I just completed a repair of my driver's side window. The forward plastic clip had broken and the window fell. The regulator had been replaced by the PO.
One thing that I noticed after putting it all together was that the bolts, although short, do need to be installed from the inside out. This was mentioned previously in another post. But it never hurts to re-emphasize this as it may save you another opportunity to get into that door as it seems we all like to do
. And I think that this was the cause of my window failure.
After replacing the plastic clips and adjusting the arms, I was hearing a thump and seeing the inside door panel move out a bit during my final test.
Looking inside while electrically moving the window up and down I could see the forward arm just barely touching one of the bolts. After reversing the bolt I see about 3/16 inch clearance as the forward arm passes the bolt head. Some kind of a round head Torx or Allen bolt would be even better in this case.
I think that the arms naturally bow a bit going up. Also, the original rivets may be a lot shorter than the bolts.
Working on this car is a lot easier than working on my other BMW.
LouM...