Thanks very much. That said, I've replaced numerous regulators both on my X5 and on several E46 cars and have never seen that clip break - in all my fixes, it was the actual plastic reels (and or the cable rivet that secures the cable to the plastic reel) that have failed.

It would sure be nice to take the troublesome parts and have them machined in billet - now THAT would make for a robust regulator.

that part is plastic probably because it goes into the glass, and they did not want metal to rub against glass and chip it or crack, should something be slightly out of alignment... my speculation...

there are holes in the glass, and there are those clips in those holes... front glass is bigger (wider) so it has two holes and two clips... rear window is narrower, and it has only one clip... the clip has teeth, and those are the teeth that break off - sometimes they shear off clean, and to an untrained eye (or inexperienced one) they might look normal - mine were looking good... until i was told to just replace them, and then i saw the difference between the old one and the new one...