That's exactly right -- it goes in all the way, but it's loose.

This is the one I bought: eBay Motors: 00 01 02 03 04 05 BMW X5 Outside Door Handle Carrier (item 220408940547 end time Jun-03-09 19:22:29 PDT)

Just finished the job with an OEM part from the stealer. The part fit this time. Some tips that weren't mentioned but are important when doing this job:

You can't do the job with the window down. The window has to be all the way up. May seem obvious to some but not to others who are mechanically inept -- such as myself.

Getting the door on after finishing is a complete PITA! There are numerous fasteners on top and bottom that are difficult to line up, the puddle light wire has to be pushed through the bottom, and the cable to the inner door handle is hard to re-attach.

All-in-all I'm glad I did this, gave me a bit of confidence, and after looking at the terrible quality of the old carrier which had corroded and snapped, made me wonder about BMW -- why build such a great car and in seemingly random places put crap components that will give your brand a terrible name? I know a lot of people who, when faced with a broken door handle after not-too-many years, will simply dump the car thinking its junk and that's a shame.

How much was the carrier at the stealership...if you don't mind me asking?

$111 minus 10% CCA discount, so $100 or so....

Well hopefully you can get your $$ back from the ebay site.

At www.parts.com it is OEM BMW. Just a bit lower than what you paid...
DescriptionYearDealer PriceCore PriceYou SaveYour PriceBase Right 00-06 $93.33N/A$17.73 $75.60 Savings of: 19%
http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/_img/help.jpg http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/_img/add-to-cart.jpg

I am convinced now this car is a piece of shit. I've replaced just about everything in every door. Don't even get me started on electrical issues.

My lessons learned
 

Thanks to this forum, I saved a bunch of money on this very issue. I did manage to mess up quite a few things that I'd like to share. Hope this will save someone some trouble.

- bought my part off ebay for $53 shipped, took a while to arrive, mean time i already took apart my door and had taped up the handle holes on the outside. It occurred to me that if i had the windows up and the batteries died, there'd be no way to unlock/open any of the doors without breaking a window or something.
- The new part had a problem with the ball connector at the end of the cable being too big (as others have experienced on this post). No problem, i used the cable from the old part, it was still good, fits like a charm.
- I had the toughest time putting the hex bolt back onto the key lock unit. something about not getting the right angle. It helped alot to take the plastic cap off the key unit so you can see the bolt threading thru properly. I think you dont put the keyhole unit all the way in flush until you get the bolt started. bolting it in will draw that piece in place.
- I did manage the break the clip off the plastic cap of the key hole unit when pushing it back in place and ended up glueing it back in place with one side of the clip still somewhat working.
- when i removed the handle, i twisted too much and pulled too hard, causing the pastic tabs to wear off the attaching stud in front, so the front end of the handle is no longer securely locked in. I ended up drilling a leader hole and bolting in a washer with a short wood screw on the inside. seem to have worked very well, very sturdy.
- I wonder why no one mentioned the little light that illuminates the inside door release lever. It dangles on a long wire next to the window control unit wires. I didnt know where it went at first and then couldnt figure out how to fit it back in place properly. after i closed everything back up, i noticed that the light fell off from where it's suppose to be. oh well.
- all in all took me total about 5 hours, most of the time spent messing with the hex bolt. made bunch of mistakes, but in the end the repair was successful and i'm quite satisfied with the results.

Just want to say thanks to everyone that contributed information for this repair. I changed out my door handle carrier last week with no major problems and all of the information was spot on. Thanks again for all the good info.

This small light has a clear plastic housing that connects it to the door. Mine broke in two during removal of the door panel. I use super glue to put the two peices back together and it worked out fine.

Door Handle Carrier Temp Fix
 

Where the carrier breaks near the spring, you can use a piece of thin wire to hold the rod that the spring sits on in place, just make sure the level that pulls in the cable up is seated in the right postion. Its definitely not a permanent fix, I actually used the wire out of a small spiral notebook. One thing that is not mentioned in most of the DIYs for this fix, take out the lock first, its makes it much easier to take out the carrier and to reinstall. When I take our my temporary one, I'll take a picture and post it.