Why do E46's eat window regulators?

markusmarkus said:

But why? The coupe glass is much bigger than the sedan glass. I’m sure it’s heavier, too.

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That's always been the conundrum for me.
The ONLY answer I have come away with (and it's not even a good one) is distance between two uprights and possibly better weight distribution, creating less twisting on the up/down?

MrMCar said:

Agree with Sapote.
As soon as you start to hear the proverbial "tink" from the regulator cable, it's coming up on you.
Conversely the coupes, will tink for a couple of years before they need a regulator.

If I had to guess, my ratio of 4 dr. to 2 dr. regulators is about 7 to 1....

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My driver's side has been doing the tink since I got the car.. in 2006. Still does it, it's a coupe

Can someone post a close-up pic of the couple window regulator's elevator showing the plastic section that houses the two cable beads and the springs?

I just replaced my front passenger side with this one and it was a perfect fit:

Amazon.com: A-Premium Power Window Regulator without Motor Replacement for BMW E46 323i 325i 325xi 328i 330i 330xi Front Right Passenger Side : Automotive

One of my favorite features of my European 316i E46 was manual hand crank windows in the rear. I knew I would never have to worry about that door panel coming off.

I can also relate that my 325xi sedan needed the window regulator replaced twice compared to my 323ci coupe which never needed it. I have also owned my 323ci for 8 years and put over 100,000 miles on it.

rwd7 said:

I would suggest OEM ones, but then I went and looked and holy crap, they are almost $500 from FCP Euro.

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I see the original BMW regulator for $179 on FCP.