Hello. i have a 1990 325i and the driver's side door no longer shows any resistance when opening. like going through stages to open. it just freely swings open. kind of hard to explain. has anyone else had this problem or know what to do about it? thanks
I had the same problem with my '90 325is. I don't know if you have checked but is the door break still bolted to the door? In my case I noticed the bolts connecting the door break kept coming loose. I would occasionally re-tighten the bolts, which I found out was a bad idea as the door gradually came slightly off alignment and ended up ripping the bolts from the sheet metal of the door. I ended up having to weld a piece of metal to the door and re-aligning the door. good luck!
Bimmerworld... Turner.... Pelican Parts.... can't remember who exactly, but somebody makes a reinforcement plate kit for the door brake area if you might need it. Given that these are showing up ultimately as weak areas, I try to control my door opening, and not let the door flop open (or fling it open), or let the door brake absorb the full weight of the door opening.
Your door brake may be broken or its attachment point to the door may be broken. BMW guru Brett Anderson makes a door brake reinforcement plate for the E30 and other models. See: http://www.koalamotorsport.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DRPE30 At $21.95 it is cheap insurance against a failure that would cost a lot more to fix once broken. Matt