E30 window motor

ok, is it easier to replace the door or the window motor! i cant seem to figure out how to get the existing broken motor out, so my current guess is it is easier to replace the door and paint it than to replace a motor. any ideas?

the only window motor experience i have was on a ford ranger, and that wasnt very hard. could the germans have made it THAT much worse?

Would help if I could but every car I have ever owned has had manual windows.

apparently.... yes. they can! i cant find a single fastener holding the motor to the track. of course i have to look for one with tactile braille, but i shouldnt be that hard to find.....

jeeez louise

What year is this thing? I had no trouble doing mine (87).

Mine (87) was easy, too. Get a Bentley manual.

well, I know the mechanism on the e36 is rivited to the door... but I think the motor unbolts.

it is an 86 with the cable actuated windows. (biimerforums said that some 87's have the scissor type which seems infinitely easier to work on)

the manual description has been part of the problem. i didnt look at the bentley manual, but the one i had said that i need to remove the inner and outer weatherstripping at the top of the door, lower the window to expose the mounting bolts or screws, then remove the glass from the top of the door. the problem is, the motor doesnt work.... so i cant lower the window t expose the bolts or screws. unless there is some other way to lower the window that my manual doesnt identify.....any ideas?

Just unbolt the regulator completely, then you can move the window around how ever you want. The regulator just slides in and out of the track at the bottom of the window, so there is no unbolting and the bottom of the window. Once you get it loose, just take the entire regulator out of the door through one of the access holes. It takes a bit to get it snaked though there, but it's not too bad. No need to remove the glass or any of that crap.