1988 635csi Bootlid torsion bars, boot lift mechanism

[Trickysadd]

Well,
I thought I would post a little update a few months on.....

I still own the car and wish I had bought one years ago. After a little altercation with my workshop wall ( yes my workshop) in the snow , I had to do a small repair on the N/S wing, replace the bumper rubber strip and not connected but both inner headlamps and n/s/r window motor.
All thats off topic but suffice to say after taking the bumper off etc it all looks good now and I can see ! Horrified that I couldnt get the motor anywhere ( ?400 from BMW , and the lights were ?80 each, but at least they are all done.

Back to the boot torsion bars........ They still arent done and I have 2 questions.
Firstly is it easier without the weight of the bootlid on ?
Secondly , has anyone modified it to use hydraulic rams instead as having had a little go I am struggling to do it on my own ?

What a great car !!

Richard

[ron]

....Horrified that I couldnt get the motor anywhere ( ?400 from BMW ,

Why didn't you put a want ad. on here for the motor? Plenty of good used motors about.

I assume you are in UK as you have a Highline. Good idea to put your location and model in your profile as it helps everyone to answer any queries etc.

[Trickysadd]

Hi Ron,

I agree , I probably should have posted on here, but I did spend several weeks contacting all my local BMW specialists and I'm sure you will understand that after a while you give up. There are plenty of front motors about and even os/r ones . Also ones that fit early cars but not the later 635 ( they are different). A couple of bmw parts people kept saying they had one and then either didnt call back / answer emails or decided they didn't have one after all. I monitored Ebay for a month as well. I even googled parts overlap with outher models.

I did try and rebuild the old one but I think the plastic gear had stripped slightly.
In the end with business commitments it was just easier to pop into Coopers and haggle as much as I could knowing that the parts would be there 3 days later.

A forum would normally be my first stop.

Sorry about the lack of Location. I am in the UK south east - Essex.

Richard

[Brucey]

re bootlid; having 'made do' with various ad-hoc tools in the past, I now know that this is what I need.



I shall be making my own version at some point; if there is enough interest I shall make a batch, just let me know if you want one, cost will be about ?20 posted in the UK.

Re motor; there are commonalities between the motors and internal gearing etc between various motors used on the four windows. I documented this in a posting on this site. This means that it is often possible to cannibalise a 'wrong' unit and make a good one to do the job.

BTW the rear window mechanisms in these cars are the exact same items from '76 through to '89 according to the ETK.

cheers

[Trickysadd]

Hi Brucey,
Yes I would be interested ! I havent tried yet but I can imagine a world of pain and frustration trying with my hands. Also I am unsure why they were removed in the firstplace. Some of the bracketry looks bent.... But the boot is impossibly heavy at the moment.

I did do a search on here for window motor compatability, but couldn't find anything. Also did the same on Google. Spent an hour with my BMW parts guys and couldn't find any common ground , hence why I went for a new one. Even though I get staff discount via a friend of the family who is Service manager, it was still ?363. They have a lot on the shelf in Germany though !!!

I will do another search and retrieve my old motor from the scrap skip !!

Thank you for your reply.

Richard

[Chris Wright]

My favorite weapon of choice for the torsion bar springs, over-sized pliers. You can get both hands on the handles and control the bars as you torque them into place. $15-20 at the local cheap import tool store:

[bpoliakoff]

Thats great thanks. I think I need the little plastic spacers or whatever they are shown in the photos holding the bars apart as well as its all gone."
Just read your message Richard. I can add the plastic spacers. I reckon ?8 should cover postage, packing & Paypal fees etc. If you can send me a PM with your email address, I'll send you a Paypal invoice.

FYI information, the little plastic spacers also fit 2002 and E24 front brake pipes on the old style calipers zaand are used to keep the metal brake lines symetrical where they come out of the calipers

[bpoliakoff]

[quote="Brucey"]
I shall be making my own version at some point; if there is enough interest I shall make a batch, just let me know if you want one, cost will be about ?20 posted in the UK.

I am in for one for sure, having realized the canibal method of installation can get painful

[Trickysadd]

Having had the bootlid drop and only just miss my fingers last night I am moving tis job to the very top of the list !

I'll report back on how it goes !

[Brucey]

here is my first go at a decent tool for this job.

In use, the tool needs to be twisted slightly as the springs are unhooked. I quickly found that this marred the paint somewhat (although I did have several goes on the same spring, and you could protect the spring with tape if you wanted...). I'd imagine that the BMW tool does the same thing; -hence I've incorporated an optional anti-marring sleeve into my design.

For those that are interested, provisional costs are;

basic tool, (posted in mainland UK) -?20
tool with optional anti-marring sleeve fitted - add ?7
tool with DIY sleeve - add ?3
tool with international postage -add ?6

The DIY sleeve needs a marker pen, sharp scissors or shears, and a cigarette lighter to fit it.

I've used the prototype on several sets of springs (left and right side); it works very well, and requires very little effort. The measured force at the tool end is just 16lbs, so it is pretty much a one-finger job.

Beats the heck out of fiddling around with grips etc. which is how I used to do it.

Why didn't I build one before?





cheers

[Trickysadd]

Looks just the job.
I am driving over to my mates house Wednesday evening as I can't wait any longer or risk losing a limb in my boot.

If we fail to persuade the torsion bars back in, I will have one.
Whats your estimated turn around now you have a prototype !

Richard

[bpoliakoff]

I am still in, though who knows what I will do with it when done. It will just have to be thought of as one of those "1" job tools, that you can't do the job without and makes it worth having when finished

[Brucey]

I can make more in the next few days. If you are desperate, pm me your address, send me a cheque, and you can have the prototype.

Do bear in mind that the boot springs can dislocate if the mechanism wears badly; the connecting link goes over centre. There are tabs which look as if they might stop the spring from moving too far, but appearances are deceptive. My springs went like this; yours might be similar. I have devised a simple kit that doesn't correct the wear (this requires a load of new parts), but does prevent its worst consequences.

cheers

[Trickysadd]

Hi Brucey,
I suspect mime may have gone over centre. I'm not sure . The car was partially stripped when I bought it. All the parts were there except the boot springs for some reason. In fact the whole boot interior looked like it had been ripped out.
Anyway I have left it until now. I've got the new bars and spacers and we will endeavour to get them in tomorrow eve. I am hoping that even if the mechanisnm looks like it may go over centre we may be able to weld a "stop" onto the hinges or something, where it has worn.

We are not going to waste time on it however, so if it becomes a pain I will p.m you asap.
We are also looking at replacing with hydraulic rams as most cars now have, but I'm not sure if that will work.

I am desperately trying to get another summer out of her before some fairly major welding, but every day something else falls off or breaks
( today it is brake light failure and washers, and yesterday the exhaust started blowing....)so if the boot puts up a fight I will buy the tool and it will become part of the restoration!!

[Trickysadd]

Done !

I did ultimately end up laying in the boot but it only took about 15 mins once the position of the mole grips was optimised !

[Brucey]

good work; that is how I have done it in the past, too.

Needless to say you can hook both springs in less than a minute, with one-finger effort required, if you have the right tool for the job.

cheers

[Trickysadd]

Hi Brucey,
I agree the tool would have made things a bit easier. The fiddly bit was getting the other end in the hole and hooked on before levering the spring arm in the slots. Hence laying in the boot !

It was clear that the torsion bars had gone "over centre" before which is probably why they were removed. Ive seem the golf tee solution here but we just drilled and tapped a little bolt to move the "stop " slightly.

Not sure if that makes sense unless you have done the job, but its difficult to explain !

[C51 SEN]

Hi Brucey, I know this is an ages old thread, do you have any more of your special torsion bar tools available? I'd love to buy one if you do. Regards Darren (Kent, UK)