Door wont unlock or open - Help!

[Justinhab]

Last week the passenger door on my 2004 X5 stopped working. The door wont unlock or open from inside or outside the car.

I've already tried this, it's not the issue: http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-fix-pics.html

I also tired to unlock and lock the door about 100 times just to see if it might catch and unlock.

I was able to remove the door panel with the door closed (that was fun). I removed the air bag and the door liner. I can see that all the cables and parts are working fine. Im assuming the actuator is bad. Does anyone know how to unlock this manually so I can open the door and replace the actuator?

Thanks,

[ake53]

good luck. check the connection to the actuator? it feeds power from the connector. or try prying it out from the inside of the door to open it. there are 3 torx bolts that hold the actuator. good luck.

[Justinhab]

Thanks for the info. The connection seems to be fine. Has anyone ever tried to pry the actuator off with the door closed? Im worried about tweeking door jam. I've see this happen on 3 series BMW's and looks like you can drill out the actuator.