Fuster wins....BMW love.

[fustercluck]

So the formidable Mrs Fuster has this little red BMW with a little more than 100,000 mi. on the clock. It has accumulated a laundry list of broken this and thats which amount to nagging aggravation at best. The problem with cars like this is that while they are fun to drive, maintenance is costly and when compared to overall value, are usually not worth the sacrifice.

A perfect example is the passenger window. It stopped working a few months ago. I have had experience with these things before and power windows are all basically the same configuration. Today I decided that I would finally fix the window. There are no words to describe how unprepared I was to summit this hurdle.

Upon disassembly I discovered that the window motor and regulator are fastened together by recessed screws. Unfortunately for me they were inaccessable from their presentation while mounted to the door frame. The regulator and motor would have to be removed as a unit and then separated to examine the condition of the gears and their mesh pattern. No big deal in any of the other brands I've ever serviced, but BMW FREAKING RIVETS the entire mechanism to the door frame with impossibly large hardened rivets. I was daunted since I wasn't sure that the gear mesh was actually the problem.

After an hour of loathing denial and procrastination I determined that I had to drill out the rivets. One hour and two close calls later, the regulator unit was out. I'll be right back...

[YotaFun]

come one Fuster!

[habanero]

Butt are there any riveted food items or is it too early in the game?

[fustercluck]

Sorry for the interruption. A jr Fuster needed help with some homework. Anyway, the close calls that I spoke of came from drilling the rivets out. The space between the door frame and the door skin (the exterior pretty part) is narrower than the length of the drill bit needed to span the breadth of the rivet head. Being that pressure was necessary to move the drill bit forward, when the head of the rivet came off, the bit would plunge through. If I didn't catch it soon enough, the bit would put a positive (outward) dent in the door skin meriting me a donk on the head from the formidable Mrs Fuster.

Now, in the event that the motor gear was damaged, the dealer wanted 200.00 for a new one. An unreliable and predatory salvage yard would extort 150.00 for a doubtlessly well used part. Installation of same ranged from 200.00 - 350.00. So we can see how my motivation and pride gets me to the point that now I have this conjoined motor and regulator arm convolution in my hands.


Separating the two was to be done with a torx bit (which size I can't find). After a trip to the nearest torx bit supplier and having to buy an entire set so I could have the bit size I needed, I deftly removed the fasteners and voila! Apart they came baring their unmentionables to me like the harlots I labeled them before in frustration. Upon further examination I could see that there was no damage to the gears or the mesh tolerances. So why did the window not move?

As I studied the regulator arms, I noticed that there were two nylon sliders which rode in corresponding channels at the base of the window. These sliders were caked in a hard white crust which, if I applied pressure while moving opposing fingers together, would smear like paste. "There's the problem!", I said. The white lithium grease had desiccated over the years and had become a paste rather than a lubricant as designed. The window seized and the motor 'popped' because the sliders could not move.

I cleaned the sliders and found some stress cracks but they are easy and cheap to replace. By the time this is over, I will have spent $5.00 instead of 150.00 minimally or 550.00 - 600.00 were I to take it to the dealer and have the whole unit R&R'ed.

FUSTER WINS!!!!!!

...and the formidable Mrs Fuster allows me to sleep in my own bed again

[habanero]

So how are you going to convince her that a half grand saved is a half grand found....and what are you going to do with all your new-found wealth?

[YotaFun]

FINISH HIS RUNNER!!!

[fustercluck]

FINISH HIS RUNNER!!!

I've already missed this season. I think I'll finish it during the winter. That way I can build my bumpers and put lockers and re-gear....get some longfields...prolly draw some blood...collect abrasions, contusions and a few 2nd degree burns.

I doubt I'd could collect any dollar amount from my beloved. However, if we are fantasizing, I'd but another Taurus Raging Bull in .454 Casull.

[neliconcept]

BMW parts are the most expensive for a non Rolls royce, bentley or high end exotic car maker

take this from a person who has had two bimmers, one that just recently got sold.

it sucks, cuz you cant justify wtf kinda $$$ they are going to markup on a piece of crap rubber boot or something

[kmcc78240]

I might have the same problem, I have not taken the time to examine the Mrs. car though. So would you suggest that to look at the sliders and clean those up first. Could you have saved your self all that head ache if yiu noticed before. Car info 93' 325i

[fustercluck]

Yeah, the sliders can be accessed without removing the regulator....I'll grease the rest of them too before I call it done.