The passenger side window on my 1999 Z3 2.8L coupe, is very slow to roll down, but goes up just fine, the driver side however rolls up/down about 3-6 inches before the motor stalls out, unless the door is open. When the door is open the window works great, I have tried to figure out if there is any certain angle at which this issue crops up, but it seems to be inconsistent, sometimes working until the door is fully closed, and sometimes it starts slowing down when the door is just close to the car body. This inconsisancy makes me suspect the wiring and/or connections, however I have tried operating the wondow while at the same time pinching, twisting and rolling the wires in my hand and the problem still doesn't show up until the door closes. I also checked the motor, but it isn't loose at all. I don't know if its related but after playing around with the window for a while the auto up feature on the window will stop working, until I go out the next day and it works for a while until the motor stalls out a time or two and then to get the window up all the way I have to hold the button down. Oh and the passenger side window is slow in every position, not just when the door is closed. Does anyone have any suggestions?
BMW used cheap grease on the window slides, over time it hardens and can affect the window operation, might be worth a shot to clean all the old grease off and put new grease on it, I've heard bearing grease works fine
yeah, what he said... also the plastic sliders have a tendency to wear out, increasing drag in the linkage
If it were the grease then the window would always be slow not only when the door is closed. I regreased it anyway just because I had it apart, but to no avail.
I was thinking that maybe having the door closed with the glass having to push against all the weatherstripping would provide just enough extra resistance combined with the grease to make the motor stall out, but I guess the grease wasn't the problem anyway, I'm honestly stumped
I have a 2000 M Roadster, and the exact same situation happens when the weather is cold. Seems to do better when it is hot outside. Passenger side is slow, or stalls, and requires me pulling on the glass as well as pushing the button manually. Drivers side does pretty good all the time. If anyone finds the solution, please post.
Suggestion for fix for Z3 window This is the info from another form: http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11888. Good luck. LuckyK Kansas City Hellrot Z3 2.8 1998
I prey to GOD that you don't have the same problem as I did with my window (it happened to my driver's side). It apparantly isn't that common because so far, I am the only one that it has seemed to have happened to. Next time you have your door panel off and am feeling ambitious, check to see how tight your window regulator bolts are screwed on. There are only 3. One on each side, and one in the middle. What happened with mine was that the middle bolt was stripped. This middle bolt has a pretty sizeable spacer (maybe 2" or more) that spaces out the regulator and the welded piece the bolt is mounted to on the big rod running horozontally accross the door. The center nut stripped the bolt to a certain point, but stuck at the end, so instead of simply poping off, it was pulling on the whole bolt. At the end of it's life, it pulled the whole bolt through the hole, breaking the aluminum or steel or whatever it was mounted to. I was able to manufacture a similar situation from the local Lowes home improvement with a bolt, a nut, and 2 packs of washers. However, I know this fix is only temperary. I will eventually need an entire new door. So, do yourself and me a favor and check these 3 bolts. Inspect them the best you can for stripping, and tighten them back up as well as you can. If you suspect anything, take it in immeadiately. I dont you to be int he situation I am, needing a whole new door for a simple little piece like this. I saved the window regulator and motor from the driver's side if you need it. I bought another one (i thought it was the regulator that was the issue, but when I was changing it out I found the true culprit) I'm not exactly sure if my problem damaged the unit or not. I know the motor was working when it was pulled. But since it's a guessing game weather it is good or not, just pay for shipping and you can have it.
I bought my car in December and the passenger side was really slow, like I said, then when summer came around it got better only to slow down again in the winter the next year. My driver side however began giving me problems in August of last year, and now that I am paying more attention to it I have noticed that it is very inconsistent. Sometimes with the door almost shut it works fine and sometimes with the door in the same position it doesn't. The passenger door has yet to actually fail and require that I pull up on the glass but I'm wondering if its just a matter of time.
