2001 318Ci

[allan 295]

Ok must be something broken or miss aligned as the one i have their is no way the nipple on the end of the cable will come completely out of were it locates because of another part, red arrow in your blue circle even with the outer cable out of its locating place the X or other red arrow. Hold the press left red arrow if this part is depressed it will allow the nipple to be removed.It appears to be spring loaded under white plastic bit check the spring to see if not broken. Has your cable still got its little securing tab or is it broken hence the cable tie to hold it in place.

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by allan
further info

[allan 295]

A couple of photos that might help what i'm talking about. first locking tab on cable, second part in correct place, third part depressed allowing cable to be removed. Once this is depressed it appears it needs a little help to return it.

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by allan

[gjm 3258]

My cable is black... does that make a difference...?   

I have seen the end of the cable in question. The nipple is present, and the square locking piece appears intact. I have no idea about the part shown depressed in the third pic - I'm looking upside down up into the door shell, past the regulator into a gap that might be 2cm wide. I can see the grooved channel in the curved part which is where the cable needs to sit, and by looking from another angle (through a 1.5cm round hole!) I can see the hole the nipple needs to sit in to.

As discussed earlier, I  suspect that the window would need to be removed to remove the mechanism, and I really don't want to go down that road.

If I can get the nipple relocated, and the locking piece back where it should be, I'll somehow get a cable tie around the locking piece so it cannot 'escape' again. That'll mean the nipple cannot become detached in future.

Thanks so much for the pics. They really do help as now I at least know what I'm dealing with, rather than having to guess. 

[allan 295]

2 hours ago, gjm said:

My cable is black... does that make a difference...?   

 

Thanks so much for the pics. They really do help as now I at least know what I'm dealing with, rather than having to guess. 

The cable being black should'nt matter just the way it is attached to the door handle mechanismThey appear to have changed Sep 2000 mine are yellow but from a 2002 sedan. Might be easier if you look at trying to remove the door handle mechanism from the car to make refitting the cable easier and know that it want come adrift again. By what you are saying their isn't any room to move. Looking at the mechanism it appears to be held  in by one bolt and located in a V shape a the other end. Also their should be some holes that line up with these parts in the door. Play around with the window height to get the best clearance you can. 

[gjm 3258]

1 minute ago, allan said:

The cable being black should'nt matter just the way it is attached to the door handle mechanismThey appear to have changed Sep 2000 mine are yellow but from a 2002 sedan. Might be easier if you look at trying to remove the door handle mechanism from the car to make refitting the cable easier and know that it want come adrift again. By what you are saying their isn't any room to move. Looking at the mechanism it appears to be held  in by one bolt and located in a V shape a the other end. Also their should be some holes that line up with these parts in the door. Play around with the window height to get the best clearance you can. 

I was kidding about the cable colour.

The car is a May 2001 build. Not that it matters.

Having the mech out of the car would certainly make it easier - I have had it completely released, but there doesn't appear to be space to get it out of the door: either the glass or the regulator is in the way.

I've been working with the window fully up, but battery disconnected (for removing the door airbag) - this means I can reach up under the glass to get to the handle mechanism. I'll have a look, but suspect that winding the window down will mean I can no longer get to the mechanism at all.

[allan 295]

Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't comes to mind. Would you achieve much by loosen the lower window track and being able to move things a little? . Other than that it might be a window removal or can you lower the window and the regulator into the bottom of the door to give you more room.

[gjm 3258]

8 minutes ago, allan said:

Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't comes to mind. Would you achieve much by loosen the lower window track and being able to move things a little? . Other than that it might be a window removal or can you lower the window and the regulator into the bottom of the door to give you more room.

I'm going to see just how far down the window goes when fully down. I've removed the inner and outer weather strips to gain a tiny bit more space.

I really don't want to get into removing the window or regulator if it is at all possible to avoid doing so.

Edited July 10, 2018 by gjm

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

You can't do it without taking the window and regulator out. The E46 Ci & Cab are the worst to do and I refused to do them after having done one. You also need to remove the outside door moulding to access the window regulator to window bolts and alignment mechanisms. You may find the need to also buy other new parts to complete the repair.

[gjm 3258]

7 minutes ago, B.M.W Ltd said:

You can't do it without taking the window and regulator out. The E46 Ci & Cab are the worst to do and I refused to do them after having done one. You also need to remove the outside door moulding to access the window regulator to window bolts and alignment mechanisms. You may find the need to also buy other new parts to complete the repair.

My suspicions...

And I was so hoping that there might have been some 'knack' or technique to sort this.

I suspect the inability to open the door from the outside may become a 'security feature' - I really don't feel like pulling the door apart any more than I already have.

[Allanw 1072]

Buy another (working) door

 

Sounds WAY easier!

[Palazzo 478]

1 hour ago, gjm said:

My suspicions...

And I was so hoping that there might have been some 'knack' or technique to sort this.

I suspect the inability to open the door from the outside may become a 'security feature' - I really don't feel like pulling the door apart any more than I already have.

Unless I’m wrong, it will then become a Wof feature.

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

22 minutes ago, Palazzo said:

Unless I’m wrong, it will then become a Wof feature.

Yes it is

[gjm 3258]

3 hours ago, Palazzo said:

Unless I’m wrong, it will then become a Wof feature.

 

3 hours ago, B.M.W Ltd said:

Yes it is

Damn.

Something on the face of it so simple, so easy to rectify... Requiring so much hassle and likely grief to resolve.

Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to sort it without having to pull everything else apart, but I'll not hold my breath. ? 

[gjm 3258]

Sooooo close. I can get the cable in place, the nipple in place, and even into the hole, but... It always goes in 90 degrees from the way it should. The nipple sits in the hole, but with the curved (and not flat) faces facing up and down.

The sleeve is a wire wound item, making it as much a spring as a sleeve.

I'm confident that it can be done without stripping the glass and regulator, but also have to wonder if taking everything apart would be quicker. It'd certainly make fitting the cable so much easier, but would I run into more problems with getting everything back together and lined up again?

[aja540i 1906]

You want to borrow my plasma cutter and make an access hole?

I think it can be a bit of a pain getting the window to line up so it seals again if you undo everything, but i did it in the e36 and it was better when i finished than when i started!

[gjm 3258]

1 hour ago, aja540i said:

You want to borrow my plasma cutter and make an access hole?

Yes!
Who cares what I use it for? Because - toys.

1 hour ago, aja540i said:

I think it can be a bit of a pain getting the window to line up so it seals again if you undo everything, but i did it in the e36 and it was better when i finished than when i started!

That's what concerns me. At the moment, everything works. Line up is great, seal is great, even the coupe 'window drop' function works and by the correct amount.

[gjm 3258]

Put it all back together. You'd never know I'd been in there! Handle still doesn't work, but as it has a WoF, I'm not immediately concerned about that.

Booked n to get airbags sorted next week.

Changed oil and filter. Used some flushing agent, and filled with 4L of Mr Penrite's best 5W40. Sweet as a nut. Beautiful.

Did some funky battery recovery stuff too, on the flat battery I had in the garage. It's taken a few days, but it seems to have worked - battery is holding charge and repeatedly starts the car without issue. Car is actually starting 1st turn of the engine now, too, which is lovely.

Still needs a thorough, everything, groom/detail/valet.

[zero 1162]

Just 4 litres?

 

Tell us more on your funky battery recovery stuff.

[dirtydoogle 383]

43 minutes ago, zero said:

Just 4 litres?

 

Tell us more on your funky battery recovery stuff.

Hit it with an arc welder to de-calcify

[gjm 3258]

21 hours ago, zero said:

Just 4 litres?

Tell us more on your funky battery recovery stuff.

Seems all it takes. That's what the book of words suggested, and 4L (maybe a teensy drop more) took it from drained to max on the dipstick.

20 hours ago, dirtydoogle said:

Hit it with an arc welder to de-calcify

Close...

Banged 12V at 12A across it a couple of times. Charged at 6A to start with, reducing until showing charged. Left it for 12 hours, put it on a 0.5-1A charge until showed charged again. It's working so far, and appears to be holding charge (which frankly I'm surprised at.)

That said, INPA suggests it's holding 11.7V, which is about 1V down on where it should ideally be. One or two in-car systems aren't keen and suggest 'low voltage' issues.

It'll do for now, until I can sort something better.

[gjm 3258]

Found a replacement for the sedan left-side front kidney grille someone had fitted to the coupe with a bit of twist tie. Unfortunately I've also learnt that the kidney grilles comprise two pieces per side (and I replaced the front part):
(1) the front, often chrome but sometimes black piece, which clips to
(2) the plastic rear moulding, which clips to the bonnet.

Sadly, most of the rear mouldings seem to have their clips broken. Both sides on our coupe do - one side is held in with mastic (or similar), so I'll be into finding a replacement pair of plastic rear parts. 

From the parts catalogue, it look as though the two parts, while they can be separated, are sold under a single part number:

 

Anyway, also found a black plastic insert for the passenger door armrest. Not necessary, but looks better now. Another hole sorted. We're getting there.

Edited July 12, 2018 by gjm

[gjm 3258]

Hit a hiccup on the road to everything sorted:

Can't get the clock on the dash/radio to display time. It resolutely sits there showing --:-- with the : part flashing.

No OBC so no controls on the end of a stalk to play with means the only way I know of to sort this is to turn the ignition key to position 1 or 2, and gently twist the right hand knob/stalk in the instrument binnacle. However, I suspect this only works when the clock is actually displaying a time (which ours isn't).

A little frustrating.

[allan 295]

Welcome to the surprises that e46 have for you. The back mounting securing clips brake real easy as they get old and the front one not far behind as you are now aware. Three ways I have seen people  fix thises. 1.combo silicone sealer and cable ties, 2. A friendly wrecker and get them for free 3. cough up the $$$ and buy them new.

As for the clock issue it can be displayed on both the cluster and radio at the same time as mine was but by fiddling with the right knob on the cluster as you mentioned it can be altered.

[gjm 3258]

Sorted the clock display issue. I was perhaps being too gentle with the rubber knob in the dash binnacle... Or perhaps it was a bit sticky and needed a bit more 'persuasion'.

Anyway... I can now see what the time is while driving.

Something else crossed off the list.

 

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

I like the wheels you swapped over, Graham. Much less blingy.