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Few small problems with E36

764 views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Kerry-w 
#1 ·
Hi,

Only recently bought the car and got it at a very cheap price so didnt expect everything to work as it should do and knew id have to put work into it myself :)

Heres the list of bits currently playing up:

  • Front drivers window has a mind of its own going back up, it seems to think something is blocking it and goes back down unless I push it up with my hand while holding the button.
  • Electric sunroof has trouble closing fully, the back of it seems to stay down about 1cm unless I push it upwards from inside the car, again while holding the button to close it.
  • Rear doorcards have electric window switches and manual ones, electric ones do nothing so was wondering how to know if their meant do work :p
  • Front fog lights dont work, light illuminated on the dash when button is pressed but get nothing in them, how do I get behind them to chek the bulbs?

Dont know if anyone can help with this but it would be much appreciated :) drivers window being the main pain at the moment as I dont want to put it down knowing it has trouble going back up again.

Thanks, will hope to return favours in the future if possible, just need some time to get use to how the car works after coming from french :)
 
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#2 ·
1) Usually holding your finger on the button alone works. Needs runners cleaning and greasing or the motor unit with the anti-trap in fixing or replaceing, alternatively some other issue
2) No idea. Maybe some WD40 on the runners would help but really I have no idea
3)I would guess oyu mean electric switches and manual winder handles? At a guess that means someone has changed the trim.
3)Relay or fuse issue maybe? Look on you tube or use search on here for how to eject the fog lights
 
#8 ·
Ah thanks, saves a lot of time :)

For the sunroof, It might be out of sync.

It's a bit of a pain, but you can sort it. You need to look in the bootlid toolkit for the allen key emergency sunroof closer, or grab a similar allen key that fits the motor.

Pull off the panel where the sunroof switch is, and you'll see the motor. what you want to do is open the sunroof, then close it (to the bad half closed position) then use the allen key to wind the motor to the closed position (keep an eye on it)
and then, when it is closed properly, unbolt the sunroof motor (maybe 4 bolts/screws) pull it down so it doesn't touch anything, then press the button to open, and then close it, then bolt it up.

What has happened is the motor is out of sync with where the closed position is. When you have the roof closed, and then unbolt the motor, and cycle the open/close bit, you synchronise the positions.
The sunroof motor counts the number of turns between open and closed, so at the moment, it is opening it a little further than it should and closing it a little short of the true closed position.


For the foglights, check you have the sidelights on first.
The first few years of E36, you could switch on front fogs by themselves, but later cars needed the sidelights to be on (or maybe headlights..)
That might explain the small allen key left below the center arm rest when the car was bought then :)

It might have just been stiff though as today its worked fine, and just realisd it has two settings haha, wasnt aware it opened out fully, thought it just popped up a bit.
 
#7 ·
For the sunroof, It might be out of sync.

It's a bit of a pain, but you can sort it. You need to look in the bootlid toolkit for the allen key emergency sunroof closer, or grab a similar allen key that fits the motor.

Pull off the panel where the sunroof switch is, and you'll see the motor. what you want to do is open the sunroof, then close it (to the bad half closed position) then use the allen key to wind the motor to the closed position (keep an eye on it)
and then, when it is closed properly, unbolt the sunroof motor (maybe 4 bolts/screws) pull it down so it doesn't touch anything, then press the button to open, and then close it, then bolt it up.

What has happened is the motor is out of sync with where the closed position is. When you have the roof closed, and then unbolt the motor, and cycle the open/close bit, you synchronise the positions.
The sunroof motor counts the number of turns between open and closed, so at the moment, it is opening it a little further than it should and closing it a little short of the true closed position.


For the foglights, check you have the sidelights on first.
The first few years of E36, you could switch on front fogs by themselves, but later cars needed the sidelights to be on (or maybe headlights..)
 
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