After many months of not having an operational driver window, I decided to order a replacement regulator instead of welding the old one (metal arm snapped).

When trying to install the VDO replacement today I found that the motor would not fit. The regulator itself appears to fit for the door and it certainly seems to be the right part. But based on motor mount appearance, I need a regulator for the right side of the car. Of course, that would not work.

126-720-13-46-M82 via Pelican Parts. VDO Part number on Box: wr40572
Part is stamped with an "L".

Am I missing something here? Been a long day after all.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

Can you reattach the motor to the old regulator and send a pic?

Hope this helps. As you can see, the new regulator is a smaller frame, but holes in the door allow for this fit. Its also a pretty crude design compared to the original. But also the new one appears to be the correct one. The gear stop, etc all line up as they should for a driver's side front window.

But here you can see how the motor must mount, there is no other way. And with the new one, the third bolt is outside the frame.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

This may sound crazy but if you rotate the motor (as seen in your second original pic) about 45 degrees counterclockwise, would it fit in the door? Maybe they oriented the motor differently for the new regulator???

No, it would not work. The two screws on either side of the gear would not align then.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

Someone here must know. Guys - need an answer.


If you turn the motor upside down and mount it on the front of the regulator instead of the back, would it fit and would the gear engage?

Did you consider getting an old style regulator from a pic & pull? Could you possibly have a left rear instead of left front regulator?

The front and rear are very different in design. If I put hte motor on the other side, not only would it not fit it would operate in reverse - although reversing the wires would probably fix that. But it still would not fit.

What I did today was to get the old one welded up. Will install later if I have time and the replacement will be returned.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

That should work but I would still be interested in an explanation about why the other did not work.

I dont know. I am pretty sure the regulator I had was original. But maybe it was replaced? And maybe that replacement was an update, from another model or form another car?

But the pic of what I have installed are here, so I would be interested if anyone else has the same style as mine. I see there are a couple variations on regulators for a W126.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

I just looked at Worldpac and found the following:

Old regulator was manufactured by Reitter&Schefenacher and uses motor number 001.820.97.42

New regulator was manufactured by Brose-Coburg and uses motor number 004.820.14.42

From what I can tell from the Worldpac site, both are OEM,

Hope this helps.

Paul M

P/S I am not saying the above is correct, only that this is what Worldpac says.

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

Well it makes sense. If my regulator was OEM original, and I assume it is, then that is not good news for others that may need to replace them.

I may be wrong, but my guess is that one could buy for both sides then swap motors from each side. Just a theory though.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

I'm not sure what you mean about swaping motors. From what I can find out in Worldpac, the 91 126 has 4 or 6 different motors, maybe. The left and right front are different, the left and right rear are different, the front and rear are different, and the front could have 2 different brands of regulators which take different motors. In other words, good luck.
I looked at the 86 126 and it shows the same thing. The 84 126 is also the same. The 84 is a generation 1 and your 91 is a generation 2 and they show the same thing, 6 different motors. Possibly Workpac is just covering all the bases for all 126 cars and it is up to you figure out which you need.

Paul M

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

Did you ever get it fixed? Find out why the other one would not fit???

And ... was yours an SEC, SE or SEL??