Read what I said.. You were stating that:

In my case the carrier was not lifting high enough to pull the cable to open the door AND the child safety lock was enabled.

I could not open the door from the inside (due to child lock) and from the outside due to the broken carrier.

So you are correct but if the carrier is broke and the child safety lock is enabled you are not opening that door.

Brandon

Just lost the back seat carrier this morning. This is #2. I have a one year old but his car seat is on the opposite side which has the child lock enabled. Good thing as I would have had a hard time doing the replacement.

However I'm concerned if an emergency scenario arose as you can not trust these door handles. And as many of you probably do, I think about a possible break almost every time I grab a handle.

This time around the handle acted up for 2 days. I ordered the new carrier yesterday and the carrier broke this morning.

Still looking for a better idea of the difference between from and back door carrier installation.

Thank you soooo much for explaining this!!! i have struggled with this for months, first off to get the time, ( i had the part for 5months) and since my girl has a job, we have twins, and im working late hours, this helped me alot.. i removed the door panel 3times allready and gave up every time.. Finally found this page, and now im gonna try again tomorrow... :P by the way mine broke in cold weather.. the door was frozen. seems bmw makes more junk now than before.. its probably good for weight loss but hey.. we need quality too in some specific parts.. Thank you.

Revised Opening Procedure Might Help...
 

Love the instructions and I hope its awhile before I have to do this on my 2003 X5 3.0. What i have been doing however is only using the outside handle to unlock the door and using my other hand and the door frame up by the window to open the door. Theory is that the carrier is breaking due to the weight of the door and if I don't subject it to all the weight than maybe it will last longer. Trick is asking my guests to do the same and you know how that goes... But my friends all know now and I always remind them. They think I am nuts but I have been in aircraft maintenance for 28 years now and sometimes we just have to operate differently to prevent failures. I will probably be posting tomorrow that the darn thing broke but at at least I feel like I have a plan...

Just replaced the rear door carrier. Its a bit easier than the front but still not a fun job. Had an issue with the "Bayonet" or the plastic end insert of the door handle. It inserts in to the carrier and then you twist it to hold in place. the plastic "wings" sheered clean off. I thought I was going to have to order a new handle as the bayonet is completely connected to the door handle but my Father (playing my assistant) came up with a good solution...

Here is an example of the piece from Personanongtrata's tutorial.

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/x...cendinsert.jpg

Mine sheared off.

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0946.jpg

I drilled a hole.

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0947.jpg

and fitted a sheet metal screw and a washer.

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0948.jpg

I think the fix is probably an improvement.

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0949.jpg

My father is an engineer and he swears that the door handle carrier is planned obsolescence. It doesn't make sense that the metal cylinder that continues to fail does not span the entire width and is segmented in half.

I am going to post here instead of creating a new thread. I installed the new carrier and handle but when inserting the lock cylinder there seems to be a gap inbetween the 2 pieces, did anyone have that problem? Any ideas?

Just did this and thought I'd chip in my two cents.

If, like me, you found this thread first, the OP mentions an original thread. Tons of good info there too, some of which might not be here. Long link this time:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...dle-stuck.html


Random tips that bear repeating or saying another way:

• using an exacto knife helped with getting through the black tar holding the foam in place
• there is also a holding clip near the exact middle of the door -- should be a straight pull to dislodge
• replacing the new carrier into position was kind of a three stage process. One stage is getting the getting the carrier almost vertical inside the small door opening (heavy cable side towards sky), then two, arcing the cable end towards the door lock end, while going high enough to clear the door lock mechanism. Third stage was final positioning. This was helped by having the phillips screw in place and ready for final tightening in outer door notch.
• putting the door handle on again for the plastic twist and lock portion was helped by holding the carrier's movable flap "open", either by pushing on the inside with a screwdriver handle, or on the outside by holding the "hook" that is on the opposite side of the handle.

Sorry if that is wordy, but man, did I waste time doing the repair for the first time for lack of understanding the process.





Next problem for me is as above poster, the key lock tumbler isn't lining up for the hex head screw. I'll try moving the black plastic outer protector out of the way and see if that helps in threading that screw correctly.




Thanks all posters before me.

once again, i want to thank the great people on this site for helping to fix my broken door handle. directions for this fix were spot on. the people that cotribute to this site are the best.

does anyone have the part number to the rear driver side door handle carrier?

thanks

Not off hand but check Real OEM's website for diagrams and part numbers.