Sure why not. I don't think it's such a big deal to do a little bit of preventative maintenance on your car if you live in an area of extreme weather. There is exactly 1 key hole on the X5 and spraying in some lubricant once a year will take all of 10 seconds.

The one key hole was exactly my point about the recommendations posted on the prior page. It appears that BMW
1) doesn't realize we only have 1 key hole
2) doesn't care about maintenance on the other doors
3) all of the above.

I know you are just relaying the information, but it seems to be a strange recommendation from BMW.

Well, strange or not, it sure beats $500 on a new mechanism!

Could someone post a pic of sprayer they have/use? I know someone mentioned a "plant sprayer" but I just can't quite picture it? WD40 didn't work for me, trying the antifreeze next. What a PITA this is.

Thanks,

Joe. 2006 4.4

I just used a sprayer that I bought from Lowe's. It's just a basic spray bottle.

Something like this
Amazon.com: Whitney Design Plastic Spray Bottle: Home & Garden

Thanks a lot, I gotta get this sorted out! 30K+ miles of ownership and never had this until a week ago! Happened about 8 times since. $500 at dealer will be a bummer but my garage isn't heated....

I'm still CPO, did anyone ever try to push it through under that? The one dealer by my house in somewhat "unfriendly" so I wont bother unless someone has had a good result.

Thanks,

Joe

I had an X5 with this issue (I posted a couple years ago in this thread). I've since sold it and bought a new Tahoe but that's another story, lol.

to JAH1: The place where you spray the lubricant is in the two little holes that are visible when you lift up on the door handle. I always held the door handle open with one hand, and sprayed the lubricant with my other.

The lubricant you use isn't real critical. I used Jig-A-Loo, Dupont Teflon dry spray lubricant (available at Lowes), plain old Silicone Spray lubricant, whatever was handy. The cans I'm talking about all have the little red straw attachment, so it's easy to stick the end into the door latch holes and spray it in there.

I was always a clean car fanatic, and I would wash it and clean the stupid brake dust off my wheels at least once a week. In the winter months, I'd pick up whatever can of lube was handy and spray inside of each door handle after I was done washing and waxing the X5.

I only had the frozen door happen to me one time, but it was a real PITA. I was leaving the gym at 6:00am. Opened up my door, and then couldn't get it latched. It was something like 15 degrees outside. Luckily I was only 3 miles away from my house. It was a real treat to drive home with one hand and hold the door shut with my other hand.

After I started spraying lube in the door latch holes every week or two in the winter months, it never happened again.

This is sort of the info I wanted about how lube door handles post i posted, but whilst by no means am I suffering from frozen door handles due to the cold, I am noticing pulling drivers side door handle is more difficult than other sides....does anyone think spraying silicon lube in the holes JAH1 mentions will help lifting of the handle?thanks

Yes, by all means lubricate your door handles...especially if you feel resistance. BMW door (carriers) handles not only freeze, but tend to break/fail on a regular basis.

By recognizing that something doesn't feel normal...you're ahead of the curve and have an opportunity to possibly prevent ending up having to replace a broken door handle.

Lubricate, lubricate, lubricate...especially if you're feeling resistance in the handle(s). :)

The two lubricants I use are pictured below. The Tri-Flow has teflon in it which not only lubricates, but helps repel moisture & dust...as well as friction when two surfaces rub against each other. I spray it in the lock cylinders and latches...as well as bowden cables around the car (like for the hood) as well as door hinges and other moving parts (doors/trunk/tailgate/hood).

I spray the silicone on a cloth rag and lubricate all of the gaskets around the doors, engine bay, trunk, tail gate,and event the flocked gaskets between the windows. The later helps keep the flocked gaskets from shrinking away from the glass...which helps prevent excess moisture (more than what is normally expected) that runs down the glass into the interior of the door, then out the drains in the bottom.

I was always under the impression that antifreeze if it didn't come pre-diluted needs to be diluted in order to receive the maximum cold weather benefits. Using straight anti-freeze does not have a lower freezing point then using diluted anti-freeze.