A snapped door drive belt has meant a Saturday of stripping down and replacing the belt.
All went well untill the door was refitted!
The door will lower nicely but when I use the inside handle to close the door the handle stays in the out position and the door won't rise.
The belt tightens and slackens a couple of times and then the handle will return to the in position.
A little help with lisfting the door whislt pulling the handle again will get the door to rise.
I am assuming its a latch alignment issue, or similar, but would like a little direction if anyone has experienced this before?
This serves me right for missing the technical day Jet!
Gary
Changed door belt
Re: Changed door belt
Sounds like you will be hosting the next one 
A few basic things from the KISS theory:
Which door is it?
Does everything else work apart from inside door handle, external door button?
Was everything working perfectly before the snap? Including the belt tightening/slackening?
Was everything replaced exactly as removed?
Did you mark positions of everything, including the door catch plate/pin position?
Could it be an obstruction, something trapped? The handle is spring loaded, so I would expect it to return to its home position, regardless of what the door does.
Handle is connected to a metal bar, is it free to travel? Try pulling it from inside the inspection hole, see if that works.
Then try unscrewing the handle, remove it from the chassis and try the door.
A few basic things from the KISS theory:
Which door is it?
Does everything else work apart from inside door handle, external door button?
Was everything working perfectly before the snap? Including the belt tightening/slackening?
Was everything replaced exactly as removed?
Did you mark positions of everything, including the door catch plate/pin position?
Could it be an obstruction, something trapped? The handle is spring loaded, so I would expect it to return to its home position, regardless of what the door does.
Handle is connected to a metal bar, is it free to travel? Try pulling it from inside the inspection hole, see if that works.
Then try unscrewing the handle, remove it from the chassis and try the door.
Re: Changed door belt
Yes as long as we go throuhg all the things not to do first!
Its the drivers door,
External button was always dodgy and never closed the door! (i know i should have fixed that a long time ago!)
Everything seemed to work before the belt snaped (external button excluded)
To the best of my knowledge (see below)
Marking the positons now why didnt i think of that!!!!
I think the best bet would be to take the door back off again and make sure the neighbours cat didnt get in while i wasn't looking
I will check the handle to make sure there isnt something obstructing it first tho.
I will keep you posted
Thanks
Gary
Its the drivers door,
External button was always dodgy and never closed the door! (i know i should have fixed that a long time ago!)
Everything seemed to work before the belt snaped (external button excluded)
To the best of my knowledge (see below)
Marking the positons now why didnt i think of that!!!!
I think the best bet would be to take the door back off again and make sure the neighbours cat didnt get in while i wasn't looking
I will check the handle to make sure there isnt something obstructing it first tho.
I will keep you posted
Thanks
Gary
Re: Changed door belt
Recommend removing door fuse before disconnecting anything. I think its 25, or 26, might be 27...... 
Re: Changed door belt
My external button will open the door but no close it, it will close using the internal handle.
It will close externally if I insert the key and turn the lock, but not using the button alone.
Using the internal handle there is a loud clunk before the door opens, no clunk when the door closes.
It will close externally if I insert the key and turn the lock, but not using the button alone.
Using the internal handle there is a loud clunk before the door opens, no clunk when the door closes.
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster
, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster
, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M CoupeRe: Changed door belt
As above, providing everything else works, this can normally be fixed by adjusting the lever behind the door button or loosen catch plate, adjust by a mm at a time, re-tighten and re-test.Gazza wrote:My external button will open the door but no close it, it will close using the internal handle.
It will close externally if I insert the key and turn the lock, but not using the button alone.
Using the internal handle there is a loud clunk before the door opens, no clunk when the door closes.
The clunk gets louder over time, as the door is released, a few things you can do to make it smoother, but a full door service at some point and you should see a noticeable difference in sound and operation
Re: Changed door belt
Thanks for the info.
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster
, BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M CoupeRe: Changed door belt
After another day of tweaking still no joy.
Tried adjusting everything I can think of. The door seems fine when not powered but as soon as I try with the fuses back in I get the following:
Door drops to open fine
Pull internal handle. Window lifter guide rail moves to semi upright position
Handle remains out and cannot be pushed in
Belt tensions and slackens a few times
I then have to lift the door slightly and the handle returns in
Pull handle again and lifter guide rail moves to the fully upright position
Handle remains out
Pull handle whilst lifting door and door goes up
The strange thing is, if I don't tighten the baseplate fully the door works fine.
I can only assume that something is not aligning and having to baseplate loose allows it to move enough to engage, but what?
I have tried adjusting the catch from one extreme to another!!!
Any ideas?
Thanks Gary
Tried adjusting everything I can think of. The door seems fine when not powered but as soon as I try with the fuses back in I get the following:
Door drops to open fine
Pull internal handle. Window lifter guide rail moves to semi upright position
Handle remains out and cannot be pushed in
Belt tensions and slackens a few times
I then have to lift the door slightly and the handle returns in
Pull handle again and lifter guide rail moves to the fully upright position
Handle remains out
Pull handle whilst lifting door and door goes up
The strange thing is, if I don't tighten the baseplate fully the door works fine.
I can only assume that something is not aligning and having to baseplate loose allows it to move enough to engage, but what?
I have tried adjusting the catch from one extreme to another!!!
Any ideas?
Thanks Gary
Re: Changed door belt
How about the baseplate shims? Different thicknesses, they must be put back in exactly the same position for the door to work properly. There are markings on the chassis from the original configuration providing nothing has changed in its history, it should be set the same.GaryK wrote:
The strange thing is, if I don't tighten the baseplate fully the door works fine.
Thanks Gary
Could that be the problem?
Re: Changed door belt
Worth a try!
I have put the shims back as they were, but the markings show 4mm for one fixing and 2mm for another and there were only 3mm of shims on the 4mm and none on the 2mm.
I have tried the 4 and 2 I could try variations on the 3mm shims I had.
The fact it locks when tightend up would suggest they need more packing to me though.
Running out of options so will give it a go!
Thanks
Gary
I have put the shims back as they were, but the markings show 4mm for one fixing and 2mm for another and there were only 3mm of shims on the 4mm and none on the 2mm.
I have tried the 4 and 2 I could try variations on the 3mm shims I had.
The fact it locks when tightend up would suggest they need more packing to me though.
Running out of options so will give it a go!
Thanks
Gary
Re: Changed door belt
100% sure all the shims are back in their original place? Are you missing any? Some baseplate studs have shims, some have washers, which can fall out if you don't know they are there.GaryK wrote:Worth a try!
I have put the shims back as they were, but the markings show 4mm for one fixing and 2mm for another and there were only 3mm of shims on the 4mm and none on the 2mm.
I have tried the 4 and 2 I could try variations on the 3mm shims I had.
The fact it locks when tightend up would suggest they need more packing to me though.
Running out of options so will give it a go!
Thanks
Gary
Tread carefully here, make a written note of everything you alter, take photos, video clips and draw a map of the baseplate studs and which shim goes where. Its very easy to forget after a long day fiddling with various settings. Its a tad overkill, but ensures everything is reversible and helps build a pattern of behaviour.
The markings are from the original setup, but it is common for the alignment to have changed over the years and shims altered accordingly, so those numbers may no longer be relevant.
Apologies if I am stating the obvious.
Good luck
Re: Changed door belt
Unfortunatley I didnt photograph the positions.
More haste less speed!!!
Most of the horseshoe shims were still on the studs. Only the two top ones (on the socket head bolts) fell down and I cant be sure if they were both on one bolt or on two.
As mentioned before the numbers witten next to the studs dont correspond with the sizes of shims I have. (4+2 written and only 2 +1 shims).
I have tried shimming to the factory settings but to no avail!
I didnt notice any washers used as shims. Do you know where these ones normally are?
I might just have to keep shimming until it works!!!!
Hopefully ready for the 13th August!
Thanks again.
Gary
More haste less speed!!!
Most of the horseshoe shims were still on the studs. Only the two top ones (on the socket head bolts) fell down and I cant be sure if they were both on one bolt or on two.
As mentioned before the numbers witten next to the studs dont correspond with the sizes of shims I have. (4+2 written and only 2 +1 shims).
I have tried shimming to the factory settings but to no avail!
I didnt notice any washers used as shims. Do you know where these ones normally are?
I might just have to keep shimming until it works!!!!
Hopefully ready for the 13th August!
Thanks again.
Gary
Re: Changed door belt
Keep shimming?GaryK wrote:
I didnt notice any washers used as shims. Do you know where these ones normally are?
I might just have to keep shimming until it works!!!!
Hopefully ready for the 13th August!
Thanks again.
Gary
You mentioned the slackening of the belt, I think I have seen that before, you press the door button, the belt loses tension momentarily, then engages as the door moves?
I have about 2/3 studs with washers on them, no idea why, could be some banana lost the original shims. No 2 cars are the same, from what I understand they used some sort of precision tool to measure the gaps and operating clearances to determine shim widths down to the last millimetre.
Maybe someone else has some ideas?
Re: Changed door belt
Gary
I have copy notes and presentations from previous technical days and emails from Michael K regarding door alignment. PM your address and I will copy and forward them to you. I also have a copy english BMW Z1 workshop manual (screen shots from fiche) which you are welcome to borrow.
I makes more sense to have the parts and mechanism in front of you when reading the notes - the pictures and diagrams help make sense of the situation.
Regards
TJS
I have copy notes and presentations from previous technical days and emails from Michael K regarding door alignment. PM your address and I will copy and forward them to you. I also have a copy english BMW Z1 workshop manual (screen shots from fiche) which you are welcome to borrow.
I makes more sense to have the parts and mechanism in front of you when reading the notes - the pictures and diagrams help make sense of the situation.
Regards
TJS
Re: Changed door belt
Well got it workingish!
Dont know what i did right but the interior handle now works (most of the time) and the outside button now closes the door which it never did.
Fixed just in time for the indicators to pack up! So now i need a wiring diagram see new post!!!!!
Dont know what i did right but the interior handle now works (most of the time) and the outside button now closes the door which it never did.
Fixed just in time for the indicators to pack up! So now i need a wiring diagram see new post!!!!!
