That is major cool. I used it before. Gonna give it a whirl again.

Thank you! There's a growing to-do list I've been meaning to tackle, so if you ever have any input/suggestions feel free to shoot me a PM.

My turn to report. Freezing temps (16 F) in morning, my wife tried to open door.

The X5 driver door opens only from inside handle pull but not from outside handle. And the handle won’t fully retract, last few mm (unless manually pushed back).

I will buy OE carrier but will have someone put it in.

Yep, Your carrier is broken. The handle not returning to flush is a sure sign. The replacement process is real simple step by step.

Your carrier will look like this when you remove it. Broken at the pivot area closest to the rear.

Thanks Steve. Will read up and try to diy (this month is crazy busy schedule :|)

There are a lot of step by step articles and postings on this one.
TIPS: There are only two "feel" steps that stump some people on the first attempt. One is getting the old door handle all the way to lock down on the alignment shaft so that the little stubs are all the way in place. Solution is to lift up on the door handle carrier (spring loaded) a tiny bit to allow the handle to be rotated and fall into the slot.

The second is getting that little screw to align up with the carrier through the door end panel access port. It holds the lock and carrier in alignment so the mechanism works correctly. The trick is to have the mounting bolts loose everywhere so the carrier will flex up as the screw goes in.

Yes, it is an overly complicated engineering solution trying to solve the issue with car thieves who use door "Slim Jim" tools to grab the actuator rods and jerk up to unlock doors. It stops that issue cold, but created a multitude of others like replacement cost, lifespan, complexity, etc. The good news there is a nice upgrade for the the next generation of X5 (E70) but no backwards compatibility. Kinda like computer software/hardware issues with phones, cameras, etc. Common retort: "Don't like it? Upgrade"! :dunno:

I am sure others who have done this recently will chime in with a few tips and tricks as well. The first one will take you 2 hours or so. The third one will take you under and hour! Let hope you only get to do one this year....

Thanks, the part in in order, fingers crossed.

Snow is on it way for all the northern States, so look for more postings of "Door Handle broken" shortly. This and the dreaded CCVC blocked and smoking/oil all over the place, are the two most posted questions every time it get REALLY cold out. Makes you want to garage them.

Suggestions: Drive 'em until HOT at least weekly. If you do only short stop and goes under 5 mile trips, you are counting down to failure on the CCVC (PCV valve/ oil separator system). Take a look at your oil temp gauge and you will see if it ever gets to normal temps. On the door handle, lube them now!!!!

Ven, StephenVa is a bit handier than the average bear. I'm pretty handy, but found it a bit tricky angling it 'just right' to get it to line up to reinstall. That said, having done it once, a second time will be much easier [if I can remember what I did last time ....]. If you dont DYI, I suggest you find an indy bimmer shop that has done a few - in which case it will take them nmt 30-60 minutes .....

I asked a shop, they said 477. So I ordered the part, me and my friend will try to do in my garage.

Any tips for lubricating the door handles and carriers, all 4?