Door handle carriers .. any brand recommendations?
 

Very important point! Especially in those gear teeth! The effort to pull and the forces in that hinge drop a lot when you put in some good grease make sure low temp if you live north of 35°! (Or south don’t want to forget about you guys in the s hemisphere)

–awr–

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Call me crazy, but I also feel that door handle carriers last a lot longer if you understand how to pull on them. Do not grab and yank. They need to be "rolled" out as you pull on the with soft force. These are not bank vaults we are opening. If you grab and yank, of course it will stress the points inside. I've had my X5 for 15 years and live in some of the coldest weather you can imagine. My vehicle, in winter can sit in -40 deg C for days at a time (not super common for me as I have heated garages everywhere I park, usually, but there are times when the vehicle sits or is parked outside for house/days and so when I go to open the door, I ensure the door handle is clear of ice and snow and slowly roll the door handle out and up, all the while feeling for extra resistance. If it's there then you stop!!!! This same idea goes for every other day of the year when it's warmer. Just be gentle. It's not a 1960's Ford or Dodge pickup truck you are trying to enter.

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Stay away from anything URO.

I bought 2 new fronts and rear Febi DHC years ago when a parts website had them on massive sale. I'm just storing them for the day I need them, I guess.
I also have 4 spare OE DHC I grabbed from a puck-n-pull yard. I will probably use these firstly if FEBI is that poor of a quality, now.

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You are definitely onto something with the soft use. It def puts less force on that joint. Also and most critical: pay attention to if it is frozen and doing force it.

The DLA has a design defect that it can freeze solid fin one literal drop of condensation. Only thing your can do is drive into the inner door warms enough to defrost or you can use a hair drier into the jaws of the latch.

If DLA freezes and you tug once on the door handle it’s basically over.


–awr–

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Most freezing issues stem from an often overlooked poor/missing/damaged vapor barrier.

That’s logical. We always had the problem only when it’s very wet from rain then ambient drops below freezing


–awr–

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Thanks to everyone for all the words of wisdom and advice on brands to avoid. I'm hoping I'll be able to fix and reuse the one I have, but will definitely have one on hand to swap in. Either way, I'm planning on following the excellent DIY @andrewwynn put together here.

Considering that the OEM part lasted 21 years, I'm probably going to spend the extra $$ and go that route. I know I've always been pretty cautious about lifting up rather than pulling out, but I'm not sure my wife has and I KNOW my son hasn't. Hard to train teenage fellows to be "gentle". :-)

Will report back as I'm making the repair.

Chris
Lockhart, Texas
2005 X5 3.0 Schwarz Black
2002 X5 3.0 Titansilber

If you always open the door with your thumb on the part that doesn’t move, your remaining four fingers operate the handle in the only way possible - correctly. ;)

Controlled force no jerk that’s definitely “the way “


–awr–

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my wife can break an anvil
 

That's the way I've always done it. However, my wife opened hers (the first and only time), using the old 'grab and yank' method, after which I insisted on ALWAYS opening all four doors myself. Can't trust anyone else....

As a related fact, so far, after 33 years of marriage, I've had to replace the inside driver's door handles in every one of her "personal" vehicles (though none on my "favorites"),

• 1) '85 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo,
• 2) '88 Pontiac Fiero SE,
• 3) '92 Oldsmobile Achieva SC,
• 4) '08 Chevy Cobalt Coupe,and
• 5) '98 GMC Sierra 1500 ext-cab pickup

from over-yanking. Fortunately, the handles on the '86 Chevy S10 ext-cab pickup, and '09 Chevy HHR Panel survived (because they were mainly my vehicles that she seldomly drove). Coincidentally, she has also blown out master cylinders on cars #1-4, from stomping on the brakes.

Now that her favorite car is the '14 Lexus ES350 (which I've only driven ONCE since purchased), I fully expect to replace a handle or two, and the MC, as well, sometime in the future. She doesn't drive my '04 Chevy 2500HD pickup (too tall, rides rough, she says), or the '01 X5 (steering too stiff, rides rough, seats too hard...though all are perfect for me), so the aforementioned door handles and master cylinders should be safe.