Front window regulator DIY

if i replace my WR with a new one, do you guys suggest the zip tie method now in case it fail in the future?

Originally Posted by pinoybmr3

if i replace my WR with a new one, do you guys suggest the zip tie method now in case it fail in the future?

Why not? It might give you a few extra cycles.

Originally Posted by John in VA

Why not? It might give you a few extra cycles.

thats what i thought

Originally Posted by pinoybmr3

if i replace my WR with a new one, do you guys suggest the zip tie method now in case it fail in the future?

Yes.

just did mine today by about two hours but maybe next time its gonna be faster, i replaced with a new one but i did zip tie it and fixed the old one with zip tie as well, thanks to this forum.

Hi all,

Just wanted to add, I fixed my passenger side window following these steps and it worked like a charm. I will be doing the driver side tomorrow.

Awesome posts people!

Cheers
Joe

Driver side done today.... thanks for the write-up

Fantastic write-up! Thanks for taking the time to document the procedure. I fixed my front passenger side today.

Aaaargh! I did my right rear regulator last year with no problems. Now I'm in the middle of doing the right front.... with a definite problem.

This one wasn't as messed up as the right rear so I went with the ziptie approach instead of buying a new unit. I had one broken part on one plastic clip but went ahead and ziptied both sides of both clips as shown in the DIYs.

I've got enough bits and pieces back together to test things. With the window unattached, the carrier pieces move up and down as they should. But with the window attached, the motor runs out of steam with the window about 60% of the way up. It slows down, is obviously straining, then just stops. Also, note that it is pretty difficult for me to physically push the window (when not attached to the regulator) all the way up. The DIY says to tape it in place so it doesn't fall while you're removing/installing the regulator...... no way I need to do that. It's a tight friction fit up there as it is!

So I'm thinking the motor may be going out and is weak, but, since it's so hard for me to get the window all the way up by pushing it manually, I'm also thinking something else might be wrong there. I've installed/uninstalled/reinstalled everything twice now and can't see anything that might be interfering with the window's path. Suggestions?

By the way, it's an '02 325i with about 56k miles.

The purpose of bringing the window glass up is to clear up the path so you can take out your regulators, upon installation you need to lower the glass so you can re-attach the two screws thats holding the window glass, the one with red color.

I get that. The problem is that, after re-attaching the glass with the two bolts, the lift mechanism will not move the window more than about 60% of the way up.

Did my driver's side on the weekend... useful write-up.

Thank you for the write up!! I had the same symptoms, did the zip tie fix and it worked! However I have a few things to add (2005 330xi):

• I skipped step 11 as the mirror module is behind the insulation
• I skipped step 13 since I am fixing the rear slider, the front does not need to come out
• CAREFUL when using tape to hold up the glass, I used packaging tape and it peeled away my tints. I then realized the window is snug enough to stay put by itself.
• Step 16 I only removed the 2 bolts for the rear slider
• Lastly, I tried the first original method of using two zip ties parallel to each other, but it wasn't tight enough for me and there was still play in the slider and the window would still get caught sometimes, so thanks to the video below, I criss-crossed the zip ties so there won't be any play.



Good luck!

Originally Posted by tpm23

Aaaargh! I did my right rear regulator last year with no problems. Now I'm in the middle of doing the right front.... with a definite problem.

This one wasn't as messed up as the right rear so I went with the ziptie approach instead of buying a new unit. I had one broken part on one plastic clip but went ahead and ziptied both sides of both clips as shown in the DIYs.

I've got enough bits and pieces back together to test things. With the window unattached, the carrier pieces move up and down as they should. But with the window attached, the motor runs out of steam with the window about 60% of the way up. It slows down, is obviously straining, then just stops. Also, note that it is pretty difficult for me to physically push the window (when not attached to the regulator) all the way up. The DIY says to tape it in place so it doesn't fall while you're removing/installing the regulator...... no way I need to do that. It's a tight friction fit up there as it is!

So I'm thinking the motor may be going out and is weak, but, since it's so hard for me to get the window all the way up by pushing it manually, I'm also thinking something else might be wrong there. I've installed/uninstalled/reinstalled everything twice now and can't see anything that might be interfering with the window's path. Suggestions?

By the way, it's an '02 325i with about 56k miles.

The friction with the windows is very tight unless you make sure it's aligned properly to the track. That requires you to either push the window outwards to let it slide, or grab the rear end and lift it up with enough force to "loosen" the window to slide up and down. Simple up and down force will never get it to move.

I changed both front and rear window regulators sometimes ago. I bought new BMW parts and found that there is only a little bit of grease on the pulley and wire.
Definitely the pulley or related parts failed after losing lubrication. Therefore, my two cents is to lubricate well on your new pulley and drive system with grease before installation.