BMW Z4 e85 e86 Window Regulator Repair Kit
- Thread starter nfarmer
- Start date
Loughborough
Mate, that bottom picture looks about right. Why not fit back in the zed and see how it goes. When i attempted this i ended up buying 2 kits and just could not get it right, spent 2 weekends on the job. It is virtually impossible imho. In the end i just purchased a new regulator. It just went back in the zed perfectly, everything was aligned for bolting up. It has worked perfectly ever since.
Best of luck with it though, its a pig of a job
Cheers, tug
Best of luck with it though, its a pig of a job
Cheers, tug
sparkypenguin
Member
Thanks for reply tug.
Gonna take it for a mechanic i know to have a look over this morn.
Then if that don't work going to take passenger door stuff off to see a working one in action.
Depending on what I find will probably either just try it as you suggested or chop some length off the outer sheath.
Totally agree with it being a pig of a job and can only conclude that anyone whose done one in a couple of hours is either extremely lucky or has more arms than an octopus
Cheers again for help.
Gonna take it for a mechanic i know to have a look over this morn.
Then if that don't work going to take passenger door stuff off to see a working one in action.
Depending on what I find will probably either just try it as you suggested or chop some length off the outer sheath.
Totally agree with it being a pig of a job and can only conclude that anyone whose done one in a couple of hours is either extremely lucky or has more arms than an octopus
Cheers again for help.
sparkypenguin
Member
Update....
After much head scratching I finally realised what I had done wrong....
I had placed the cable end crimps into the plastic spool incorrectly.
This resulted in lengthening the route the cable had to travel by a few cm's which made all of the difference.
I have attached photo's which show:-
the incorrect method , fitting cable crimp vertically down into the spool
correct method of fitting it horizontally
I then fitted the cable and although still tight it was not stupidly tight.
Here is a photo showing how much "slack" was in it once fitted onto the mechanism.
Note that this amount of "slack" was only achievable by putting a reasonable amount of force on the cable with my thumb.
I have also attached photo's of how the tensioning springs looked so that anyone can compare if they decide to undertake a cable change.
Note that the top tensioning spring has a clip on it and although I do not know this for certain I do believe that this clip is put in place to ease the fitting of the cable and should be unclipped once the cable has been fitted to ensure that the spring can expand and maintain tension if the cable stretches.
Please note that IMHO replacing these cables is not an easy job but many of the issues I came across would not have been issues had I known what I know now.
However even after my numerous hrs of watching video's, reading forum posts and actually performing the task, I still think it will take me a good 4 hrs to do my passenger window.
I do have many, many more photo's and I am happy to share what I have learnt during my ordeal / experience if anyone is considering replacing the cable. Please just PM me and I will do my best to help.
I am also considering uploading a full list of my what I have learnt but this all depends on finding the time.
After much head scratching I finally realised what I had done wrong....
I had placed the cable end crimps into the plastic spool incorrectly.
This resulted in lengthening the route the cable had to travel by a few cm's which made all of the difference.
I have attached photo's which show:-
the incorrect method , fitting cable crimp vertically down into the spool
correct method of fitting it horizontally
I then fitted the cable and although still tight it was not stupidly tight.
Here is a photo showing how much "slack" was in it once fitted onto the mechanism.
Note that this amount of "slack" was only achievable by putting a reasonable amount of force on the cable with my thumb.
I have also attached photo's of how the tensioning springs looked so that anyone can compare if they decide to undertake a cable change.
Note that the top tensioning spring has a clip on it and although I do not know this for certain I do believe that this clip is put in place to ease the fitting of the cable and should be unclipped once the cable has been fitted to ensure that the spring can expand and maintain tension if the cable stretches.
Please note that IMHO replacing these cables is not an easy job but many of the issues I came across would not have been issues had I known what I know now.
However even after my numerous hrs of watching video's, reading forum posts and actually performing the task, I still think it will take me a good 4 hrs to do my passenger window.
I do have many, many more photo's and I am happy to share what I have learnt during my ordeal / experience if anyone is considering replacing the cable. Please just PM me and I will do my best to help.
I am also considering uploading a full list of my what I have learnt but this all depends on finding the time.
sparkypenguin
Member
Also please see this forum how-to thread https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=69260
Spent about 5 hours on this today and hands are red raw and I'm on the verge of giving up! 
Like you sparky, there just doesn't seem to be enough slack left in the wire to get the round spool in place. I've made sure the cable end crimps are installed correctly. I honestly don't know how others breezed through this!
Last thing I can think of tomorrow is really pushing those springs super tight and getting my dad to hold them tight. The little clip holder on the spring doesn't get it as tight as you have it there in the last picture.
Other than that I'm completely out of ideas, other than buying a whole new regulator. Found this after market one below that looks pretty reasonable (certainly against a new OEM one from BMW. Trust pilot scores are good, has anyone bought from here?
Thank you!
https://carwindowregs.co.uk/bmw-z4-...ont-left-electric-window-regulator-2002-2008/
Like you sparky, there just doesn't seem to be enough slack left in the wire to get the round spool in place. I've made sure the cable end crimps are installed correctly. I honestly don't know how others breezed through this!
Last thing I can think of tomorrow is really pushing those springs super tight and getting my dad to hold them tight. The little clip holder on the spring doesn't get it as tight as you have it there in the last picture.
Other than that I'm completely out of ideas, other than buying a whole new regulator. Found this after market one below that looks pretty reasonable (certainly against a new OEM one from BMW. Trust pilot scores are good, has anyone bought from here?
Thank you!
https://carwindowregs.co.uk/bmw-z4-...ont-left-electric-window-regulator-2002-2008/
Finally fixed this today. In the end filing around 1.5mm off the fixed end of the white spring holder and cutting the spring on the same component a bit shorter gave just enough slack to wrap the cable around the spool. I'm convinced the cable kit was slightly the wrong length, though of course BMW won't sell you just the cable, they want you to buy the whole regulator.Rossi1001 said:Spent about 5 hours on this today and hands are red raw and I'm on the verge of giving up!
Like you sparky, there just doesn't seem to be enough slack left in the wire to get the round spool in place. I've made sure the cable end crimps are installed correctly. I honestly don't know how others breezed through this!
Last thing I can think of tomorrow is really pushing those springs super tight and getting my dad to hold them tight. The little clip holder on the spring doesn't get it as tight as you have it there in the last picture.
Other than that I'm completely out of ideas, other than buying a whole new regulator. Found this after market one below that looks pretty reasonable (certainly against a new OEM one from BMW. Trust pilot scores are good, has anyone bought from here?
Thank you!
https://carwindowregs.co.uk/bmw-z4-...ont-left-electric-window-regulator-2002-2008/
Waiting 15 minutes after disconnecting the battery before removing the airbag seems to have been OK, no airbag warning lights so far.
An absolute pig of a job overall, I think I'd just buy one of those aftermarket £120 regulators next time!