Broken Door Latch Plastics

[davintosh]

I was running some errands in the X5 last night, and when I went to get out of the vehicle at one of my stops, the inside door handle made a funny "pop" and the door wouldn't open. I was able to get out by rolling down the window and pulling on the outside handle.

When I got home I pulled the door panel off and found the plastic part on the door latch mechanism broken where the Bowden cable attaches; the area circled in red below:



I was able to cobble together a fix for it with some Gorilla Glue and a wire tie, and it's holding so far, but I don't think it's going to last forever so I'll probably be ordering a new part soon. The trouble is that you have to order the whole flippin latch at a cost of ~$170. The rest of the mechanism works fine; it's just the plastic that's broken, and it just irks the crap out of me when things like this break. Yeah, I understand that the thing has probably gone through many thousands of use cycles in the vehicle's ~170,000 miles, but why would they engineer a plastic part in a high-stress area like that in the first place?

Ok, I'm done venting; has anybody else had a similar failure in their door latch? Or is mine somehow flawed?

[Ricky Bobby]

Looks like one too many door carrier replacements for that latch LOL!

In all seriousness though, I didn't know it was a common failure but at 12 years and 170k, anything is up for grabs, and yes I agree with you sometimes the places I find plastic on this car is amazing.

[puddinboo]

at 198000km my broke on the drivers door in the exact same spot. I`ve had the x5 for about 3mths now ,just replaced it with a new one about a month ago . it looks like it was replaced before this with a used one before i bought the x5. I was also having issues with the actuator working when ever it felt like it thats why I went new and hopefully it will last a while. it is a common problem though , its PLASTIC .

[LAJ1987]

Same here. Just replaced mine @ 155K. Tried the gorilla glue/zip tie but failed quickly. Went ahead and replaced the handle and cable just to be safe.

[haumana]

wear and tear casualty

[stevekat]

If there is room to use PC7 or JB Weld two part epoxies (silver and black parts,) they are very strong and permanent. Usually you need to build up some of it for structural integrity around the break, but they are very effective and durable if the part allows for this.

[davintosh]

Originally Posted by LAJ1987

Same here. Just replaced mine @ 155K. Tried the gorilla glue/zip tie but failed quickly. Went ahead and replaced the handle and cable just to be safe.

My fix didn't last long either; it worked fine yesterday afternoon, but when we went out for dinner last night, it wouldn't work when we got to the restaurant. Part is on order, should be here early in the week.

[X5Flyboy]

had a passenger yank a locked rear door handle..., $253. I don't let her ride with me anymore.

[davintosh]

I got the new door latch mechanism in today & got it installed tonight. While I was at it, I replaced the Bowden cable as well, just in case. And as long as I was in there I also replaced the broken window clip and did the rubber glove mod to the door handle carrier cable. Colder weather is coming, and I don't want or need to be diving into that stupid door again.