drivers door handle question
 

well i guess it had to happen seems ive broken the drivers door handle (carrier)

anyway ive done the searches and know what i have to do however i have a question r/e door trim removal

ive got the 4 screws out and un clipped the trim but something seems to be holding it at the top, while it appears to be free i cant lift it high enough to clear the door lock button and it appears that the door glass frame speaker surround is in the way.

can anyone shed light on this.

oh and should i get it all out and see if its repairable or just order the carrier first, should i consider the ones on ebay ($144) or should i buy genuine??

all help greatly appreciated

thanks

T20 screw behind the airbag badge.

See this: 2 BMW X5 Speaker Package - YouTube

ive done a bit more reading and it seems that the door trim needs to be pulled away from the door horizontally, where i have been trying to lift it as to un hook it, ive also ordered the door handle carrier, so i wont do any more till it arrives hopefully before the weekend.

I would just order the part. Chances are 99.99% that it is a bad carrier and after the work of removing the door panel you might as well be prepared to do the whole job. Plus, aren't you tired of not being able to open your driver's door?

I would buy OEM. I tried one aftermarket door carrier and did not like the results. It did not seem to fit as well and wound up returning it and buying OEM. As I recall, the price difference wasn't so great as to go aftermarket.

yep its a pain having to open the door from the inside, at least i can press and hold the remote unlock and the windows go down allowing me to reach in, and open the door.

bit embarrassing in a luxury car however

The Club
 

It's a pain because i've had to replace it also, but its nice to know i'm not the only X5 owner that had to roll the window down with the key to get into my car!! Or get the Mrs to open it for me when its raining haha!! :dunno:

I bought an aftermarket carrier for 30 bucks and it's works great . . so far.

ive ordered an after market carrier and ive read and re-read Persona..........s

instructions (many thanks) and ive printed out the instructions to have on hand, and im feeling confident that this is going to be straight forward.

now i know how to get the door trims off i think my next project will be up grading the speakers, but im getting ahead of myself, todays friday hopefully the carrier will be in the letter box when i get home

I ordered the original part from the dealer. With BMWCCA discount the price wasn't too bad, but can't remember how much. My local dealer had one in stock, which means they sell quite a few. I would have a new one when I took it apart, unless you have spare cars. Buying genuine assures you if BMW upgraded the design you get the latest. BMW is I think unique in updating parts for older models.

Jeff

I just finished replacing my door handle carrier today, took about 1.5 hours thanks to PersonaNonGrata's DYI here:

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...andle-fix.html

Mine was a non-OEM one and while it works okay opening the door... The door handle does not come back to the "flush position" once you let go of it. I am fighting my internal demons right now to order a OEM one and redo the whole thing. Serves me right for trying to save a couple bucks when I knew better not to.

Make sure the outter rubber seals are not causing the problem. When I installed mine a couple of weeks back, the seals were causing the handle from returning flush to the door. I made a few adjustments to the rubber pieces and left it alone for the day and the handle returns to the original position now.

BMW does update their parts quite a bit. The parts are expensive but they're great quality.

As for removing door panel, don't forget about the huge plastic black clip on backside of door panel. Usually you have to pull up and out with some force to release it, or you can pry bottom of door panel away from door and squeeze the metal tabs on metal door frame clip using a long 90 degree pick. br careful not to break the ambient light connector

still waiting for the part to arrive grrrrrrr

ok got it and its done, took me just on an hour, although i have to say many thanks to all those who have done this before and have posted your experiences and pics, without that this is not an easy task. plus i have already had a dry run at door trim removal.

i got an after market part, made in taiwan, am i happy with the results ... yes-ish

as others have posted while it works and looks a quality product, it doesnt seem to want to retract the door handle fully, i mucked around with the seal and sprayed heaps of wd40 around it, but no real improvement, so i hope it settles in.

the company i bought it from offers a 12 month warranty, so some consolation.

would i do it again yep to easy (now hehe) but i think next time i would pay the extra and get genuine.

still with the help from this site ive turned a $500 dollar job into a $145 so im happy.

AND i can open my door

So my demons won and I rebought the damn carrier and guess what...? It works JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL. To anyone about to replace the door carrier, spend the extra skins and go OEM.

my new door handle carrier has settled down now and works perfectly, i,m in two minds about oem and aftermarket,
oem is obviously more expensive than aftermarket, and at first i was a little concerned when after fitting it, it felt a little sticky and wouldn't return smoothly to its rest position

but now as its turns out i,ll see how this one performs and if it breaks again or another door breaks, i,ll make my decision on how this original repair is travelling/how long it lasted