I just finished this fix on my e53. The instructions were great; much better than what the Bentley contains (are you listening,
Bentley Publishers?)
When I first got the door panel off and the foam out of the way, I tried moving the outside handle; to my surprise, it looked like the cable was moving normally, so I closed the door and tried opening it. Nothing. My first thought was, oh great; if it's not the carrier, what is it? I figured as long as I had the part and had the door apart, I'd go ahead and replace it just to see if that indeed was the cause. It was. All is well. But I still can't see what is broken or worn on the old one that kept it from working though.