FITTING ELECTRIC WINDOWSto a BMW 2002

FITTING ELECTRIC WINDOWS

Fitting a SPAL Electric Window Kit to your classicModern BMWs are luxury cars, but it wasn’t always that way. Back inthe days of the 2002, the Neu Klasse, and even the early 3 Seriesmodels things were pretty basic with few of the modern creaturecomforts.Electric windows is something we take for granted in modern carsand can be a great bonus on a classic, especially when you aretravelling alone on a hot day. No more stopping to reach over and openthe passenger window to let some extra air in - and no moreemergency stops to close it again when we get a suddenthunderstorm.My 2002 already had a rather primitive electric window kit that I pickedup at an autojumble. It had a motor that drove a ‘speedo’ type cableand a ‘gearbox’ that mounted on the window winder. Unfortunately ithad already had one life and the gearbox and motor were past theirbest so I decided to replace it and did some research to find the bestoption before settling on the SPAL kit.It seems that electric window conversions are more common in theUSA than they are here and most of the reviews and blogs were onAmerican sites. Over and over again they recommended the SPAL kitas the one that ‘drops right in’ to a 2002 and keeps working in allconditions from the heat of New Mexico to the cold of Alaska. OKthat’s the one for me!SPAL kits don’t come with switches. This is a ‘universal’ kit so theyleave you to choose the most suitable switches for your car. For a2002 the best choice is original switches from an E30. You can pickthem up from a breakers (ask if they can cut the cables rather than pull

PowerLifting

Words and Photography by John Paulding

A rubber bellows from an Audi 100 willprotect your wiring as it goes from the‘A’ post to the door.

SPAL provide loads of drive cogs.Number 3 fits most BMW applications

Mount the inner drive cog... ... then the shortest outer cog and securethem with a tiny screw, as shown, and abolt in the end of the spoket.

FITTING ELECTRIC WINDOWSthem off, so that you can see the colours). The SPAL kit uses blue and blackwires, just like the E30 so it’s just a matter of connecting them up. Somewarnings... electric windows use a low of current. Don’t use anything less than8 amp cable and fit a relay and fuse, or you’ll be opening the windows to let thesmoke out. Don’t use switches from a late model BMW. On cars with CANBUSwiring the switches control modules rather than the winder motor itself. Theywon’t be able to take the power that needs to go through them and will burn out.You want the windows to operate when the ignition is on or set to the firstposition - that’s the one that will allow you to play the radio without turning theignition itself on. The relay only need a small ‘trigger’ current so you can spliceinto the radio power wire. The main feed for the relay and motors needs to comedirectly from the battery through a suitable fuse.

Having installed the switches - they fit right into the ‘hump’ of a 2002 consolelike they were made for it - you need to run the blue and black wires to the doors.You’ll have to fit a rubber bellows to protect the wires as they pass from the ‘A’post to the door. I couldn’t find a BMW bellows that would fit, but an Audi 100will. You can buy them brand new from a VW/Audi dealers for around £18 a pair.Now you’re ready to fit the winder mechanism.When you open the box it all looks a bit bewildering. There are lots of plastic cogson a large sprue and a variety of winder cover caps. The instructions are also abit daunting. There are over 100 pages covering everything from Alfas to Volvotrucks - this really is a ‘universal’ kit. However there are only specific instructionsfor BMW 3 Series pre and post 1991 and a 5 Series ‘88, so for anything elseyou’ll have to figure it out. Not that it’s difficult through. First select the cog to fitover the winder post that the manual handle came off of. Number 3 fits nicely,and then pick a cog to fit over it to fit into the drive hub. The shortest one in thekit fits. Lock the two together with one of the tiny screws supplied and yourready to mount the drive gear. Many of the illustrations in the instructions showthe winder drive with its support brackets fitted opposite each other but on the2002 that would interfere with the door card clip. Either shorten the leadingbracket or fit them as shown in the photo. Now mount the drive motor makingsure the two drive cables cross once as the come from the motor to the windermechanism. When all this is firmly installed (with rubber grommets to damp anymovement) you can connect the wiring and test the conversion out. If all is wellreplace the door cards. SPAL supply a number of winder cover caps to cover thewinder spindle, but I prefered to disguise the whole conversion with a dummyspeaker grill. With this in place the power winder looks like an ‘original’ fitmentand it also means that I can pull the mesh out and use the emergency winderhandle with out needing any tools should things go wrong.SPAL Universal Electric Window Kits can be purchased directly from the SPALwebsite - http://www.spalautomotive.co.uk - at £130.34 (Including VAT at 20%)and SPAL can also supply replica BMW switches, in case you can’t find themin a breakers.

Drill mounting holes and use the rubber grommets and sleeves supplied toinsulate the screws from any vibration. Mount the drive head and the motor...

... making sure the drive cables cross once only. Connect up the wiring, checkoperation and replace the door card, enlarging the winder hole if required.

SPAL supply various caps to cover the winder, but I prefered to disguise thewhole conversion with a dummy speaker grille. The cover cap inside the grillelooks like the cone of a speaker and completes the disguise.

The finished door card. Nothing to suggest that the power winders aren’toriginal equipment. Note a few finishing touches.. the Luxe map pocket and trimenhanced with contrasting burgundy vinyl and door ‘guard lights’ made from USspec marker lights’ operated by the additional courtesy light switch in front ofthe map pocket.