Drivers Door won't open - after changing handle carrier
 

I broke my drivers door handle carrier by being heavy handed during the recent freeze - though I could still open the door using the inside handle/opener after opening the windows with the remote.

I followed the procedures here http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-fix-pics.html to replace it and have to say the change went great.

After putting it all back together the door handle worked about 3 times but now the door is firmly stuck closed - won't open whether I try with the inside or outside handle.

Door seems to lock/unlock with remote (button pops up and down) but door stays shut. Windows work fine with remote and switches on the door.

I am trying to remove the door panel with the door shut but as it's now dark and kin freezing I've knocked it on the head - probably till next weekend.

Has anyone got any tips for this one?

Cheers

Hi Sheepdip - glad the post was of help in changing out the carrier. Seems as if the lock mechanism where the carrier cable attaches has stuck or at least not returned fully to the rest position. You should be able to free it again using a wire coat hanger as described in the begining of the how-to post without having to disassemble anything.

Did you lube the lock mechanism during the carrier replacement job?

Check that the carrier cable was re-attached to the door lock in the right position - this may be causing the problem - see pic.

Thanks for the quick reply Brian

I did try the coat hanger fiddle but don't know if I actually found the lever

I've managed to get the door panel off at the top so I'll take another look as soon as it's light and a bit warmer

I did soak everything in spray on silicone grease

I'm pretty sure everything is in teh right place but will check again, its a righty sod trying to get the pane off with teh door closed


Cheers

Mike

Mine was frozen and I pulled it too hard and snapped the cable loose I think.
The exterior door handle sticks out a bit .. I have to use the interior door handle to go in.

Think I just snatched the cable loose and need to go back and reattach it?

Sorry didnt mean to thread crap

That's exactly what I did but it broke the cable retainer off the handle carrier

if I open the door can I snap it back in or do I need to buy the handle carrier?

I rather just snap it back in and park my car in the garage from now on

Aimster,

If your door handle is sticking out a little bit like in the photo, most likely the carrier is broken vice the cable or the cable latch.

My driver's side door handle did the same last month. The cable and latch are actually pretty solid. Most of the breakage is near the spring--the weakest point. There is only about 5mm of metal on that particular point.

I replaced mine right away, and it took about 1.5 hrs. I didn't want to take any chances of the inside door handle breaking at the same time--and with the door closed! I recommend getting it fixed ASAP.

Door card removal with door shut
 

I can confirm that it is possible to remove the door panel when the door is locked shut. I can't explain how I did it as I just used sheer bloody minded determination, a lot of wiggling and twisting, and I motored the seat back and forth a lot it just sort of came of in my hand.

As a result I have released the stuck levers and can now get in and out again from the inside. It looks like the carrier may have broken again but I'ts gonna be quite a while before I have the time to take a proper look.

Cheers for all the advice

Mike

Yep,it just happen to me this pass Monday,I pulled on driver door handle and nothing happened and the stuck out like it does in the picture.So today i took it to my mechanic and he showed the broken carrier and replaced with a new one,now the door opens better then ever....

wow, I did this the second day I owned my X!! its a common failure, even the dealerships around here have the door carrier in stock all the time!

can you point out where the break or broken piece is on the old carrier vs new?

I'm having the same issues as you after replacing the carrier. Seems like there is not enough tension on the cable or cable is too long. Maybe actuator getting worn? Were you able to resolve this on yours?

on my way down this road myself, sucks how this happens to our x5s

I'm bringing this 8 year old post back from the dead just to say THANK YOU A TON!!! I recently replaced my left rear door carrier and the door opened/closed upon testing but the other day I couldn't get it back open from the inside or outside. There's no way the door actuator all of the sudden stopped working and after trying all of the double lock tests and various other things (to include beating on the damn thing) I found this post where I had apparently installed the Bowden cable to high in the fixing bracket which did not allow the mechanism to reset in the low position. I popped off the cable from the bracket and actuated the lever and BAM... the door pops open.

So if you have recently replaced a door carrier and had to remove this cable, be sure you reset it in the position shown in the post by BrianX54.4is. Thanks my brother because I was about to take the nuclear approach and rip the actuator assembly apart from the inside... LOL

Well, I thought I had fixed my issue by resetting the Bowden cable but it was a positive negative. After resting the cable I could open and close the door from both the inside and outside, but as soon as I locked the doors with my key FOB or the central locking button and then unlocked them, I could no longer open the door from the inside or outside. I was thinking WTF???

So, after tearing everything back apart and removing the lock actuator I hooked it up to car power and cycled the lock a few times holding the exterior door handle mechanism approximately where it resides when everything was hooked up and noticed an internal latch wasn't releasing. As I slowly extended the mechanism it would release. So after scratching my head for a second or two, I figured out the problem. The damn cable that came with the Chinese door carrier I replaced was shorter than the OEM cable which wasn't allowing the door actuator mechanism to fully extend allowing the door to be opened. So I yanked the new carrier out of the car and, luckily, I still had the broken OEM carrier and compared the two cables and sure enough, the Chinese crap I got from Amazon has a cable assembly that was about a half-inch shorter. Lucky for me, I was able to remove the cable from the OWM unit and replace it on the new unit and after getting everything back together again, the door functions normally in all scenarios.

I was really close to buying a new door actuator and am glad I didn't because the OEM is $200+. So BUYER BEWARE if you buy an other than genuine BMW door carrier because the cable might not be long enough. I had this issue on my left rear door so I'm not sure if other are affected.

Hope this helps someone!

I recently changed my left front door handle carrier and I noticed the same thing - the cable on the after-market part (Autopa, FWIW...) is marginally shorter than the OEM cable. In my case, the difference was not anything like 1/2 inch, maybe more like 1/8" at most. Door works fine - in fact I prefer this to the old one, as the new one opens the door with much less of a pull on the exterior handle than the old one did.

So I got the dreaded door carrier issue this would be my 3rd replacement in 12 years not bad. But all three were after market. I also have a window regulator on passenger side I need to replace where is everyone getting the OEM parts from. As I need to get one ordered ASAP. I'm not messing with Ebay aftermarket. I need to go to OEM. any links or do I just call the local bmw dealer.

Check out FCP Euro, great service and so far great parts:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...or-51337165596



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- So it is my turn for "difficult to open door from outside".

- Info on door panel removal is in my "Window Regulator Clips DIY".

- You NEED to watch this video by "BIMMER ZEIT":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7-HJ0DUz0


- If you ever repair bicycle cable, you will know that it is NOT the steel cable that stretches with time (it does NOT), but rather...the OUTER sheath SHRINKS with time, as repeated force is applied on the cable.

- If you are good with bicycle cable repair, maybe you can add something to LENGTHEN the OUTER sheath by 1 cm. I don't know how to, so I bought a brand-new BMW door carrier for $105. My research shows me the aftermarket stuff is bad. The factory door carrier lasts some 130K miles, so I cannot complain.

- Photo to show old vs new and you can see the OUTER sheath shortens with repeated use...


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Drivers Door won't open - after changing handle carrier
 

I had the exact opposite problem: the outer sheath rusted and got longer. This effectively made my cable shorter. I pulled the outer sheath out of the end, cut out a couple rings of the rusted expanded steel and made my cable effectively about 1/8" longer and solved my problem.

When I repaired my DHC recently I noticed it was a crazy additional force required to pull the door handle through the cable so I'm working on a no outer sheath solution (at least for the front doors).

I'm thinking of adding brass/bronze bushings to guide the inner cable then adjust the length perfectly to get it to work.

^^ This, I think explains my issue. I've replaced my front right door handle carrier with an eBay $26 part (seller = "Partstation2015") and it seemed to work. (Though,, as others have noted, the doorhandle was kind of 'hair trigger', in that it released the door in the first 3mm of handle movement, which didn't feel very safe.)
I know, I know, $26 delivered part, what did I expect...

I was about to re attach the door panel and put my tools away, but I thought I would check that the door locked and unlocked properly. So I reattached the battery, shut the doors and cycled the door locks. The passenger door did not lock. I pushed the 'snib' (plastic but that would normally poke through the top of the door panel) down to lock it, and it then wouldn't unlock. Pulling the interior handle (well the exposed cable, since I hadn't reattached the door panel) would not unlock the door either..

Much frustration, and I'll admit, mild panic.

Detatching the balljoint on the end of the cable, and the door would unlock again. I think the cable is too short,I'm going to try what you suggested. (Back in 2018..)

So I definitely see a difference in the cable length, but I also now see that the casting is wrong where the exterior handle bolts on:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vW...O=w732-h975-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tP...Z=w732-h975-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OE...=w1300-h975-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Lq...j=w643-h975-no

So I've ordered the proper part now since even swapping the cable over is not going to result in a good Q result..

I have had to tweak the cable length before when swapping parts if the cable is slightly too tight it will
not reset the latch and it won’t grab to unlatch the door. if the distance needed is just one or 2 mm you can bend a piece of metal that holds the end of the cable

Yup, I'd have been good with this approach (and in fact swapped the cable over) but once I realized the handle didn't fit properly (which explains why it kept twisting awkwardly) I gave up with the eBay part.

I will say that I am pretty impressed with the construction of the eBay part for the money, I really think that they just supplied me one for a different BMW model.

I've had to make minor Dremel adjustments


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Well I still had an "oh crap" moment: I've now fitted the BMW OEM door handle carrier & it is clear that this one was at least designed to fit. Handle works perfectly. I had to bodge a bit because the attachment points for the exterior handle were now shot (loose where the plastic pin fits in at one end, and the metal pin at the other end I must have pulled loose by over tightening the nut.. doh) from repeated removal and refitting with the earlier incorrect carrier part..

But (fortunately before I'd refitted the interior trim panel) the door wouldn't lock / unlock when I use the central locking button. As if the lock actuator was dead.

Turned out to be (seemingly) a loose connection at the electric window switch, so worth checking that if you have the same issue.. All sorted now.

Good point: the actuator goes through the door switch assembly so for example door lock won't work if the door switch is removed for any reason. So, for testing purposes you need to attach the door switch assembly. I do that outside of the door panel before reassembly.

Also: for for and finish there is some finesse with the DHC for sure. It has a convex surface that mates with a concave surface of the door inside. I like to leave the screws both quite loose and wiggle the part until it finds the "fingerprint" of th door.

Be very careful witg non OEM parts. The spring has less than two mm clearance to the window glass and I've put in DHC that the spring actually scraped on the glass. I cut the end to fit but it's a warning. You can. See pic where I mentioned the fix. I think in my awr-fix dhc thread