Oh no! R53 window won't go up!
 

So today on my way to work I put the window about half way down. When I stopped at the gas station I went to put it up but it only went up a few inches, it's almost like it's jammed... Or the motor doesn't seem to have enough power to push it up?

I tried the 3 punch above the speaker method and nothing. The window will roll down, but once it gets to the same point it just stops.

Anyone experience this? Thoughts? Shot motor?

Thanks guys!

Okay I'm off work, I have the door panel off and I'm looking at the window is going up and down but it seems to be off the track like there's a grinding noise. Anyone have any suggestions?

Your regulator is probably bad. BMWs and MINIs tend to have issues with window regulators.

Yea... Rain tomorrow, so I'm a bit depressed, I won't be able to drive it tomorrow.

But on the inside, the cable towards the front doesn't seem to give enough slack for the window to go all the way up. It's like the CPU thinks the window is up... The cables seem to work fine otherwise.

Basically, is there a way to reprogram the window settings?

If the regulator is bad, do the R50 and R53 share the same part? If so I could always take the one out of my 02 since it's currently awaiting parts for a tranny swap.

It's the same part. The cables you see are part of the regulator assembly. I got one awhile ago when my driver side window started messing up, but gave up on trying to replace it myself. Trying you maneuver your hands and tools in that tiny little space in the door is a good way to make you scream. I ended up realizing the door bang trick worked for me and the window still works a year later, though it drags a bit on the way up.

I think when you install a new motor/regulator, you need to initialize the system. I think the process has you roll the window all the way up and hold it up, then all the way down, then back up. Something like that. Of course that won't work if your regulator is preventing you from rolling it all the way down/up.

Yes! It's a huge PITA to get to. I'll make it work.

Also, the door bang trick works! Lol. My R50s passenger door did it, still works to this day.

On my R53 though it seems like too much cable is stuck in the motor or regulator, not allowing it to roll all the way up. That's why I was wondering if there was anyway to reset this?

If you have to replace your regulator, this article works to a tee.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

Yes, I was using the PelicanParts article when I tried replacing mine. I just couldn't maneuver my hands and the allen wrench back there to get the pegs out. I don't know how people do it.

That's the hardest part, you have to maneuver the window up or down in order to get just enough room for the Allen wrench to get in there. After that it's cake.

During my searching I can't across alot, and I mean a LOT of post about people complaining about squeaking windows. Seems like it's a precursor to a bad window regulator or motor.

Has anyone figured any preventative maintenance to remedy this?

When my window stopped working it was actually worn brushes. Pulling the motor and cleaning them has lasted me quite a while, but before I got to doing anything about it punching the door right above the speaker worked. YMMV