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      08-24-2013, 03:00 PM   #1
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Arrow How To: Window Regulator Replacement DIY

BMW's are notorious for failing window regulators.
This thread should help you replace yours when/if it fails.
I purchased part # 51337165596 (passenger side/right side) from my local BMW dealer directly for $162.00 plus tax.
If you need the drivers side/right side, it is 51337165595.
I found them slightly cheaper online, but I wanted to get it fixed asap so I paid a few dollars more.

This is what you get.
This is actually the back view.
The larger rail will be closer to the body of the car once you have the door open. (regardless of which side you're repairing)


Step one. Remove the door panel. Check out this vid for a step by step on removing the door panel.

Start with removing this bolt cover.



Remove the T-20 machine screw.



Using a flat head (be careful not to scratch your fake wood), find the gap under the door handle between the wood and handle.
Twist the flat head to pop the wood cover open a little.
Then use your hand and slowly pull it off.
There are little metal clips that hold the wood cover onto the handle.
If the clips move, replace them for the re-install later.


Pic of handle with wood cover removed. Note clips:



Next, remove two T-20 screws from the inside the handle.



Next, you should pry up the window switch housing FROM THE FRONT!
The back side will not come up.



Remove the window switch and disconnect the electrical connection, by simply pulling it off.



I didnt take a picture of this, but the next step is to use a flat head (covered with a rag) and pry your door panel off.
The door panel is held in place with several small plastic clips.
You really cant hurt them, so just get in there and pop that sucker off.
Dont pull it too far away from the door.
Once you get it off you will see the speaker connections.
Just pull them straight off. YELLOW ON BOTTOM.



Next you will need to remove the door handle lever from the back side of the door panel.
I dont have a pic, but just find the white clip, pull the little lever up, and lift the assembly away from the door.

Once you have the lever, speaker, and switch disconnected, it should look like this.



Using a razor blade, cut the sticky black glue adhesive away from the door frame.
Try not to cut the foam, or scratch the paint.




Once you have it completely removed it should look like this.
Now you will have the access you need to pull the regulator assembly out.



Now its time for a very important step.
I'd like to thank Magiik for his sacrifice.
He went through hell to learn a valuable lesson for the rest of us.
Take a minute to read this thread if you are having issues with the next step.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=761814
What you need to know, is that the glass is held onto the assembly by two large bolts that look like this...
Minus my allen key.



Notice the bolt has a T-20 star head fitting on the end of the bolt.
You don't want to attempt removing it by using that fitting.
You will lose.

Look very closely at this pic, and notice my allen key is inside the strange bolt with the gear looking head.
This is how you should remove this bolt.
You may need to use the drivers side window switch to raise/lower the window in order to fit your hand inside the door frame to get leverage.
Its tight. Remove both of the strange gear headed bolts (one from each rail).
The glass will still be held in place by a plastic clip, but be careful.



In order to remove the assembly, you must remove the 3 T-25 screws that holds the motor onto the regulator assembly.


Next, remove the 2 10mm nuts holding the rail to the door frame. Bottom nut^^^
and top nut, below.



The other rail assembly is held in place by 3 10mm nuts.
The top one is behind the plastic dust shield.



The lower nuts are underneath the door frame.





Before removing the glass, get to know this clip.
It sits inside the hole in the glass.
When you are ready to lift the glass out, pull the plastic clips away from the glass, and lift the glass.
This pic was taken with the glass already out, just so you can see the hole in the glass and how the clip works.



NOTE: When reinstalling the glass, remember how much play there is between this little clip, and that large hole in the glass.
If you tighten the gear bolt and this is not centered, your window wont close all the way.
Or it will be too far forward, or too far back.
It is important to center this connection, if you dont want water leaking into your car.

At this point you can remove the regulator assembly, and re-install the new one.
The procedure is the exact opposite.
One more thing I will mention is when re-attaching the motor to the regulator assembly, it might be easier to line up the motor gear into the regulator gear BEFORE you tighten down the rail. You will see what I mean.

This is what my old regulator assembly looked like.



When I googled "135i window regulator" I found minimal results, with very little help. Poor Magiik learned a hard lesson for the rest of us, so I figured I'd try to put something together to give other people a little more info on the topic, since it is such a common occurrence. I hope this helps somebody out.

GOOD LUCK!!
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      08-24-2013, 03:30 PM   #2
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just replaced mine too

amazing how all these years bmw still cant get these things to last the life of a car, mine had the cable end come off the cable
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      08-24-2013, 09:01 PM   #3
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I will be starting this tomorrow then putting in the new regulator Monday.. This is just a stupid waste of money from bad engineering..nhtsa will get a complaint
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      08-24-2013, 09:06 PM   #4
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135iNewb thanks for making this DIY!!
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      08-25-2013, 09:55 PM   #5
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I got it easy with this EASY
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      09-04-2013, 10:19 AM   #6
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thanks, i actually need to fix my drivers side regulator...hopefully i can do this no problem
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      09-04-2013, 10:43 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imported_mega View Post
just replaced mine too

amazing how all these years bmw still cant get these things to last the life of a car, mine had the cable end come off the cable
At least they are consistent in their failure points. It would be much more annoying if we didn't know from the get go that a cooling system was good for 80k and such.

Also, we have coupes. The sedans really suffer from window regulator failure much more due to their more limited use.
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      09-04-2013, 07:10 PM   #8
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thank goodness! my regulator fell last week thinking of ordering the part and doing it myself. taking it to a shop even w the part already is like 200-300$ in labor...double the part cost...
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      09-10-2013, 12:25 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fastdrivingjr View Post
I got it easy with this EASY
I agree, using these pliers or a spreadign wrench is the best way to remove these star shaped PITA bolts. I tried allen key method and was not sucsesful even after wd-40 use and extra leverage.

To prevent errors I taped the wrench in tape and used cloth in between metal door panel and wrench hand. Was paranoid about causing dents.

I will attempt to fix the regulator before buying new, my case simlply had one of the end cap of the wire fail.

UPDATE:
Regulator fixed.

the fail point for me was the cable ends that are attached to the glassholders. These ends can be fixed by visiting your bicylce shop and getting new cable ends installed. or with a solder iron & lots of solder. They are made of the same soldering material.

i will try to make diagrams for the repair. Especially the Spool portion. Very satisfied to keep 150-200 $ in my pocket
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      09-10-2013, 08:36 PM   #10
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Had a door panel rattle that drove me nuts. Now I have an idea how to fix it! Very nice DIY
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      09-11-2013, 12:03 AM   #11
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UPDATE: a failed fix
Originally, The fail point was the end cap on the top rear cable.
From there the motor chewed up the spindle thing & defromed cable

I have attempted to recrate the end cap and flatten the cable much. But due to the cable being deformed in the spindle/motor. I was not able to make the fix last long on dry runs ( no glass, attached to motor & power). Buyign new regulator assembly :S

Hot tip - Once your window drops, DO NOT use window controls more than once. This way you may have a chance to fix the failed point.
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"The 1-series is the last car that BMW engineered before the Germans, as a car-making culture, fell out of love with driving." - R&T 2013 135is
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      09-11-2013, 07:03 PM   #12
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i agree with that tip.. due to pressing the buttons i screwed mine up more even though i had to replace no matter what it looked USING THE BUTTON WILL SCREW UP THE LITTLE TEETH ON THE MOTOR. when you try and put the motor gizmo on your new window regulator.. you might be screwed luckily i didnt do to much damage
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      09-11-2013, 07:49 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 135iNewb View Post
Before removing the glass, get to know this clip.
It sits inside the hole in the glass.
When you are ready to lift the glass out, pull the plastic clips away from the glass, and lift the glass.
This pic was taken with the glass already out, just so you can see the hole in the glass and how the clip works.



NOTE: When reinstalling the glass, remember how much play there is between this little clip, and that large hole in the glass.
If you tighten the gear bolt and this is not centered, your window wont close all the way.
Or it will be too far forward, or too far back.
It is important to center this connection, if you dont want water leaking into your car.

Any tips on this. Im having a real bad time alignignt the glass.

I thought i had it perfect, tightend down to final state. But a few door open closes messed everythign up- the glass seems to have moved or the motor stops at a different position

UPDATE - glass set up information
I had to reset my window limits to get glass perfect. I recommend doing so for everyone in this situation.

here are steps:
- before you set glass or install new regulator, look at your old window regulator, and see where it has the pieace with 2 bolts that are bolted facing the ground. this connection has an adusting skrew, with external torx head- you may need to chnage this position at the very end if there is alot of difference with new vs old regulator. The adjustemnt allows the glass to be coser to futher away from car center. I did not do this adjustemnt, but it may be nessasary if the diference is drastic. This is reacable via bottom of door through a rubber seal tha can be popped out. External torx is able to sit inside the circled side of a regular wrench of similar size, ie 1/4

- Set glass into door and onto the holders with dindow rollers at middle position, the default of new regulator.
- Clip the plastic clips through the glass, use thin skrew driver through the hole of the gear bolt to check aligntment. Also the plastic clips should make some kind of clicking feel/noise when closed, its faint sicne there is no clip, just a groove.
- Set glass into lowest possition that is parralel to B pillar. It is better to be too low than too high!!!
- Tighten by hand, to allow some wiggle room.
- mask off B pillar black plastic trim to prevent damage/scratches
- Roll window down. Here it may be nessasary to hold down button for 10 seconds, then hold it again for 10 secconds. You should hear the motor click but do nothing. ( this can be skipped at this stage but may be useful if you have issues with top position, this sets the windows minimum position)
- Now with door open!! Roll window up little by little, do not let auto mode set in ( this will prevent you from issues at top position and motor sieze or motor pinch protection)
- Once you are close to top position of opened door ( ie the 1.5 cm gap at the door mirror rubber seal), carefully roll window till it stops. Note its position with tape or water based marker.

- If your window at this point has had the motor siezed or is has dropped down because of pinch protection mode. Unplug motor. Unskrew the philips skrew at motor, remove plastic pieace. Now unskrew the 3 torx 20's. with butter knife or flat head screw driver gentry pry motor off. Notice you will be tugging and pulling at the wire spool. Use flat head or butter knife to push motor off the spindle/spool. Lower window by hand, while keeping an eye on spool so it does not pop out, check window aligntment, maybe you need to loosen and lower the window on its mounts. Wiggle the motor's gear to reset it and let it cool off. Re attach motor and get the window to its open door position.

- use other door as a guide or previous notes on glass position. Loosen the gear bolts by hand ( you should be able to do so by hand) alaign window to match other sides position at the stage just before you push/click the door lock ( Geneally for me it was 1.5 cm gap from side mirror rubber top and the othr side you sould see the ruber seal from outside to be at the base of the CCC logo of OEM glass, this creates a 1.5 cm gap from window to window trim leaving a small hole into cabin)
You can close the door once or twice to make sure it pushes up 1/4 inch in a parallel way to the B pillar. Be careful though as the motor may sieze, have a way out, or tools to take motor out.

- To tighten the glass into final position. Lower gentry the glass via motor controls until you can reach at least one of the gear bolts with your adjustable pliers or Monkey wrench. DO NOT tighthen just yet. Using maskign tape, mark the positions of the rubber seal on outside of car just before the glass enters the door. AND at the edge of the door, see how far the glass is from edge, mark with tape on the trim. This way you can tell if glass has shifted up or side to side while tightening.

- check your tools, cover them in tape as needed to prevent scratches on door or glass.

- Tighten the glass gear bolts at the same time, make sure that your tape markings do now move. Periodically check the glass top position with the door open. Careful not to sieze the motor, have tools handy. You can also stress test the door, open and close it a few times. This can cuase motor to sieze... yes I know its a drama queen

- Now with glass in final position it is good to reset Window limits. Sit inside, close door. Hold down on the window switch until it fully opens, continue holding the switch for 10 seconds. Then release. Pull up on the window switch until it fully closes, continue holding the switch for 10 seconds. Then release. repeat a few times, you may hear a clunk/ motor noise click. Now put window down and release button, not press it down again, you should hear a click. same with up position, rease switch and press up to hear noise.

- go for a drive to make sure seal is ok. you can open the door from inside by tugging on the black little stick near your elbow.

- decide if you will adjust the glass agnle towards center of car via boorom of door rubber seal to the bolt. I did not, but you may want to try

- grab a beer to relieve stress and then reassemble door.
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"The 1-series is the last car that BMW engineered before the Germans, as a car-making culture, fell out of love with driving." - R&T 2013 135is

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      12-03-2013, 08:54 AM   #14
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.....and 4 months later, the driver side window regulator fails!

Well, its a good thing I made this DIY for a reference. It's funny, because I remember thinking "I might as well put both part numbers on the thread, so when the drivers side window fails, it will be easy to find."
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      12-03-2013, 10:23 AM   #15
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Thanks for the write up. Getting ready to replace my passenger side regulator.. It seems to be a bit more in-depth than I expected...
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      12-03-2013, 01:14 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManOSteele77 View Post
Thanks for the write up. Getting ready to replace my passenger side regulator.. It seems to be a bit more in-depth than I expected...
It's not that bad.
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      12-03-2013, 04:29 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 135iNewb View Post
.....and 4 months later, the driver side window regulator fails!

Well, its a good thing I made this DIY for a reference. It's funny, because I remember thinking "I might as well put both part numbers on the thread, so when the drivers side window fails, it will be easy to find."
Whenever I've done window regulators(5x at this point?), I just replace all of them.
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      01-21-2014, 01:44 PM   #18
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Big thanks for this DIY. Driver's said failed in November and I needed it fixed right away, so I paid the dealer $700 for this. Today the passenger side failed, and I'll be attempting it myself.
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      01-30-2014, 07:52 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSt|G View Post
Whenever I've done window regulators(5x at this point?), I just replace all of them.
Hey Stig, just curious, which BMW has 5 windows? Or are you saying you've replaced all the window regulators in 5 CARS?! holy guacamole'

Quote:
Originally Posted by GigEm93 View Post
Big thanks for this DIY. Driver's said failed in November and I needed it fixed right away, so I paid the dealer $700 for this. Today the passenger side failed, and I'll be attempting it myself.
Good luck man. Hardest part is loosening those wierd bolts. Get your gloves and your big boy pants on!
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      01-30-2014, 12:36 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 135iNewb View Post
Hey Stig, just curious, which BMW has 5 windows? Or are you saying you've replaced all the window regulators in 5 CARS?! holy guacamole'
Yeah, the latter. 5+ cars.

Much like cooling systems, they just seem to be a wear item for BMWs.
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      02-27-2014, 08:58 AM   #21
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Thanks for this writeup. My window regulator (driver's front 2008, #51337165595) broke last night.

A note on price. I went to bmwofsouthatlanta for the price and it showed "list $164 / your price $147." No big deal, I thought, I'll just pick one up at the local dealer.

Went to the parts counter this AM, girl verified the part #, had the part in stock, gets it, says "ok great, that'll be $254, pay the cashier." This had me dumbfounded - I said what, I checked the price before I came in online, I thought it was $165? After 5 minutes of debate, someone else behind the desk said "no, that's the wholesale list price, we could give you that price but only if you had a tax certificate and paid by company check"

The lowest my local dealer was willing to go was 10% off or about $225. FORGET THAT. Ordered online from their parking lot, $160 shipped to my door and I expect it here tomorrow.
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      02-27-2014, 03:53 PM   #22
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One more note - I had a hell of a time getting the driver's window control out, and in fact the faceplate separated from the control body. (I got a small crack in it, #(%*@$#^&)

I found it was easier to unsnap all the side and bottom door panel clips, lay on the ground, and then push hard against the front-underside of the window control to pop it out. No chance of breaking something that way. It would probably be possible (but difficult) to remove the wire while laying under the door, but it has one of those cam-lock things so maybe not.

The rest of the door panel came undone without any drama.

Last edited by Flot; 02-27-2014 at 04:15 PM..
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