Originally Posted by gregwx5

Here the write up I made when my driver side carrier broke!

Had same problem...seemed complicated at first but is actually very easy!

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WOW!!! Can I say Thank You x5world!!! I managed to fix my door handle and the problem was exactly with part #15. The actual metal structure that held one of the parts fatigued and broke off making the handle inopperable. I bought my part from the dealership..$112 but $89 with CCA


For future reference these are the steps I followed:

1) Remove door panal using instructions on main page. I disconnected my battery. You have to unbolt the airbag, but do not have to disconnect it. I just taped it to the door so it does not hang by the cable.

2) Pop off the painted trim piece that is around the key hole on the exterior of the door.

3) Pop off the black plastic oval on the side of the door. (2 pieces)

4) The hex screw (#17) that holds the carrier is located inside this hole. You will NOT see the screw by looking directly into the hole towards the front of the car. You must look into the hole as if you were looking at the side of the door (It took me a while to find this screw, just don't look into the hole directly because the screw is off to the side). The hex screw that holds the carrier screws into the lock assembly, you could see the hole from the outside. Once you find the screw remove it.

5. After removing the hex screw, the lock assembly (key hole) is lose. Gently pry out the entire assembly (the end of the shaft has a star shaped structure that presses into another piece when putting everything back together)

6. Now you could see the bolt and nut that holds the handle to part of the door carrier. The bolt has a square head. Remove this bolt.

7. Now the handle could be removed by pulling the handle up and twisting. The handle will pivot on the left side, then pull it out of the carrier.

8. Once the handle is removed, remove the rubber seal and the philips head screw (#16) holding the carrier is exposed underneath.

9. Disconnect the cable on the inside of the door. Unsnap the white plastic piece, and the metal cable with ball.

10. The old carrier could now be removed, and the install the new one using the same idea.

Originally Posted by Blowout

I'm currently in the throws of replacing the driver door carrier as well. As described by others, the outside handle was popped out a bit and the door would not open from outside. From the inside everything worked fine.

One addition to gregwx5 step by step is on #7.

- Once the nut was removed from the handle, I needed to slightly pry out that edge because there is a detent holding the end of the handle to the carrier and preventing the handle from rotating. Once that was done it twisted as described.

Once removed, the carrier showed a break on the side with the spring. This is weak spot in the design of this part it seems. They must sell alot of these.

Thanks the information posted by others on this thread. It kept another X5 owner from opening their wallet to a stealer.