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Thread: DIY: Window Motor Repair W/pics

  1. #1
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    DIY: Window Motor Repair W/pics

    EDIT: SEE POST #40

    I have done this thread before, but this time i'm going in depth.

    Note in the first pic the metal shield. Remove this.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by one; 07-19-2007 at 04:40 AM.
    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  2. #2
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    Now you can see why your motor spins, but nothing happens. The black pressure disk is eroded and no longer pushes pressure on the pink clutch area. this clutch system is to keep your motor from overstressing when it reaches the top or bottom.
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  3. #3
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    Now we clean the unit up and start to do the repair. What you need to do is find a way to lock the pink slipper disk to the inside black disk so the motor spins the clutch again and the outside gear moves. This will solve your problem with the motor working, but not turning the gear. with both units locked together, they motor will have a direct drive to the gear and work properly again.

    the object here is to lock the base of the gear you see in black to the black disk it sits on. Normally the gears base would have the black pressure disk attached, but it is eroded.

    I will post a pic later of how i lock the units together once i m done.
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  4. #4
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    Since we do not have a slipper clutch anymore, we do not need the rubber disk the gear base sits on. so let's just remove it.
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  5. #5
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    The "correct" way to do this is to remove the c-clip on the top of the gear and the two metal washers. then simply slide the gear off and remove the rubber slipper material.

    from here, clean the unit very well.
    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  6. #6
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    now just slide the pink spur gear out and get to cleaning.
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  7. #7
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    Now after some heavy duty cleanup with comet cleanser (cut's oil and grease) i am ready to get the repair started with my clean surfaces.

    You can use a million different epoxy's, glues, and so forth. I have chosen to use my tried and trusty Liquid Nails. After it hardens in 49 hours it should be as solid as a rock.
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  8. #8
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    and................ we're done now... let's go grab a beer and wait for 48 hours to reassemble.
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  9. #9
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    I have a question about my drivers side window motor. I have to press mine 13 times to get it to go up all the way. It only moves about 2" every time I press the switch. And I can only roll the window up if the door is closed, otherwise it doesn't respond.

    What is the problem here? A few people have told me that it has to do with the safety switch and it being restricted somehow. People say that the window thinks that something is blocking it and that's why it will only go up 2" at a time. Is there a way to fix mine, or should I just replace it? I do have an entire extra motor and everything from my parts car (95' m3). I was thinking of just swapping it, but if it's a simple fix, I'd rather do that.

    Thanks and sorry for all the questions.
    '94 325is #94 IP/GTS3 Mauritius Blue Metallic
    "And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

  10. #10
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    wasiq...
    go to understeer.com and go to the window fixed
    the retainer pins popped and the acuator arms left the track on the bottem of the window!

    ITS A FUN PROJECT!
    WEE!
    especially when your acuator arms are bent like mine!

    sooo now i have to take the WHOLE thing out and strieghten it
    WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEee
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  11. #11
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    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by 94is
    I have a question about my drivers side window motor. I have to press mine 13 times to get it to go up all the way. It only moves about 2" every time I press the switch. And I can only roll the window up if the door is closed, otherwise it doesn't respond.

    What is the problem here? A few people have told me that it has to do with the safety switch and it being restricted somehow. People say that the window thinks that something is blocking it and that's why it will only go up 2" at a time. Is there a way to fix mine, or should I just replace it? I do have an entire extra motor and everything from my parts car (95' m3). I was thinking of just swapping it, but if it's a simple fix, I'd rather do that.

    Thanks and sorry for all the questions.

    Read this tread by Patrick S

    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=238468

    I fixed mine in 10 minutes after holding out for 5 years

  12. #12
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    Have you guys seen this posting?:

    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=238468

  13. #13
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    hey guys i had this problem in the summer. with both my front doors... so yea it was a mission to finaly find out what to do. once u finaly take the door off that is on by a couple of screws on the handle, and take the black foam stuff you will see two things: the reguator which is the scisor looking thing and the motor which is conected to the regulaor. on one door the regualtor broke( the welds came off ) and on the other the motor died on me. so what u have to do is take the regualtor off the door. before you do this you must tape the window up so it does not fall=break in 1000 peices then take the glass window off the regulator by taking out the pins in the white "sliders". then comes the fun part: to take the regualtor off u need to either take of 4 screws or drill out 4 "bolts"(ok i forgot the name for these things but u cant take them of with a screw driver!! sorry!)( some bmws come with screws some with "bolts" why they do that we will never know??) so yea my car has "bolts" and you need to drill these "bolts" out very carefully so not to damage the door. once u have taken all the "bolts" out just screw off the bottom bolt(this is a real bolt) on the door that is conected to the regulator. that is it for the removal. once you have the regulator check what is broken either the regualotor or the motor( the regualor might be broken or stuck) and the motor might be broken inside. anyways you should buy a new one. once the problem has been fixed install the repaired regualor and motor back on the door.(since i had destroyed the "bolts", i put some nuts and real bolts with pressure washers so they dont come off) here comes the tricky part: the window must be installed back onto the regulaor with the white "sliders" for this to work u need to put some grease on the rails and most important!! the glass has some rails on each side of the door!! they must be in place so the window goes up in its rails all the way up. u can check this if the window comes up lopsided or outside of its rails. if this happends go back to square one and begin to put the window back into its rails. once everything is wokring good install the door panel and all the electirc stuff that was disconected( the motor, speakers, and locks) and you are ready to go. the first door took me like 4 hours to do and once i knew what to do the second took about 2. so its not hard once u know what you are doing. i hope this helps people.

  14. #14
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    *****the inching problem on 96 + E36 coupes is 99% most likely from lack of lubrication ... i fixed 4 E36 coupes' inching problem with simple cleaning and greasing of every moving part on the window mechanism... i tried the magnet thing .. and found out that 96 + have a totally different motor...

    i can't speak for 95- because i haven't done any... but i can safely say that lubrication of sliding parts will be first thing you should check before trying other things .. 10 years and more for grease means hardening and no lubrication .. putting new clips, cleaning, and greasing WILL solve your problem


    ANY QUESTIONS PM me!

  15. #15
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    Getting ready to perform window motor surgery....

    I am preparing to take apart my wimdow motor and glue the pieces together, however I had a few questions before drilling out my rivets.

    #1 - My window problem started with the motor still running even though the window was either all the way up or all the way down. It's gotten to the point now where the window won't go up without assistance, but will go down just fine. I have a feeling that the clutch has come apart inside. Any other ideas?

    #2 - Will the motor work differently with the clutch system disabled (by the glueing)? Should I just by a new motor and install that?

    Thanks in advance

  16. #16
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    ok so you just fill the pink gear with a glue or epoxy up to top edge...and then it'll grab on the other side and acutally roll the window up and down?

  17. #17
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    First off, I'd like to thank ONE for the write-up. It is very helpful.

    Second, I believe that if greasing does indeed fix the inching problem, it is because the moving parts are probably causing too much resistance when going up and down the regulator track. That makes sense, especailly if the 96+ window motors are indeed different.

    At the end of the day, I think that either buying a new regulator (lots of money) or lubing the regulator and all the tracks, replacing the two white clips, and making sure everything is tight will rid people of this very annoying problem.

  18. #18
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    After 3 years of good service from this repair it finally died. The liquid nail twisted around inside for 3 years before it got too soft to do it anymore.

    This time I have fixed it in a way it'll NEVER fail again I found the twisting to be the downfall and reinforced it this time stronger than it ever was from the factory.

    The preferred glue of choice this time was JB weld 4 minute quick set. VERY good stuff.

    I drilled 5 oversized holes and inserted screws that act like strength rods and catch on the inside of the braces in the big gear. Once the JB sets in 4 minutes the rods are now bound in a solid case to the braces.

    It'll never break again............
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  19. #19
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    last 2
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    Smell that? ......German leather and palm sweat.

  20. #20
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    What kind of bolts are these that hold the window reg to the door?
    They appear to have a u-nut on the other side (inside the metal interior door skin).
    They have to be drilled out?
    How do you access the one at the top for replacement?
    No way I can get my fingers in there. Maybe a pop rivet of suitable size would work.

  21. #21
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    Finished getting everything apart from the door.
    The "rivets" are a strange type.
    Instead of a mushroomed collar on the other side, they have a 3-point claw.
    I broke two bits getting them out.
    Tough to drill straight in. Use a punch so the bit won't walk on you.

  22. #22
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    Everything back together and working normally.
    Strange, the clutch is made of plastic with no rubber except a rubber backing on the cover plate on both sides.
    I used 5/16" coarse hex bolts so I had to drill the holes a little larger.
    Then lock nuts and flat washers.
    Last edited by Balthazarr; 05-26-2010 at 12:27 PM.

  23. #23
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    Feel free to add this to the first post.

    After taking all that apart..
    *If you dont know anything about electric motors study this for a min.

    Remove the 4 screws to the motor cover "Can".
    Remove motor cover , use compressed air to blow it out.
    Pull out the Armature , Be careful not to damage the Brushes
    Separate the armature from the brushes housing.

    To make a electric motor work alternating current needs to hit contact points "Commutator" at different times.
    Over time the brushes material comes off and fills the gaps of the commutator.
    Making it one solid contact point. Thus the "errrrr" noise you hear from your motor. Its shorting itself out.
    (generic motor armature, you can see the slots between the commutator contact points)


    To clean this blow off the armature, use a razor blade to clean out the slots between the contact points.
    Clean off the commutator w/ a 3m Scuff pad. Use a non-petroleum based cleaner (i used Methanol) on a rag and clean the entire thing.
    Compress the brushes (inspect them for chips or cracks) and install the armature back in.
    Place the motor cover back on. Make sure that the armature shaft is set inside the housing bearing at the bottom. It is magnetic so you will have to fight the pull to get it in the right place.
    The motor cover will fit flush when everything is in the right place.

    I did this today and it fixed my window motor problem. Im sorry I didnt take pics but if you have any questions PM me.
    Last edited by Windsma; 06-13-2009 at 05:06 PM.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by 94is View Post
    I have a question about my drivers side window motor. I have to press mine 13 times to get it to go up all the way. It only moves about 2" every time I press the switch. And I can only roll the window up if the door is closed, otherwise it doesn't respond.
    Experiencing the same problem.
    I disengaged the lower connector as shown in the attached and found that the window operates the same goofy way i.e. does not roll up unless pressed repeatedly. I conclude that's probably where the problem is. Going to remove the motor to see.
    .....Can't get at the top back screw though. Will continue later after shopping for some flex extensions.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  25. #25
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    318is coupe window motor

    After countless weekends of trying to fix my passenger side window, I eventually got the motor off and discovered the plastic wheel inside was extremley worn. Since then I have had difficultly finding a replacement motor. Does anyone know where I could find one? I did order one but had to send it back as it wasn't for the N/F/S, even though the advert said it was. Its annoying because the motor held the window up and now I've had to jam a piece of wood in the regulator to stop it coming down.
    Incase anyone does know where I could get one the motor number is
    brose 113157-103, BMW 67.62-8 360 978 and its for 1998 318is coupe.
    Thanks.

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