Faulty door handle carrier or something else?
 

Okay a little bit of background information first. When I got the car last year the passenger side front door couldn't be opened from the outside. The previous owner had already bought a replacement door handle carrier so I installed it almost right away to fix the issue. With the new handle carrier, the door was again openable from the outside, although the feel was not 100 % like in other doors. It required a slight yank to open the door. As time passed, it just got worse and worse requiring even bigger yank while eventually after couple of months of use the door couldn't be opened at all from the outside.

Today I finally had time to work on the door again and I replaced the handle carrier again, thinking that perhaps the part I installed last year was somehow faulty to begin with. Not sure what brand the first one was, but this new one was made by Febi Bilstein. With the new carrier, the door is openable again, but it still requires a slight yank and I predict that after some use it will completely fail again.

Could it be that both of the handle carriers were in some way out of tolerance from the factory, perhaps the cables were too long or something. Should I just stick with a BMW part for this? Has anyone faced anything like this? As far as I can see the only other part that could be causing this is the door lock with motor actuator (51218402540), since opening mechanism is attached to it. Is it typical for the door lock to wear out this way?

Attached a picture I took inside the door, the mechanism was at least visibly in working condition when I tested it.

Did you use any type of lubricant? I like to use lithium spray grease. It's easier to get into tight spaces.

As a matter of fact I didn’t. Thanks, that’s one thing I have to do if (or rather when) I have to tear down the door again.

The yank requirement usually is related to cable Issue. If the outer sheath on the cable gets compressed it will cause the cable to effectively lengthen and slow pull won't work anymore.

I've found that the original cable will work better than most replacements. Also: you can repair a too long cable by pulling the ferrule at the end off and carefully adding JB weld to lengthen the outer cable.

Lengthening the cable slightly sounds like it could work. Also, too bad I don't have the original cable anymore. I don't think it's available as new, only as a part of the whole handle carrier, which costs a lot more. I see there are some used OEM cables available though, but not sure if they are worth a try since it would be difficult to know if they are already too stretched. Also spotted at least one seller which provides a completely new cable, not a BMW original though.

Now since the issue is most likely related to the cable, I just have to decide what to do next time I open up the door panel so I don't have to do this several times a year. Perhaps even an BMW made carrier wouldn't be totally out of question if the cable only is not available as new. At least it would hopefully fix the issue once and for all.

Just get a new original carrier.

https://www.bmwautoparts.net/search/...51218243615%09

That's what I'll probably do when the current one gives up. Thanks for the link, seems to be the lowest price for the carrier I've ever seen.