I didnt unplug my airbag nor disconnect the battery, just unbolted and left it hanging. maybe you have other issue?

For being lazy, I just paid $700 to have the carrier fixed at the dealership. I forgot all about this wonderful site. Thanks for posting OP.

:bustingup:bustingup. Sorry, -- I just couldN't hell it. There is a world of information and how to , here. These guys will give you detailed info and advice for free and in some cases will even do it for you if you are in the vicinity or willing to come by. Just remember to bring a six pack. I changed two of my door handle carriers myself for a total cost of $160 $700 ??? Ouch.

He lives an hour from me and I would have done it for free if he brought me a case of beer, now that I know how to do it after doing my own.

Its really an hour job, 2 at most if you are being slow and taking butt/beer breaks.

my wifes gonna kill me when I show her this!

This FIX was perfect.....and only took me about an 1hr

but One thing I would like to warn folks on is related to putting the handle back

Re-attaching the door handle is fairly simple but it will be much easier if you push the carrier from behind. That will cant the handle up so you can insert the black end on the left and have clearance to twist it into place. I used the handle of a screwdriver to push on the carrier. ""

The black end of the handle with the little connector are made of plastic and if you don't push the Carrier back with a screwdriver it can break the little tit connector of the handle(It happend to me..)

But over all perfect instructions

Thanks Persona Non Grata,
And to all the others associated with this job. The part alone, in Oz, from a non BMW dealer was $250. The dealer then charges $180 per hour labour. Goodness knows what the final bill would have been for a dealer repair.
The only things I would add would be:

The outside lock cover does not have to be levered off (possibility of scratching or damage). It will separate, from the door, with the lock mechanism when the hex headed bolt is removed through the small opening on the rear edge of the door.

When peeling the inner door, foamy, panel off to get at the door innards, use a sharp knife to slice through the black, rubbery adhesive as you pull it away. This will save the foamy panel from ripping.
Thanks again,
Colin.

As always, I am so glad my little contribution has helped more members here.

Good tips as well. As an additional tip, the black adhesive used to glue the foam vapor barrier on is quite resilient. Instead of cutting it, which is perfectly effective, I used a heat gun to gently heat up the adhesive to peel it off. It can get a little messy but not bad. I use the heat gun to soften it back up to reattach the foam. Works well even after multiple time. I know this due to multiple door carriers and even more window regulator fixes.

This is the problem I now have on my rear passenger door. I'm guessing it's because my kids have a tendency to pull "straight out" and not "up". Why BMW designed these handles this way, I'm not sure, but they're not kid friendly.

So does someone think this is merely an alignment problem and not a broken carrier problem? The handle operates ok except that since it's positioned slightly lower, it has a tendency to catch the rubber seal, not to mention it's driving me nuts now that I've noticed it.

[edit]

Oh and not sure if this will help or not, but in my travels in researching this problem, I found this PDF from alldata - http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/na...105200_do1.pdf

I just finished this fix on my e53. The instructions were great; much better than what the Bentley contains (are you listening, Bentley Publishers?)

When I first got the door panel off and the foam out of the way, I tried moving the outside handle; to my surprise, it looked like the cable was moving normally, so I closed the door and tried opening it. Nothing. My first thought was, oh great; if it's not the carrier, what is it? I figured as long as I had the part and had the door apart, I'd go ahead and replace it just to see if that indeed was the cause. It was. All is well. But I still can't see what is broken or worn on the old one that kept it from working though.