[PichaDis11]

My regulator Clip broke today with a big bang. I accidentally hit the switch and immediately attempted roll it back up. Motor still works so I figured I'll take the other approach to doing this repair by replacing the clip that holds the cable. Amazon has a few on prime so I figured why not; it's only $7 & free 2-day Shipping. There is no official Part number for it however as the Suppliers seem to only make the fully assembled units. but I went searching for "Rear Window Regulator Clip" and got just what I was looking for. Now I wait... Will update later on.

**Update.

Fixed worked really well. Time consuming for me as I had to wound the cable all over. My what tension on those cables that are connected via PLASTIC! but seems a success so far. The clip was like the one that broke. It does seem that the unit will fail again as the plastic mechanisms were pretty chewed up by the failed cabling.

HAPPY DIYer here

[fazman]

I just had my 2008 e90 have its rear passenger side window slide down on its own today

Ended up getting an entirely new window regulator from AutoZone for $50 and DIY installed it just now. All I needed was:

1) Gorrilla tape
2) A long flat head screw driver (but even this is not needed since i could have just used my fingers to release the tab from the glass).
3) Replacement dorman part from Autozone
4) basic tools (T20 bit, phillips screw driver, 10mm socket, plastic pry tool, scissors, and a wire cutter)

Took me about 1 hour of going slowly and reading a few threads + watching a few youtube videos.

Tricky parts for me were:
1) I always have a hard time releasing that darn blue connector for the speaker wire
2) had a hard time releasing the harness cable from the window switch.
3) Got brave and just unwound the two tape holding the wire harness to the door panel (Its just a plastic T which is poped into the panel and has the wire attached to it by some tape).
4) Took some research to remember that the wood trim on my door panel has the "hook" part near the center of the car so I needed to pry off the wood trim closer to the trunk for my rear door (it would have needed to start closer to the motor if this was on the front door).
5) Had to research how to remove the motor connector (use your index finger to press behind the clip and it will release).
6) had to figure out the correct way to wiggle out the regulator with the motor attached and the foam block removed
7) because the green clip on mine broke and it loaded up tension on the top pully... I needed to use wire clipers to release the tension (be careful of your eyes and also not to injury others around you when you cut that wire). That is the only way I was able to get the motor to come out of the old regulator to transplant into the new regulator.
8) Finally, I'm glad i took the time to just buy a fully set regulator rather than try to replace just the clip... because had I done that i would have realized too late that i would also need the metal wires too since they were toast as well. Word to the wise, you can just rebuild your old regulator with an ebay/amazon kit if you have time to burn with a window stuck open all the time until the kit arrives in the mail. I didn't see the value in that and just paid the $50 for an autozone part with a lifetime warranty on it. Even if it fails again I will just get a replacement from autozone under warranty and just keep swapping it out.

What I learned:
A) From now on I will keep the gorrilla tape in the trunk of my car in case this happens again to any of my four windows. Its much easier to just tape it back into the up position rather than drive around with the window stuck down and having that annoying buffetting sound by the wind as you cruse on the freeway (hint: if you open the sunroof just a little or any of the other 3 windows just a little... the buffetting wind sound will go away).

Much thanks to PichaDis11 for all his help!

-Faz

Originally Posted by PichaDis11

My regulator Clip broke today with a big bang. I accidentally hit the switch and immediately attempted roll it back up. Motor still works so I figured I'll take the other approach to doing this repair by replacing the clip that holds the cable. Amazon has a few on prime so I figured why not; it's only $7 & free 2-day Shipping. There is no official Part number for it however as the Suppliers seem to only make the fully assembled units. but I went searching for "Rear Window Regulator Clip" and got just what I was looking for. Now I wait... Will update later on.

**Update.

Fixed worked really well. Time consuming for me as I had to wound the cable all over. My what tension on those cables that are connected via PLASTIC! but seems a success so far. The clip was like the one that broke. It does seem that the unit will fail again as the plastic mechanisms were pretty chewed up by the failed cabling.

HAPPY DIYer here

[2fast4]

Originally Posted by fazman

I just had my 2008 e90 have its rear passenger side window slide down on its own today

Ended up getting an entirely new window regulator from AutoZone for $50 and DIY installed it just now. All I needed was:

1) Gorrilla tape
2) A long flat head screw driver (but even this is not needed since i could have just used my fingers to release the tab from the glass).
3) Replacement dorman part from Autozone
4) basic tools (T20 bit, phillips screw driver, 10mm socket, plastic pry tool, scissors, and a wire cutter)

Took me about 1 hour of going slowly and reading a few threads + watching a few youtube videos.

Tricky parts for me were:
1) I always have a hard time releasing that darn blue connector for the speaker wire
2) had a hard time releasing the harness cable from the window switch.
3) Got brave and just unwound the two tape holding the wire harness to the door panel (Its just a plastic T which is poped into the panel and has the wire attached to it by some tape).
4) Took some research to remember that the wood trim on my door panel has the "hook" part near the center of the car so I needed to pry off the wood trim closer to the trunk for my rear door (it would have needed to start closer to the motor if this was on the front door).
5) Had to research how to remove the motor connector (use your index finger to press behind the clip and it will release).
6) had to figure out the correct way to wiggle out the regulator with the motor attached and the foam block removed
7) because the green clip on mine broke and it loaded up tension on the top pully... I needed to use wire clipers to release the tension (be careful of your eyes and also not to injury others around you when you cut that wire). That is the only way I was able to get the motor to come out of the old regulator to transplant into the new regulator.
8) Finally, I'm glad i took the time to just buy a fully set regulator rather than try to replace just the clip... because had I done that i would have realized too late that i would also need the metal wires too since they were toast as well. Word to the wise, you can just rebuild your old regulator with an ebay/amazon kit if you have time to burn with a window stuck open all the time until the kit arrives in the mail. I didn't see the value in that and just paid the $50 for an autozone part with a lifetime warranty on it. Even if it fails again I will just get a replacement from autozone under warranty and just keep swapping it out.

What I learned:
A) From now on I will keep the gorrilla tape in the trunk of my car in case this happens again to any of my four windows. Its much easier to just tape it back into the up position rather than drive around with the window stuck down and having that annoying buffetting sound by the wind as you cruse on the freeway (hint: if you open the sunroof just a little or any of the other 3 windows just a little... the buffetting wind sound will go away).

Much thanks to PichaDis11 for all his help!

-Faz

Thanks Faz and Pichadis. My right rear went down and never could come up.
I was in SoCal when this happened. Good thing it happened in the city and not somewhere in the middle of desert roads. But I had to bring up the window because weather was very very cold and can't drive with down window if you wanna live.

Saw a gas station shop. He quoted me $50 to bring up the window. OK go for it. About 40 min done. Safely drove acrossed extreme cross-wind of desert to Az home about 400 miles.

Now I'll order the whole regulator. The shop owner told me to motor and regulator both needs replacing. I don't see anything wrong with motor.
Perhaps I'll just replace all of window regulators now than to wait for the rest to fail. It's impossible to grab the window and raise it up to Gorilla tape it. I guess long nose pliers could grab it though. But I'm sure it'll tear up the tinting on the glass.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by 2fast4

Thanks Faz and Pichadis. My right rear went down and never could come up.
I was in SoCal when this happened. Good thing it happened in the city and not somewhere in the middle of desert roads. But I had to bring up the window because weather was very very cold and can't drive with down window if you wanna live.

Saw a gas station shop. He quoted me $50 to bring up the window. OK go for it. About 40 min done. Safely drove acrossed extreme cross-wind of desert to Az home about 400 miles.

Now I'll order the whole regulator. The shop owner told me to motor and regulator both needs replacing. I don't see anything wrong with motor.
Perhaps I'll just replace all of window regulators now than to wait for the rest to fail. It's impossible to grab the window and raise it up to Gorilla tape it. I guess long nose pliers could grab it though. But I'm sure it'll tear up the tinting on the glass.

I am sorry this happened to you as well, but glad you got it resolved. I honestly believe the window motor should be fine. It's just the plastic clips on the regulator that fail over time. They sell ebay kits of the cord/plastic clips for cheaper then replacing the entire unit. But Autozone has the entire unit ready to go for $50-ish and in stock with lifetime warrenty.

I would just keep a few sinple torx bit screws, plastic pry tools, and gorilla tape in your trunk just for piece of mind rather than proactively changing working parts. My window is 10 years old, 140k miles, and always parked outside... that does take a toll on plastic parts.

[2fast4]

I fixed it yesterday. I ordered it online for like $21.
My problem turns out that the "cable" was broken and part of it was jammed in the center gear housing. So mine was not related to plastic clip breakage. But I heard plastic pieces falling as I was wiggling.

Took me like 6 hours to done due to the shop in LA putting something to hold up the glass. They didn't tell me what they did to hold it up at the time. I later discovered they drilled a hole in the rail upper side and screwed in a screw so the window won't roll down. Black screw on black rail is hard to see.

It was frustrating but happy that it's done. Now I also have rear driver side regulator too in hand. I hear that both rears fail close to each other. Fronts last long time I read on another forum. Rears seem to fail on extreme weather conditions.

Then the regulator "reset" has to be done too.

I'm now looking for bunch of panel clips since many of them broke off.

[2fast4]

Originally Posted by xxxjecxxx

my left rear side just went out, just as I expected. went to the stealership to buy the new regulator and talking to one of the associates he said that it's almost guaranteed that the rear ones will go out, but the front ones rarely go out.

so once you replace your two rear ones, you should not harry worry about it for another 70K miles?

Front window regulators:
Found this article in this thread about the front regulators last much longer. I think page 1.
Oh yeah, from the OP.

[techwhiz]

Originally Posted by 2fast4

I fixed it yesterday. I ordered it online for like $21.
My problem turns out that the "cable" was broken and part of it was jammed in the center gear housing. So mine was not related to plastic clip breakage. But I heard plastic pieces falling as I was wiggling.

Took me like 6 hours to done due to the shop in LA putting something to hold up the glass. They didn't tell me what they did to hold it up at the time. I later discovered they drilled a hole in the rail upper side and screwed in a screw so the window won't roll down. Black screw on black rail is hard to see.

It was frustrating but happy that it's done. Now I also have rear driver side regulator too in hand. I hear that both rears fail close to each other. Fronts last long time I read on another forum. Rears seem to fail on extreme weather conditions.

Then the regulator "reset" has to be done too.

I'm now looking for bunch of panel clips since many of them broke off.

Mine failed yesterday.
I went to AutoZone and picked up a regulator for $49.
Took about an hour to put in.
The aluminum connector that holds the two ends of the cable together failed.
It ripped through the plastic holding the window and jammed on the motor side.
The window could slide up and down still attached to the regulator.

I didn't bother changing the passenger side. I'll wait until it fails.
I used a hooked carpet knife to cut through the moisture barrier goop.
Nice smooth cut. Was able to just stick it right bak in place.

Probably the cheapest and easiest repair I'll ever do on this car.
Plugs take more time.

[2fast4]

Nice! If you mean spark plug job vs.window regulator I'd pick spark plug job all day long.
Door panel clips break as you open and close.
My 2nd regulator job I broke much less clips as I was more aware.

Your problem seem like mine. Cable was broken and jammed up in gear housing. Common problem.also.
I'm not sure if the connector holding the both cables broke or not though but I think it must have because the steel cable broken too cleanly on the ends.

What was observed is that lube grease that dried up is the main reason for breakage.
Old regulator is tired from lack of grease and hence window up/down motion is slow as your car ages.
I think warmer climate states will last longer than the freezing climate.

Since I replaced both rear sides, I replaced 1 side and ran up/down comparison test with old side...New side went much faster. Old unit was dried up and all the surfaces that rolls or cable rests on had major arthritis problems. There is even nut job of design flaw where there is 1/2 roller looking thing that does not roll, instead it relies on lube.

Long story short, if it gets lube grease time to time it will last forever. Except the plastic block breaking.
I think there should be maintanance schedule of 100k to 140k mileage of taking it out and re-greasing will extend the life much longer.
Cable derailed off the track because it's no longer slippery. And the motor will be much happier too.
I used dielectric grease.

If you see the window rolls up normal at lower side and then become very slow while going up, you can lube it and save it. BTW original stock regulator is better quality.

As.a.side note I don't think you need to take off the regulator to lube it. Just take apart the panel for access.

[fastordiy]

some dick heads broke my regulator trying to break into my car. Luckily it was only a 18.00 fix. So no big deal.

[markspelman330i]

Quick fix while you are waiting for your new regulators in the mail. Go to harbor freight and buy a cheap $3 suction cup. push the window up all the way (if you can) and put the suction cup on the inside at the bottom near the door card while it is all the way up. saves the headache of the loud highway noise and anxiety of overnight rain/thieves. I have done this for the past week while I am waiting for my amazon order.

[JUMAS]

Originally Posted by markspelman330i

Quick fix while you are waiting for your new regulators in the mail. Go to harbor freight and buy a cheap $3 suction cup. push the window up all the way (if you can) and put the suction cup on the inside at the bottom near the door card while it is all the way up. saves the headache of the loud highway noise and anxiety of overnight rain/thieves. I have done this for the past week while I am waiting for my amazon order.

I did exactly that for a month while i stopped being a bum and repaired my regulator.

[silverseal99]

Good post/thread. My rear passenger side let go with a bang the other day. Dealer wanted about $500 to fix it. Local O'Reilly had the Doorman replacement (749-468) in stock for $50. Not difficult, took about an hour to repair. Two issues: Old mechanism jammed below the level indicated in the video for releasing the window from the green clip. I was able to get it high enough to slip a long, thin flat head screwdriver in to release the glass from the mechanism. Be careful here--don't want to break the glass.
Second: When closing things up I let the trim panel get away from me and broke one end of the Bowden cable that connects the inside door handle to the actuator mechanism. Dealer wanted about $225 for the part and an hour labor but I got a used one on ebay delivered to the house in 2 days for $10 total. Be careful in installing the trim panel as the speaker wire is also susceptible to breakage if you let the panel fall. All-in-all, an easy DIY fix for a heck of a lot less than a "Stealer" would charge.

[oldmanram]

New Member ,
I just wanted to thank you guys for info , today my wife got in window battle with the teenager sitting behind her. guess what , window down won't come up.
After reading your post's it was pretty easy, but took some time, 30 min, to access the window motor/regulator/wires, after a little moving of some parts, wires etc. and waving my magic hand over it , I went to the switch and WALLAH, it worked again.
Thanks Again guys !!! You Rock

[daniel99]

My rear passenger window recently opened up all the way and now it won't come back up. It won't even make a noise. I figured the motor and the regulator were broken so I ordered new parts but after I installed everything my window still won't do anything. I thought maybe I got unlucky and my new part is also defective but I took my left door apart (my working one) and plugged my old motor in and it was working. So I came to the conclusion that the problem is not my motor but I'm not sure what the problem could be. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks