01 325Ci Window Regulators and Door Latch

Fuzzy dice or LED bulbs are not a repair
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Adam
Posts: 2240
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

01 325Ci Window Regulators and Door Latch

Post by Adam »

The RH regulator started making terrible sounds in March. The LH one has been making some clickey sounds since I got the car. Now that it's warm out, I want to be able to open all the windows (since the A/C has a leak, sigh). More recently, the LH door doesn't unlock with the keyless entry. It makes a sound, but the lock thingy didn't pop up anymore. You have to use the key like a plebe to unlock the door to the car. These cars are known for premature window regulator failure due to precision German engineering.

Turns out this car integrated the lock actuator into the latch, so you need to buy the whole thing. For $90. Sigh. Anyways, you need to at least partially remove the window regulator, so I figured this is the perfect time to replace the regulator too. And the motors, cause why not. Also, they're fairly affordable at ~$30/ea.

Latch is pretty big.
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The regulators are modern cable-driven types.
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The door actually comes apart very easily. There's a few screws that hold the armrest and latch panels on, the rest of the panel is attached with push pins.
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Found the source of the noise on the passenger side
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This also damaged the plastic gear on the motor. Good thing I bought those.

It's now all fixed. Windows go up and down smoothly and quietly. The Dorman latch actuator is a bit louder than the OEM, but the BMW replacement latches are over $300, so I'll live with it for the cost savings. Overall this job wasn't difficult, probably took a couple hours accounting for getting distracted by other things. No special tools required (10mm nuts and T20/T30 torx screws). The openings in the door provided sufficient access w/o cutting up my hands (usually the interiors or door panels are made out of razer blades). German car win?
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