ok fair point..
Anythin non eu gets loads of taxes thrown on ot for us...found german made carrier,so they say it is from latvia...but still gone stick in fixed old o e

Some of the after market carriers are pretty good, even having better cables than the original. I think just stick to mid priced aftermarket ones and avoid the really cheap ones.

Most aftermarket door carriers on eBay are Chinese.

This one is the exception, made in Taiwan.
If anyone tries this Taiwanese thingy, please report back.
At $22, it is hard to lose...

PS: It is mind-boggling to me how one can produce something like this, ship 1/2 way across the world, sell it for $22, incl. free shipping, how do they
even make money?

---

lose money on every transaction. How do they make money? volume!

that is from a Saturday Night Live skit from the First Midwest that just makes change.


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Andrew hi, good to put a voice to a brain/master of e53 diy fixes via the stuff you uploaded, ok right steel cable ties I was able to tweak as per you post to allow double loop so double strength, all good so far, now the self destruct tab as you call it highlighted in light blue , the mechansim that in you pics you remove altogether we confident it doesn't affect either the central locking or for example locking car direct via the door lock with key physically? Tad confused as in other posts i swear I saw that the little nib pointed to by magenta arrow was what has been chopped off by some....and if that is the case anyone here had any negative effects on open lock close doors?

I think that the US will take a leaf out of the book out of the EU's handling of chinese imports (if Donald gets in again),EU whack a hefty tax on them so much so that not worth you going for chinese or anything non EU, protectionsim ?stiffling of free trade competition, it cuts both ways depending in how you see it....anyhow as a backup in case my repaired one(still ongoing) doesn't cut it, found a german made one from latvia exempt from the taxation....

door carrier handle carrier OEM or not?
 

I think the tab is some form of mechanism to keep the door handle from opening itself from side impact. On my cars I found nothing it interacted with just that if moved it could stay that way when cold outside so I took them off.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0087085d7f.jpg

This is the nub that causes the problem.

When I was concerned that removing the whole thing could cause a problem eg DLA have a sensor that looks for it, I used to cut that off. When I determined nothing in the latching/locking mechanism has any way to use it I just started removing the whole thing.

On closer examination it appears that mechanism blocks the handle from lifting if there is rapid sideways acceleration eg side impact. I think the designers were concerned the mass of the door handle could unlatch the door from a side impact or roll over.

The inside and outside door handles are not active when the door is locked so it’s a moot point for anybody that drives with their door locked.

The e70 has a completely different design and I've never seen a how to DIY on replacing yet so I suspect the MTBF is much longer!

Ok Andrew thanks, reading most posts seems that self destruct mechanism is an issue as it freezes in place causing issue...? i got 0 chance of 0 degree temps out here, so wondering whether or not to remove, ok did your double steel zip tie fix took me 5 goes to get it right...as a shim i used a steel zip tie folded over a few times....see purple arrow is where I stuck under and also over instead of using a plastic zip tie as you did, so in the process I have may 4-5mm protrusion from the surface where i used shim,reckon I will have it snag or intefer anywhere? ..operation by hand there is no slack or anything, and yet to put in car anyway as is a first time for me...again thanks for all tips...an superb tips on how to double tie those steel zip ties and also the shim tactic all great

door carrier handle carrier OEM or not?
 

The self destruct tab should not be an issue for you. Safe to leave alone.

I can't tell which side the protrusion is in your photo. Maybe because too close. If you copied me it's a non issue. The close tolerance is on the other side.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6031f0fccb.jpg

This is the tight side.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b3834ad407.jpg

This is the non tight side.

I think you got it right and made it literally stronger than new.

Put some lubrication on the gear.

I think a primary cause of breakage is attempting to open a locked door.

I haven't used e53 in a while but I seem to recall a locked door the DLA locks the motion of the outer door handle rather than the century old tried and true method of "dry fire" that just detaches the handle and does nothing.

If I remember correctly, teach your family & friends to wait until you unlock before pulling the handle. (It literally won't matter on the fixed one that is nearly unbreakable).

(Out of ≈ 20 repairs over helped on only 1 broke somewhere besides that hinge break).

Of the 8 doors on our e53s I repaired 5 I think of the DHC.

I also rebuilt 3-4 of the DLA when the motors wore out saving over $200@.

Yup followed your guide so instead of bits of plastic zip ties as shim, I used a steel one folded over a 4 times or so, but also as well as squeezing under the repair steel zip tie i folded over it too creating the extra 3-4mm protrusion, basically what you see highlighted by arrow is the shim and it pops out max 5mm from surface of the carrier...just didn't want any surprises to find it would snag come install time thats why all the questions on clearance