Broken Window???

[biker32]

i just purchased a 96' 318ti i live in wisconsin and its been snowing for the past few weeks .... i went to roll my window down and it wasnt movin..... so i thought it was frozen. well i waited a little while with the heat/defrosters on high and tried again.... i was clicking the button moving it up and down up and down then i heard a large crunch and the window dropped! the motor still works and the window kind of rolls up but not in the right track but it does not roll down.... any ideas of problems??? and how does the door panel come off? i bought a haynes manual but it doesnt help at all for my problem! some body please help!!

[1996 328ti]

Moved your post to the proper section.
There are probably several threads on the subject.
There is also a sticky at the top of the section.
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2484

[marleymon]

keep in mind....a hard push on the button is the automatic roll down. Light is inch by inch. The automatic roll down will pop the window off the sliders if froze. Hopefully your window regulator did not bend. New slider are cheap.

[NismoPick]

Originally Posted by biker32

any ideas of problems??? and how does the door panel come off? i bought a haynes manual but it doesnt help at all for my problem! some body please help!!

LoL... this exact thing happened to me when I bought my ti. I opened up the inner door panel (easy to do) and found out the previous owner got the windows tinted & who ever installed the tint knocked the connector balls out of their track sockets (and that explained the scratched tint). I popped them back in & made sure the window was in both vertical guides propperly. Works fine now.

[Philly]

ive been down this road a few times now..

understeer.com has a great write up about how to fix it... provided your regulator arms arn't bent.. which wouldn't surprise me if they were cause it sounds like you may have played with it quite abit even after it was broke... luckily i was expecting it and fixed it before doing any major damage to my regulator...

The hardest part of the whole job (in my situation) was getting the freakin arm joints to pop out of the sliders... i came up with a little trick... just wrap a cloth or rag around the arm, slide it as close to the plastic sliders as possible and hold the window in place with one hand, and use your other hand to pull on the rag.. and that should pop them out... i just broke the first ones off to replace with new, but i screwed it up the first crack at it and didn't make sure it was in the front channel, so i had to pop them out again and the cloth/rag trick helped avoid lots and lots of frustration.

[pnosker]

I had the same problem, regulator arms bent, but I just bent them back. Make sure to pay attention to the bolt holding the regulator arms onto the door. Sliding it more than 3mm or so can change everything. Also make sure the balls pop completely into the plastic sliders.

[cooljess76]

Remove the old grease as it becomes very sticky and acts the opposite of a lubricant. Use a scotchbrite pad or some steel wool to get all of it out of the channels and off of the sliders. Then re-lube it like there's no tomorrow. The more the better. I used bearing grease because it's all I had at the moment. Also make sure the window itself is positioned in both tracks forward and aft. getting the door panels off is a little tricky and if you're not careful, you'll ore than likely break something. There's only two Torkx screws on each door and a bunch of plastic clips. First remove the screws, one is located under the power mirror switch, pry out the switch carefully and unplug it. The other is located on the bottom of the inner door handle. Next, Instead of removing the door lock pins, simply lock the the door using the power lock button. Grab the door panel from the bottom rear corner and pop out the first couple of clips. Using a screwdriver or prying device will help you do this without breaking the clips. Work you way around the panel unsnaping all of the clips. There's no clips holding the top of the panel to the door. It's a hook and groove type of fit, so just push upward on the panel and it should be completely free. DISCONNECT THE TWO PLUGS ON THE SPEAKERS!!! Don't attemp to remove the speakers, as you will break the plastic trim rings! If some of the plastic mouting clips broke off during the removal, simply epoxy them back onto the door panel but be sure to note their positions before removing them from the door. They'll probably break off again anyway.