Quick question that probably doesn't warrant its own thread...

Is there a way to tell between door handle failure vs. carrier failure without taking the interior door panel off?

The door handle is pretty much the carrier the handle part is in your hand and should be obvious or do you mean the door handle carrier vs door latch ??

And yes, you should really start a thread if you have a specific question. It's cumbersome using this.

I am curious how you end up liking this. My leak detector broke not too long ago, and I haven't needed one yet - but I also don't want to wait until I do need one in order to buy one.

Yeah, there's not really any difference between the handle and the carrier. And I think the handle itself doesn't break, only the carrier.


Now, the door lock actuator (inside the door, connected by a bowden cable) breaks and that's a different failure. And the lock itself breaks, and that's a different failure. And the bowden cables can break, and that's a different failure. And the keyless entry can break in at least three different ways, a different failure.



What did the E53 door handle engineers actually do right? It begs the question.

Love it so far, but remember it's brand new and I have no idea how low it will last. I paid $150 USD so it's not an expensive version.

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Actually the handle can break. The tab that goes through the door and pulls on the carrier can break off! I was blown away when I was expecting to have to fix the DHC and the handle was snapped in two.

Solid summary! Having rebuilt 4-5 DLA and 6-7 DHC I've been through the wringer with e53 E39 e38.

So far so good with e70. But I have about 2 years to get to the same age as when my e53s started having issues. At least the siphon jet is a new design without the self destructing function built in.

"Horribly complicated" is the summary of the door handle on those three chassis models. Not sure if the e60 shared the same but I never had to fix the handle on E90 or e70 that I maintained.

Built in pump? That was the key to me deciding which to get. No shop air needed.

Yes but only bumps out .5 psi off the built-in pump.

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I never considered a smoke machine with an integral pump, since that's just one more thing that could fail.


I wanted one that I could use my external air supply (Husky 20-gallon air compressor from Home Depot), since I'll never need to test anything but my own vehicles.

But, if I was a mobile mechanic or someone without enough garage space for a compressor, then a self-contained unit would've been better.

My Autoline Pro unit also limits the air/smoke pressure (via an external disc-shaped regulator), but I can get more smoke volume, by adjusting the regulator on my compressor upwards, relying on the disc regulator to keep me from overdoing it.



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A cap full of mineral oil and it smokes up a storm [emoji854]

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