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Thread: new battery, and now rear windows don't work

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    4

    Default new battery, and now rear windows don't work

    hiya

    My 1996 540 6speed touring displayed a problem with the battery after leaving it over my holiday (honeymoon ) Had a jump start one day, then the next it still started, drove 20 miles, then park. After 20 mins or so the alarm goes off and doesn't stop until a charger is on the battery terminals. I got a few funny looks returning from the shops to home with the alarm on

    Taking it to our local parts place, the battery was confirmed dead. After they replaced the new one I had to re-code the radio etc but it looks like the rear power windows don't work. There is definitely a click in the door, but no action. They did work with the old battery, and the only thing I played with was removing the 2 fuses for the anti-theft system thinking they'd stop the alarm. Obviously that didn't work!

    Any ideas?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    451

    Default

    If there's a click, then the motor is just struggling to move the window.

    Try the door slam trick -- open and slam the doors (not too hard) and this should jolt the drive and the motor should be able to open and close the rear windows.

    Anyway, I'm not mechanically inclined at all, and I've had troubles with rear windows before. My guess is that it's something mechanical and not electrical (hence the click), and that it started to happen after the battery change being coincidental.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    10

    Default

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought BMW didn't make 5 series for the 96 year.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Perth Western Australia
    Posts
    438

    Default

    is it 95 or 96???

    To quote youe first post Quad: "I've recently acquired what should be a good 'un, a '95 540i touring 6 speed"
    BMW parts professional

    Previous rides:
    BMW
    E12 M535i (go the dogleg!)
    E28 M535i (MMM M88!)
    E34 535i M

    MAZDA:
    RX7 S-IV T04 (440 hp ATW)
    RX7 S-I 13b bridge port
    RX4 13b peripheral port

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    585

    Default

    was thinkin the same...but assumed that he lived in another part of the world (other than the USA). Us yanks don't have an "official" 1996 e34...although the 1995 models were produced up to 4/1996...they are still considered 95 models and the "S" (10th digit) of the VIN... confirming their "95 status. The arrival of the redsigned e39 5 series was the reason for the extended 95 model year into 1996...and when the e39 debuted in the summer of 1996...it was heralded as a 1997 model...with a "V" 10th digit in the VIN as confrimation as a 1997 model year.
    Q
    95 525iT / 97 740iL



  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Qsilver7
    Us yanks don't have an "official" 1996 e34...although the 1995 models were produced up to 4/1996..
    Sorry, I should really remember if it is a 95 or 96. I can't though, and I think it's registration doc (a 'V5' here in the UK) says 96 but that may be when it was first bought rather than manufactured. It's an 'N' registered car which dates it to summer 95 to summer 96. I Will check the V5 after work

    I'll give the door slamming a go, it can't hurt. If it's mechanical, and therefore a co-incidence, then another explanation could be the weather - it's been blooming warm in the last week

    Our local german car specialist is taking it tomorrow for a bodywork repair, so I can ask them to test the window motor too. Sad really, there's a tennis ball sized rust patch on the drivers door, only slightly deeper than surface, and a couple of grape sized spots elsewhere. I've seen far older e34's without a scratch. They'll have to spray halfway up the door

    Cheers

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Well the door slam trick worked!

    The right only needed a little slam, then immediately the window opened up. The left door needed a second slightly bigger slam, but then it came to life

    Thanks for the advice , if only all things were that simple!

    Thanks

    Quad

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Austin
    Posts
    1,087

    Default

    great, now post some pics of that bad boy before we swim the pond and smack you in the forehead with a gimme cap.

    anything that starts with 540i and ends with a T I have to see....

    ~6 speed~ Rear Fogs ~ Shadowline ~ Tow Package ~ OEMMM///S38B38

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Posts
    448

    Default

    I have the same problem, I believe the slam trick only works for so long. Eventually the motors will go and need to be slammed again

    Present: Black 1995 525i | Past: Red 1989 535i; Black 1985 535i

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Chicago, Il. U.S.A.
    Posts
    4,243

    Default

    Smack the door panel as you shout swine! Works for me. I think it's because the back windows don't get used as often and the commutator of the motor corrodes.
    "The gas pedal wouldn't go to the floor if it weren't meant to be there"

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