I've joined the club of stuck Mini windows. In my case though the motor is cranking just fine. It gives it a go anyway. The motor will turn a bit and I can see the cable from the motor moving a bit. There's some kind of spring where the cable attaches the motor, and I can see this spring get stretched on the attempt to open. (Video attached)

Is this a bad regulator or is the position sensor confused?

Earlier this summer the window was stuck in the closed position. Later it worked for a day or two and I got greedy and cycled it one too many times. But throughout there hasn't been any grinding or other bad sounds.
I'm game for replacing the regulator but with the window all the way down getting to the hex bolts to remove the glass....how do you do that?

 

I did a close inspection with a borescope. Everything looks fine. The wire cables of the regulator are intact and connected. No snarls, and nothing is off a pulley anywhere.

When I hold the window switch up the window does go up just a few mm before the motor stops.

But why would the motor stop?

 

sounds like bad regulator to me....or the motor is overheating and cutting out.....

my money is on the regulator

Bryan

 

Cut cable. Push window up. Replace regulator. Done done

 

You'll need to pull the regulator regardless, but don't buy a new regulator until you've dissasembled the motor and lightly sanded (1,000 grit) the armature. Reinstall it and see if that solves your problem. Did that to my '04 and it cured my window problems.

 

Here's what worked for me, and it required no new parts.

Basically, all I did was remove the window glass. With the glass out the regulator+motor operated just fine (enough).

Steps were:
1. Remove the window glass
2. Using the switch, raise the regulator up part way
3. Reinstall the window glass
4. Raise the window up the rest of the way
5. Rejoice

Not a complete fix but it will keep the rain out.