips on my sons 318Ti.
Now on the X5 (2002), the passenger window got stuck down. A little help up and it went up smooth as silk. I unplugged the motor.
Now I have the same issue with the Drivers side. I will look at the clips but it went up evenly. Thinking of putting a wood block at the bottom of the door to limit down travel.
Crude. May break the cables.
Have the Bentley manual out trying to see what stops the window when going down.
FYI: Nothing found.
Anyone know?
Thanks in advance.

George
Hoover, AL
2002 X5 3.0L

chances are that the clips on the X5 are giving in... they are THE weakest link in the window setup. limiting the travel will not help, the motors operate via the general modul giving the commands... on the way up, if the glass encounters an obstacle, the force to move glass increases thus drawing more torque from the motor and more juice, and the module shuts off the motor ( retracts it a bit and shuts off). it is the pinch protection. on the way down it operates in similar way, but does not retract glass up. so the wedge will stop the glass travelling at a different stopppig point but will not prevent the disintegration of the clips, as the slightly increase torque applied by the motor will be at a wooden block spot, and that torque will put the force onto the weakened clips. stop operating the windows until you get the replacement clips, and just replace the clips now, before the cable gets all tangled up, and the glass gets scratched, and then you will need to replace all the guts...

sorry for the long explanation...

:)

Actually great thinking. Thank you.
I examined carefully the door bottom for broken pieces. Found none.
BUT, moving the window down to a hole in the channel, I noticed that the cable has a piece crimped on it that fits into that clip that moves the window up and down. That did not look right. Sure enough, using some needle nose pliers, I found a piece broken off of it. Eureka! Now I know how to fix BOTH windows.
Hard to keep up though. Had a coolant leak. Had to replace the expansion tank. And noticed that the fan shroud is broken. Have one now but have to get the fan off, RH or LH? Also noticed that the 2 front outer boots are split. Just repaired the outside door lock and the MID. Hard to keep up. Have to pull the engine on the Audi S4 to replace the turbos (just rebuilt the manual 6 speed) and the Audi A6 needs a valve body rebuilt on the Auto transmission. One day at a time! And daughters Volvo won't start. And garage door just stopped working. The screw drive plastic block striped.
Pulled the motor connector on the window motor in case the wife gets a brain freeze.
Must be 2 of these blocks on each window?
Thanks again.

George
Hoover, AL
2002 X5 3.0L

the definition of time is that the future contains indefinite amount of enthropy that slowly (or not so slowly!!!) trickles into the past via the present... your situation is just that... when you get the window clips, on the same order buy the clips that hold the door trim to the door, as they break when you pull the trim in and out... will save some aggravation when you are reinstalling the trim back... oh, and buy more of thos clips, at a buck a piece, i got myself 10 - let them sit in the garage, just in case...

roll tide roll... ha ha ha, i was told to tell you that... lol...

As long as I do not reach maximum entropy for a while.
I have a box of 100 door clips. Needed them for daughters Z3 (now a mother with a XC90) and my son's 318Ti and then his M3 (totalled by a guy texting on a straight level road and failed to stop as my son was stopped at a red light).
Tomorrow I will get those window clips. A bunch of them. If I have spares, they will never break again.
As for roll tide, Yes, I have been in Alabama now 21 years but am originally from NJ. I am referred to as a damn Yankee because I moved there and stayed. There is no neutrality here among the natives. You are either for Alabama or Auburn. Me, I enjoy shopping during the iron bowl. Stores and streets are deserted.
BTW, I saw a interview where physicists are disturbed by the weakness of gravity and believe it is a force leaking into this dimension from another one. I have to check their math on that one. LOL.

George
Hoover, AL
2002 X5 3.0L

UPDATE: That broken plastic block is part of the window regulator and cannot be purchased individually. It is attached to the cable and rides the rail up and down taking the window with it. Did buy window clips just in case, and 2 outer axle boot rebuild kits.
Ebay has regulator for anywhere from $20+ dollars without a motor to a lot higher. Dealer wants $200.00 each (I need 2). The right front is broken too.
Peace.
BTW the window clips are totally different from the blocks that broke on the 318. Those regulators had arms. The X5 is the cable type thus the difference.

George
2002 X5 3.0L
Hoover, AL.

you got a picture of the broken piece, by any chance?

Clips for a lot if bimmers here: RegulatorFix.com

X5 guide clips photos:
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...5E53FrontB.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...5E53FrontB.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...5E53FrontA.jpghttp://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...5E53FrontA.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...X5rearleft.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...X5rearleft.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/...5rearright.jpg

There's an e-bay seller in Sparks, NV that sells Genuine BMW regulators for $50 shipped.

I ordered one last year, had all the correct markings.

Not sure if has current listings.