X5 Door Handle Carrier Removal and Replacement DIY

[we350z]

Bookmarked!

[we350z]

Fixed. Fits mostly pretty well got a little gap now. I applied silicone adhesive to the small peg side since its a little mutilated. Seems to be holding well but sticks out a tiny bit more than it used to. If it ever comes loose i'll just drill a small pilot hole in the peg and put a wide head self tapping screw in there.

Cleaned up the tumbler assembly was really dirty and greasy. Wish I had not taken the cover off tho since it seems to have a little gap now too but might just be the way it is sitting on the gasket (which is in decent shape just cleaned it up)

Oh well whatever it's good enough for $20. Not a hard job but a pain in the ass to figure out how to fit the carrier up in there. I had to transfer the wire part from the OG carrier to the cheap Chinese one since it would not snap on to the latch assembly ball thing for the life of me. FYI it help if you have a blunt object to press on it with so it pops on.

Now that I got that door card off already next task is replacing that pesky window regulator for the 3rd time! Gonna zip tie the shit out of this go around!!

[richardb]

we350z nice work! I've had good luck with the cheap knock off door handle carriers. The window regulators however, definitely go OEM. The Chinese ones last under a year of use before breaking again (just my personal experience).

[gatojurko]

Who knows is there a possibility to retrofit heated handle for X5 for cold winters?

[mderienzo]

I *think* my carrier may have broken this morning - rain / snow yesterday and this morning it was 20F. The exterior door handle worked to open the driver door but there was a little more resistance than normal. Had to slam the door hard in order for it to stay latched. While they appear to operate normally, neither the exterior nor interior handles open (unlatch) the door... is this likely the carrier or something else like a frozen latch mechanism.

Update... answered my own question through further searching:
https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...-fix-pics.html

Mark

[richardb]

Witnessed my wife almost break ours again, yanking on the handle while frozen. If only she knew how much fun the repair job is...

[semcoinc]

OK, who has the secret monkey motion for extracting the rear door carrier past the button locking rod after the carrier has been unfastened from the door?

I've got the carrier loosened but cannot figure out how to get it fully extracted from the space where it lives.

Thanks,

Mike

10/28/18: Finally just removed the door latching box by removing the three torx screws.

[cn90]

- So it is my turn for "difficult to open door from outside".

- Info on door panel removal is in my "Window Regulator Clips DIY".

- You NEED to watch this video by "BIMMER ZEIT":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7-HJ0DUz0


- If you ever repair bicycle cable, you will know that it is NOT the steel cable that stretches with time (it does NOT), but rather...the OUTER sheath SHRINKS with time, as repeated force is applied on the cable.

- If you are good with bicycle cable repair, maybe you can add something to LENGTHEN the OUTER sheath by 1 cm. I don't know how to, so I bought a brand-new BMW door carrier for $105. My research shows me the aftermarket stuff is bad. The factory door carrier lasts some 130K miles, so I cannot complain.

- Photo to show old vs new and you can see the OUTER sheath shortens with repeated use...

- BMW Door Carrier comes dry, I added grease wherever there are moving parts...

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[StephenVA]

Once again thanks for taking the time to show the right way to do this repair that pops up one too many times each cold snap.
Why is it that something as simple as a door latch is over engineered then produced in pot metal when a simple increase in materials at the critical stress points would make the part a true "Life Time" part? Gee maybe the next generation X5 got the redesign. Oh well ours look better.

TIP: Don't for get to buff out all the paint scratches under the handle and in the pocket of the handle itself while it is off. Wax wax and more wax!

[BillT]

Originally Posted by cn90

- So it is my turn for "difficult to open door from outside".
- If you ever repair bicycle cable, you will know that it is NOT the steel cable that stretches with time (it does NOT), but rather...the OUTER sheath SHRINKS with time, as repeated force is applied on the cable.

- If you are good with bicycle cable repair, maybe you can add something to LENGTHEN the OUTER sheath by 1 cm. I don't know how to, so I bought a brand-new BMW door carrier for $105. My research shows me the aftermarket stuff is bad. The factory door carrier lasts some 130K miles, so I cannot complain.

I replace the passenger side carrier, and the drivers side actuator this weekend. The old carrier was broken at the design weak point, so like you I bought a new one from BMW (as I agree the aftermarket on this part is not worth the quality risk).

Both installations were reasonably easy to follow (thanks to YouTube) and I quickly was at the point of performance testing, prior to sealing up the door. All good so I finished the job, closed the door, locked it, unlocked it, and the DOOR COULDN'T BE OPENED! I spent an hour trying every thing I could think of but the passenger door was just not going to open.


I ended up having to remove the passenger seat, and removing the inner door panel (with the door closed/locked) to get access to the latch. While starting to disconnect the new carrier cable, I heard the door lock fully unlock and was now able to open the door. Inspecting the door panel and inner door, I was delighted to see no damage from the odd removal.


Inspecting the new carrier (still installed), I was able to repeat the problem of not fulling unlocking. The only way to make it fully unlock was to pull the new carrier cable down slightly, and that was 100% repeatable. I realized the new cable was built around a millimeter too short, so wouldn't allow the lock on the actuator to relax enough. BTW, I did mount the cable correctly and verified it.


My solution was to use my old carrier cable which was in great shape, with the new carrier. Way too long of a job, but it's done and works like new now.