X5 Driver Door Locked, Unable to Open, Help!
 

I was in the process of changing the Driver Door Carrier.

Everything worked fine, got it together, then found I couldn't lock the door.

Took it all apart again, seemed to fix it (the car thought the door was open so wouldn't lock), was about to reassemble, closed the door, and now it won't open.

It is receiving power. The window switches are plugged in and working fine too. The central lock button in the center console locks and unlocks all the doors.

The doors lock, unlock, everything works.

I can lock and unlock with a key and remote no problem.

But the door won't open. I reached my hand inside the door (no door panel on it) and tried manipulating the levers and cables by hand to unlatch the door and no dice.

The new carrier was working flawlessly before I took the door panel back off. I was showing my wife how nicely the door was opening and closing like a champ.

I'm completely at my wits end.

I've seen articles showing me how to use a wire to open it... No need! I can stick my hand in there just fine.

I've seen articles about BMW Deadlock that conclude with "and then put the key in the ignition." Yep, done that.

How do I unlock a door that is unlocked and has no door panel yet I can't get the latch to release?

I'm in Florida so it's not frozen...

I Was thinking maybe the tight cable from the new carrier has something to do with it?

Please help! Thank you!

Update: I pulled the airbag out so I could see what was going on instead of just feeling around.

The connector from the new door handle cable to the ball pivot looked a little cockeyed. I poked it with my finger and tried the door and bam it opened right up.

I messed with that stupid thing dozens of times to no avail. But now it worked?! Go figure. But now I'm a little scared of the reliability of the door handle.....

Make sure it is seated GOOD. When I did my carrier I know it nearly took an act of god to get mine seated all the way - I pushed and cussed and cussed some more and final “snap” it popped in to the holder and I haven’t had an issue since. If it is fitting loose, I would almost pinch those fingers together a bit to make sure they’re tight, wouldn’t want to get it back together again to have the next door slam dislodge it....

Good luck [emoji16]

I sprayed the latch itself with WD40 10 mins before the door opened.

What I don't know now, is whether or not the door opened because I poked the cable (literally poked it with one finger) or if coincidentally that was the exact moment the wd40 kicked in and released what was stuck.

Very coincidental timing. Because I had poked and prodded the cable hundreds of times trying to open the damn door, and used the lever it was attached to manually to try to get out to open. So I'm thinking more likely the wd40 on the physical door latch inside the door jamb was the solution.

Driving with no door panel for now while I evaluate this...

Go read my door actuator and door handle carrier fix threads and learn more how the system works.

The DHC cable can change length over time (amazing but true) it can change longer or shorter. If it gets shorter, it acts as if you are always holding the handle up a little bit so the actuator lever never resets to grab and release the latch. You should be able to open from the inside even if the outside lever is being held up.

It takes an amazing amount of force to click the cable both into the stationary hold and onto the lever ball. If either is not in all the way can cause your symptoms.

WD-40 will do almost nothing to help the cause other than It could have helped snap the cable on.

The cables can get messed up and aren't an individual part which sucks.

I'm going to try to start collecting them for people on the forum.

Check out your cable when operating outer handle. When relaxed there should be a tiny bit of slack like 1/16 or an inch. If the internal cable swelled from rust (common for salt spray zones) it will shrink the effective cable length.

I had to cut 1/8" out of my internal cable to restore normal operation.

It takes maybe 10-15# of force to remove or install the ball. If it didn't hurt to install it's not likely installed. Once installed you should be able to twist the ball back and forth a bit meaning the cable has a little slack.


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The WD40 was sprayed into the physical door jamb latch side. My thought was that maybe the tight new cable forced the mechanism into a spot that it hadn't seen in a while and wasn't releasing when the door handle was being pulled.

Both inside and outside door handles were rendered completely useless. I reached up in the door and manually pulled the levers for both inside and outside handles. I could hear the door latch unlatch when pushing the lever, but the door remained stuck.

I snapped the ball on with pliers and it appears fully seated. It has full range of motion wiggling side to side to all extremities you'd expect from a half cup on a ball socket.

I just spent 15 minutes opening and closing the door in every combination I can think of to cause a problem... Hold inner door handle cable tight while closing the door and trying to open it. Various combinations of lock and unlock patterns. Prevent the outside handle lever from going fully into the relaxed position when latching and locking the door. Pull the slack out of the door handle cable while going through the entire close door, lock, unlock, open procedure.

I cannot replicate the problem of the door getting stuck closed.

The closest reference to the symptom I found is a thread somebody posted elsewhere that went unanswered, and a thread somewhere about the door lock freezing in ice climate and bring resolved with soaking the door latch exterior area with hot water and subsequently lubricating it to prevent future freezing.

The fact that neither inside nor outside release mechanisms would release the door, even though I could physically feel and hear the mechanism doing its job, is what leads me to believe the latch that holds the pin got stuck.

But I'm no locksmith and haven't had time to re-read your above referenced threads with fresh eyes yet. Maybe it's not possible for that part of the mechanism to get stuck?

New Realization: I had the lock cylinder removed when closing the door as I was diagnosing a problem where the door wouldn't lock.

(Apparently the car thought the door was perpetually open. Somehow that got resolved now.)

But when the door lock cylinder isn't in place, the carrier rides upwards by 1/8" or so. Maybe that prevented the door latch mechanism from "resetting."

Either way, I can't reproduce the problem now and I'm driving to Canada tomorrow, so hopefully there won't be any issues.

car door lock and latch will operate just fine without the door key cylinder installed; i've left mine out for extended periods when the lock cylinder was broken (you can use your finger to lock/unlock the car)

If your carrier moves when the lock cylinder is removed, the DHC wasn't installed correctly.

I think i know exactly how that was; there is a little plastic guide on the back of the screw going through the DHC to the lock cylinder, it is designed to hold the DHC in place until you install the lock cylinder.

You probably had too much motion in the DHC to reliably operate the door actuator.

note: if your door doesn't open from outside ; use the key to open the window by holding the key at the unlock position for more than 5 seconds. You can reach in and grab the inner handle.

I think I know the plastic guide of which you speak. What is the correct way to use it?

I didn't touch the guide itself, left it as it came, and found it handy to hold the lock cylinder Allen head screw in place while getting everything lined up.

Am I supposed to do something different with that plastic piece? It was missing entirely from the old DHC.

the rear plastic clip will hold the DHC in place when the front screw is installed (through the plastic collar to prevent the screw from damaging the paint). I've had examples of not perfectly matching DHC where they bind and won't stay in place properly w/o the lock cylinder installed, that's how i'm sure it was a similar thing with your case.. the lock cylinder when bolted in will hold the DHC; the plastic clip is just for during install.

Well, I had an unusual event. My drivers door outside handle would not open the door. There appeared to be no normal click feeling. So, I opened it from inside. Great post about holding the key for 5 sec. Will use that trick in the future. Anyway, so I have been entering in the passenger side and opening the drivers door by the inner latch. Bit of a pain if you are sloping on a hill and you dont want to hit the parked car next to you. So, I went to open the car with the remote and tried the outer door handle and it worked! It is not a broken carrier as I have had that before and the door handle sticks out a bit as mentioned in this scenario. I was reading it could be an intermittent wire connection in the door control switches as apparently the wiring for the latch goes through this. Anyways, I will see if it happens again. This is a genuine carrier that I installed a few years ago so still plenty of life in it.

Does the door lock button pop up when this happens? Do you have to pull the driver door handle twice inside to open?

Has not happened again yet. I remember when i clicked the remote the lock button popped up and when i opened the door from the pull latch inside at the forward section it only took one pull.

Actually, the twice pull of the inside handle is a bit blurry. What is the significance of the pull twice?

The first pull unlocks the second unlatch. If it takes two pulls to open means the motor in the door lock actuator is not unlocking the door and you are doing it with the inner handle. The lock pin will also be down.

Need more info to figure out what's broken.

There are a few things that will cause there outer handle to not unlatch the door but need more information to know what is happening based on symptoms.

So if the lock button popped up and outer didn't work but mysteriously worked again later that's usually one of two things;

1) the inner cable was binding and didn't release completely. (You can simulate this by pulling the inner door handle then the outer. The outer should "shoot blanks" just do nothing.

2) the cable from the outer handle can corrode on the end effectively changing it's length and it won't relax enough to engage where it can grab inside.

When the DHC breaks it can make the handle outside work with difficulty for quite a while before breaking completely. If the handle feels spongy at the top vs. a solid pull when unboxing that's the symptom of a failing DHC

Both of the DHC failures I've had (in over 8 years of ownership, both front doors) have been like this.

But in both cases the new DHC (aftermarket parts) have also felt spongy right from the install. After several years of operation both are still working fine - but don't un-latch the door until right at the top of the pull arc.

I put this down to shite Bowden cables in the aftermarket DHCs - slightly too long and prone to stretching. I did try to swap in the OE Bowden cables but had trouble doing the swap so didn't do it in the end. I still have them... :rolleyes:

I've always moved the oe cables when replacing DHC. You can find tune the length a bit by bending the bracket that holds the end.

Happened again. A few times. One time only needed one pull of the inner door handle the other time needed two. I thought the 5sec key thing only opened the single window but it does all. Same function available using the remote. Looks like I had better prepare for a failure. I did think ahead a ordered one but not genuine. Looks like I better get a genuine one quick smart. Also notice that the cover of the barrel key lock (black saphire color) is not fixed and can easily slide off. So, I will need to source one of those as well.

If you have to pull twice the door was still locked. That suggests door lock actuator (DLA). I have a thread how to replace the motor for $6@ vs. $235@ for the assembly.

Here's a solid clue that wpoll reminded me: when the DHC is operating properly you can slowly pull up and at about 80% up the latch will engage and slow lifting will work.

When broken you'll need to go to 100% of range and in it's last days you have to move quickly at the top of the range of motion.

You may have a combination of both broken.

Thanks, looked at your post and again good job on fixing it. As the car is 20 years old now I think I will just replace the whole actuator. Then I will take my time to repair the faulty one. Thanks for that. So, I will hold off purchasing the new carrier and get an actuator instead…lol.

Actually, I will probably end up selling this vehicle before the new one goes bad again so I I might just bin the part.

By the way, does anyone know how long I have before it completely fails and I can’t even use the inner handle or will the pull twice on the inner handle still work? thanks

If the double lock motor fails you would need to remove the door card and manually disengage the double lock. Other than that the inner handle should work for years when the outer handle doesn't work.

X5 E53 Door not opening due to actuator
 

That's good news!. Now I am looking at an original BMW replacement or a Dorman 937-857 Door Lock Actuator Motor. Anyone have any experience with Dorman which I believe is made in China.?

Also, I understand that there is a actuator kit that includes both the front right and left as I believe BMW realised the fault in these units. But I am not sure what the part no is. Will need to do a little research. As I am quite sure that if one is going then it will not be long before another one goes. Probably the passenger front as that gets used more than the rear ones.

The electric lock runs either just the driver or all four doors at once.

Wife's e53 with auto lock when driving off 3 of 4 failed within a year of each other. Mine without auto lock only ever had one fail by 205,000 miles.

Not a big fan of auto lock on the doors.

They usually give you lots of warning usually by locking but not unlocking and some of the time. If it takes a couple tries to unlock the motor is EOL end of life.

They usually soft fail so I don't bother preemptively replacing.

The failure point is the brushes so they have just a certain amount of use like 30,000 actuations then they're kaput. There's a range on the MTBF so some will last longer.

It's very satisfying to do the repair with as couple $6 motors though.

The Dorman part has some pretty bad reviews on amazon (US).

Here's my problems:

• Driver's door will not lock or unlock with remote, altho it arms the alarm. But it will lock and unlock with the key. (note to self: don't open that door with the alarm activated if the button is still visible).
• Rear door will lock with remote, but will not unlock. I have to reach inside and open it manually.

So I'm guessing both DLAs have bad motors. I bought replacements from amazon and will do AW's fix over the winter break using some spare DLAs from the junkyard, after I test them first.

Thanks Salty, there appears to be more good reviews than bad. So, that is hopeful but hoping someone on here might have experience with this brand Dorman.

Dorman is a very famous knock off brand and write often the only "in stock" option. In general they are ok copies but you can expect a higher failure rate than the original and a likely lack of precision that can make install difficult.

Examples:

1) DHC: the return spring was too long it scraped on the window glass hard to grind it down with angle grinder

2) coolant reservoir; the lower fitting was over sized I had to use my entire body weight and plenty of cussing to get on installed

3) DHC; the cables are not shaped so they don't fit nicely. I move over the OG cables.

That said dorman has got me back on the road at least a dozen times and I don't recall an example of outright failure.

I will post a quality comment when I install it. cheers.

Hi all, ok interesting question. My door actuator that was supposed to arrive last week got lost in postage. So, I ordered another one. But now, I have another issue. My car has been sitting for 5 days (and i know it has a slow battery leak somewhere). Just checked and my remote will not open the drivers door. So, I use the key to manually open it, but because of the door actuator problem I would hold the key to the right for 5sec and it would open the window and i would reach in an open the door that way. Now because I have no battery voltage I can't even do that. Any ideas on how I can get into my car?? The passenger front door does not have a key lock. All ideas appreciated!!

If you have a hitch with power you can apply power to the right pins and backfeed to get enough power to the battery to operate the lock.

If you locked with the alarm set the doors will be double locked you can't unlock by pulling the inner handle so locksmith tricks will not work.

There's a trick to pull the cable that unlatches the door when dhc is broken but the door can't be locked so that won't help you.

There's a way to get into the hood from outside but you have to pull a kidney and cut a bit of the plastic around the radiator.

Ended up dropping out the tailgate light cover and supplying power to the globe with earth connected to the exaust pipe from a motor cycle battery. That enabled me to unlock the car with the key fob. Then I could get in and open the bonnet. I have roadside assistance on the way to give me some good cranking power to start the car. Of course it had to be in the hottest part of the day in the hottest day in summer here..lol

That's a hell of a tip. Wonder why there's power on the light when it's presumably off. Is it ground switched?

You just need to provide the power from a spare battery and the light shines. Easy thing to get the cover off. Unfortunately, not my ingenuity. Got it off YouTube (thanks whoever). But his suggestion said that I could open my boot lid but it didn't work. Might be my model. Was about to give up then I tried the key fob. Had to try a few times (the drivers door would pop up and down which is not what I wanted!!) but eventually all locks (including rear ) popped up. Trying to get down on a bung leg being 6'8" tall and looking up at the rear registration light was not an easy task, especially in such heat! because it was parked away from my driveway.

Road assistance has been (jump start) and gone. No cost because I am covered. Now have the charger on in my drive way.

Need to fix that leaking battery and I think it is the FSR. Can't leave the car more than 3 days.

Little lesson for me and now looking forward to the new door actuator part to arrive. :0)

It would not be difficult at all to install an emergency hood/bonnet release but you are still at the whim of the key fob and the DLA!

If I ever really get stuck I could just do this:

On each side of the latch there is an 8mm screw that can be removed through the front, between the hood and grill They are aprox 6" apart.

The latch itself has two locator pins that slide into the front suppoprt behind the grill.

After removing the two screws, gently pry the whole latch away from the support. The hood can be raised, taking the latch with it.

Access to the release lever is behind the latch. It is now exposed.
pull the tiny release lever toward the drivers side and latch will come loose.

From Bogdan Odwazny off fixit.

Well, presented with another problem. The battery is all charged up now but only a couple of instrument cluster lights come on. None of the meters, speedo, etc. So, I tried the trick of removing fuses 1,45 and 43, turn ignition to 2 then take key out and replace fuses but it didn’t work for me. Next step is to disconnect the battery and see if that fixes it.

Yes, that did it.

What a crazy ride! Figuratively, literately and gen-z "literally" (which literally doesn't mean literately at all).

I was certainly hit with bad luck for this door issue. Dismantled the right drivers door. Had the new actuator in and suddenly realised it didn’t have the cog for the door lock. Amazon (china) sent me the right hand door one but it was for us models mine is RHD and so I have to return it. Ordered a new one. What a job to get everything in. The china door carrier didn’t work so well. The hole in the round part at the end of the cable that is meant to connect to the actuator was too small to go over the nipple. Had to carefully drill it bigger. The handle spindle end bit broke off (the part you push in first then twist which has the two nibs on the end of which one broke). Luckily I had a spare.

Finally, got it all back together in the heat of the day.

Door all working fine again. My issue solved.