12/12/12 my car is possesed

[ake53]

hello everyone,
yesturday my x5 was running perfectly fine, im crazy about maintance work and always keep up. I also drive it noramally, and never beat on it.
I washed it and waxed the car in my garage last night.

this morning i wake up and get ready for work.
I go to my car and open the drivers door. get in. start it and try closing the door. it wont close! wtf? so i step outside and try closing it. it doesnt go in all the way and shut. I started playing with the door lock on the side. i see its loose and the both outside and inside door handles dont feel to be working. thats fine i thought theres always the passenger door.

I walk over to the passenger door and try opening the door. this door now feels frozen and wont budge! from the rear doors i was able to open this door through the inside door handle...
now im thinking thats strange. two door cariers all at once?!

so now i have to climb in thru the back to get in. thats fine.

I start driving. the car drives like usual. no changes in response, idle is good and shifts smoothly. its all running until a ses (service engine soon) light comes on. im like wtf?! whats this all about...

So now im stuck at work, thinking i need two new door cariers thats $300. and than i need to get my gt1 and read the fault codes. Im thinking it could be a bad voltage regulator. a regulator is 150$.
so if all goes well thats $450...Merry Christmas.

[Ricky Bobby]

the wax must have froze the door carriers and broke them.


jk, sucks man but door carriers are a regular occurrence, about 95 apiece if i remember correct.


could be worse if your CCV froze up!

[ake53]

carriers are a pain. i just replaced my passenger side last month. and i found a pair for 83 on ebay.

[X5SND]

Relax, your doors are just frozen. Of all the things bmw got right on these trucks a door handle that doesn't freeze/stick when wet in winter was, unfortunately, not one of them. Just take a hair dryer to dry them out.

[ake53]

Originally Posted by X5SND

Relax, your doors are just frozen. Of all the things bmw got right on these trucks a door handle that doesn't freeze/stick when wet in winter was, unfortunately, not one of them. Just take a hair dryer to dry them out.

thanks man.
it was 20F in the morning.

i hope the drivers side will thaw. so ill hold off with the ordering new carriers.

[X5SND]

If you have a long enough drive in the morning, you can also thaw them as you drive by:
Crank the temperature and fan speed to max.
Select panel on the hvac controls (the one that directs the air out through the dash)
Close the middle 2 vents and direct the outside 2 down towards the back of the front doors.

[tmv]

I see you have found the problem already Alex, but you're not alone in this. Search the forum for "Frozen Door Lock" for preventative suggestion.

[SlickGT1]

Yup, some people spray antifreeze in there.

[TerminatorX5]

it is funny, i thought that the keyhole is heated in these cars... I might be mistaken but if it is heated, why not heat the the whole lock assembly and the door seam?

Not sure if that would be feasible, but these cars have many other things that are heated, like the windshield washer nozzles...

[X5SND]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

it is funny, i thought that the keyhole is heated in these cars... I might be mistaken but if it is heated, why not heat the the whole lock assembly and the door seam?

Not sure if that would be feasible, but these cars have many other things that are heated, like the windshield washer nozzles...

The one thing BMW SHOULD have carried over from its RR days is the heated front window.