I have a 1999 E36 M3 convertible with driver window problems. The drives door was slightly out of alignment, so I tried to realign the door in my garage. I got the door realigned but the window stopped going up or down. It is currently stuck in the up position and does not move the typical half an inch when the door is opened or closed for the convertible top. I figured I must have put the window in some type of bind when attempting to realign the door. Yesterday, I took the car to a local body shop to have the door aligned properly. Unfortunately, they could not get the door to align due to window not lowering the typical half an inch when the door opens or closes. They said the window regular was bad, but I am sure they did not take the door panel off to investigate. I don't mind tackling the window regulator project, but I want to make sure the regulator is actually bad. When I press the window up/down button I can hear the motor click, so I feel confident the motor has power. At this point, I am not sure how to distinguish between a bad window regulator, motor or some type of relay. Any advice on how to distinguish between the three would be greatly appreciated.
Generally a bad window regulator will look bent. Did you take the door panel off when you were messing around? It would be unusual for the motor to just stop working. Where do you actually hear the click when you press the button? Listen closely and if you hear it from the glove box area, you are just hearing the relay click and not the motor. You may have to remove the door panel and check the motor for power when you hit the switch. It is possible that a wire has broken or something.
Window Problems Paul, I did take the door panel off, but I could not see any thing that look bent or out of place. The clicking noise is coming from the motor. About a month again I was working on the alignment of the door and the window stopped completely working. After working with the door I was able to get it re-aligned and the window started working. I bought the car used in August, so I really don't have a good maintenance history, but the window was working fine prior to me moving the door. Does the motor/regulator have some type of sensor that causes it to stop when the window is in a bind? If the window regulator was broken would the window remain in the up position? When the regulator broke on my X3 the window fell down to the bottom position. On the M3 the window will not budge. Thanks again for all the help!
It will cut out if the current on the motor goes too high. You can try to see if you can loosen the rear window track to see if it tries to move again. Off the top of my head I can't remember where the bolts are for the window tracks, but if you lpoke around I bet you can find them.
Troubleshooting With the panel removed and the scissor clips disconnected from the window, collapse the schissors manually and try the window switch. Used motor/scissor assemplys can be found on ebay for about $50...
article of interest Try this article by Dave Vetter, shows how to remove the window regulator. http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/diy/power_window/ Mike
oh dont forget new plastic PITA clips if you swap in a new regulator had to re-bend one of the arms on my driver reg, but after that, and some new sliders and bushings from the stealership...was good to go.. check the motor dead stop in the video, for the one-touch operation, sometimes it will trip and act like a dead motor...or soak the switch in water...sounds ghetto, but worked great on a friends old e34
