Well, it went fairly well. Took 2.5 hours from pulling tools out to having them put away. I disconnected the battery and fully removed the air bag. I used a BMW carrier, and it fit perfectly. We spent about 45 minutes though trying to get the front handle in right. Everything looked right, but the handle would not drop down onto the door properly. I finally figured out that I needed to pry the latch up higher, or out farther, WHILE I was inserting and turning the front handle into place. I was only prying the latch out at the point of trying to get it over the stud that has the 8mm nut on it. Once I started lifting that latch way up with a pry tool while inserting the front handle, everything dropped right into place.

Everything else went well, until I was putting one of the last two screws in and realized I had left an old T-shirt stuffed in the door to catch anything I dropped down in there - Doh!! Once the shirt was removed, everything worked perfectly.

Thanks for all the tips. I think the next time - in the unlikely event that another door carrier ever breaks, 🙄 It will take closer to an hour.

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2002 e53 X5 4.6is Estroil blue/ Black interior (Build Date 04/02)