Door handle issues: UPDATE

Villnave · #1 08-14-2009, 04:36 PM

I have a 1 month old 2009 X5, and today I couldn't get into my vehicle. The outside handle and inside handle both fail to open the door. Has anybody experienced this? The whole assembly always felt a little cheap/fragile to me, but I never expected it to actually break.

Second, is there an easy fix to this that could save me a trip to the service dept? I've already made an appointment for next Tuesday, but maybe there's something simple I can do to be able to open my door again. It is not easy getting in from the passenger side!

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alexmish · #2 08-14-2009, 04:48 PM

I had similar issue this past winter, in my case they ended up replacing the entire door latching system, including handle, lock, cables, etc. Mine was related to freezing issues.

stockguru · #3 08-14-2009, 05:30 PM

is the door failing to unlock or is it already unlocked but juts won't open. I've heard of unlocking issues but not opening issues when it is unlocked

Villnave · #4 08-14-2009, 07:15 PM

It locks and unlocks, it's just that the handles do nothing. It's not "catching" so to speak, but I have no idea how those handle mechanisms actually work. When locked, pulling the handle unlocks the door, but the door does not open. Very strange.

gokudo_90 · #5 08-14-2009, 08:07 PM

that happened to me took to it the service, took like 5 6 minutes and its back to normal, or so i thought
ever since that day the handel from the inside becomes hard and i feel if i pull anyharder im gonna break it i just release it then try again and its fine
i dont have the time to got the service again since i just got my car back because of the engince wiring harness had to be changed , took a whole month

soldmystang · #6 08-14-2009, 09:01 PM

this might be a stupid question but is the problem inside or outside the vehicle?

so you have Comfort access apparently, and when you touch the door handle the door unlocks right?

Villnave · #7 08-15-2009, 01:14 PM

No comfort access. It's both in and out, when you pull either handle, the door does not open.

Villnave · #8 08-23-2009, 12:39 PM

Quick update on this... took it to the dealer and dropped it off. Made sure one last time before climbing out of the vehicle through the passenger side in front of a bunch of people that the handle did not work... and it did not. I get a call from the service guy later saying that they unlocked it and entered the door perfectly fine on the first attempt and couldn't replicate the issue. Now, for 4-5 days, this door would not open no matter what I tried. They kept it one extra day to take it apart, look at the the wiring and such, check lubrication etc. They found no issues, I picked it up, and it has worked fine since. Very, very strange.

DBC · #9 08-23-2009, 03:30 PM

I had this problem when BMW went over to this type of door handle on a early E46 Coupe, i believed that they had cured the problem as the handles rise slightly as you open it. Maybe gremlins still persist.
My local dealer just put the whole handle latch assembly on new and it never happened again.

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