Windows and door panels

[pgrindstaff]

Yesturday I was driving home from work and tried to roll the rear passenger windows down (right side). To my surprise it wouldn't budge, which I found strange because it was working earlier in the day. When I got home I got to looking at it and when you hit the switch to roll the window up/down I can hear the motor in the front window power up, kind of like the sound you get when the window is up and you keep trying to close it. Well, I got to looking last night and was curious if the door panel removal procedure is more or less the same as the procedure found on http://www.bmwe34.net. The panel is basically the same, minus the speaker. Am I right in assuming it is the same procedure? Also, what would you guess is the reason for the window all of a sudden not working?

I figure since I will be digging into my doors this weekend I might as well take the driver's door panel off and fix the lock actuator which hasn't worked since the first time I unlocked the car. Can't expect too much from a 12 year old car right .

Any help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated.

[rjvital]

Yesturday I was driving home from work and tried to roll the rear passenger windows down (right side). To my surprise it wouldn't budge, which I found strange because it was working earlier in the day. When I got home I got to looking at it and when you hit the switch to roll the window up/down I can hear the motor in the front window power up, kind of like the sound you get when the window is up and you keep trying to close it. Well, I got to looking last night and was curious if the door panel removal procedure is more or less the same as the procedure found on http://www.bmwe34.net. The panel is basically the same, minus the speaker. Am I right in assuming it is the same procedure? Also, what would you guess is the reason for the window all of a sudden not working?

I figure since I will be digging into my doors this weekend I might as well take the driver's door panel off and fix the lock actuator which hasn't worked since the first time I unlocked the car. Can't expect too much from a 12 year old car right .

Any help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated.

I've got my drivers side panel off right now to reupholster it. The procedure is pretty much like on the e34.net site. The little white plastic clips are easy to break especially if they are over 10 years old (I ordered a bag of them to replace the ones that would die when I removed them.) I used needle nose pliers to twist the broken ones out of the panel if they broke off in there. There is a vapor panel under the door panel that is held on with black glue/sealant. You can usually pull it right off and may be able to reuse it (seems to stick with firm pressure when you put it back on.)
As to the window motor, mine is slowly dying. I am guessing it's a gear or threading issue...something not interlocking right. Or the motor itself is going south. I'd be interested to know what you find out.
Best wishes

[Gene in NC]

Window motors are more rleiable that the switches. Make sure the switches are good.

[jaz525i]

Window motors are more rleiable that the switches. Make sure the switches are good.

If the switch is bad, would you still hear the current running to it?

Not trying to hijack the thread but I just got a similar problem. I come home tonight and couldnt raise my rear ds window. The window can go down and I heard power in the switch when I tried to raise it but the window looked off track and wouldnt go back up. There was no struggle coming from the window motor when I pressed up, it just stayed stationary.

[pgrindstaff]

On that note, are all windows supposed to be auto up/down? If I press each button and release (1 at a time) the windows will go down automatically, but when I try to get them to go up automatically only the driver's window does so and I have to hold the button for the rest. Could this be a sign of a bad switch?

Window motors are more rleiable that the switches. Make sure the switches are good.

[KenB]

Only the driver's window is auto up.