replacing late-model rear window regulator, stuck in up position

[cunninglinguist]

Trying to remove the left rear window regulator from a 91 318i. It's stuck in the "up" position. As you might know, there's no provision to manually crank the late-style motors with an allen key.

I've applied 12v directly to the motor using jumpers from the battery to try to get it moving. I’ve even done this while smacking the motor with a tool to coax it. No dice. The motor seems seized, and I certainly can't move the cable by hand.

I was able to remove one of the two bolts that hold the glass channel, but the front-most bolt remains. And is in a very tricky position to try to get a wrench on. With the rear bolt removed, I can move the regulator around a bit, and the glass can even drop about 1/2" but it's still eluding me as to how to get this front bolt off.

Can anybody sell me a clue or trick??

[zeedre]

I'm just dealing with something similar on exactly the same car. My window was stuck up. I found that I could remove the whole regulator assembly fairly easily - then the window is free to move up or down.

Heres how. The regulator is like a little elevator that operates via a cable wrapped around a spool. Theres no gears attached to sciscor like mechanisms like in some other cars. The whole thing is vertical in the center (not front or back) of the door.

Once you remove the door panel, Disconnect the plug. Then theres 2 or 3 bolts that attach the regulator to the door frame in the middle center. Then the bottom of the regulator has two bolts. Then theres two bolts on top. Lastly, theres two holes that if you look in, you can see two more bolts with the window up.

Once all thats loose, you can wiggle and rotate the whole assembly sideways then out thru the large hole in the bottom of the door.

About to start another thread on how to fix this motor.

[cunninglinguist]

thanks for responding, but the issue is that the glass cannot move downward.

I've replaced multiple regulators where I've had room to operate. But In this case, the regulator is frozen at the very top of its travel.

If it were not stuck at the top, it is a very simple effort to remove and replace.

Thanks

[zeedre]

Ah, I had a half inch of movement.

Maybe cut the cable then either get a replacement with the cable or make one. I think this should be doable at a hardware store.

[Seawolf]

If the motor is buggered can you get to the screws on the motor body and pull the cover and windings off to expose the rotor ? And turn the motor rotor to drop the window ?

You can't just push the window down because you are working backwards against the pinion gearset.