If the door handle won't move it's an external part of the DLA that freezes. Best way to unfreeze is internal warmth. If the window isn't stuck you can usually open the window to use the internal handle to open the door.

30-40 min. drive is usually enough to warm the DLA to defrost the outer handle but beware: it literal takes one drop of water (shown experimentally) to re-freeze the mechanism.

You can put a piece of nylon tape in the magic spot to prevent this and I always do this when I have any door apart.

Never try to force it you'll likely break the hinge on the DHC. FYI BMW thought they fixed the handle freeze problem by changing the cable on the DHC that was not the root of the problem it was the DHC outer handle lever. Find my video.

You can spray some wd-40 into the access hole in the door edge to attempt to help the situation but I can't remember if the problem is open or under plastic.

I have done this by putting a 90° bend in the red straw and aiming straight down about 1.5" into the access hole.

If you manage to pull a frozen handle up you will likely get it stuck open. The door will not latch until you melt the ice. You can do this with a hot air gun or hair dryer into the jaw of the latch but take it slow the metal there is covered in plastic and a heat gun is hot enough to melt it.

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2011 E70 • N55 (me)
2012 E70 • N63 (wife)