Congrats on success. Remember to be careful if it seems like it's ice frozen. More than likely it's the lock and not the door seal.


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did mine yesterday everything was fine until i gave the allen screw one last turn put key in turn to left turn to right then one more for confirmation and bam it broke couldn't get key out thank god i can lock and unlock with remote ruin my day now have to buy a dam key lock. but i can open door again using pass side to get in got on my nerve

The key broke off or the cylinder broke? I used my finger for a week once when I was mid-fix on my BMWЯ


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Just got off the phone with the wife. Door doesn't open. FFS. Really! According to her feels like its not connected to anything. DAMN IT. I knew that ball connector that you push in on the stud didn't make a reassuring 'Click' when I pushed it in but just thought i didn't hear it through my hat as it was 2c and I was wearing all the clothes I owned. So.... moan over. Now time to man up.

This Saturday will be a eat, sleep, repeat and fix it properly. Still at least I think that I will be able to do it quicker this time.

So anyone doing this again PLEASE REMEMBER TO MAKE SURE THE PLASTIC BALL JOINT AT THE END OF THE CABLE IS PROPERLY CLICKED IN TO THE STUD OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE LIKE ME.... A DUMBASS.

Sorry guys, I am ranting at myself really. :dunno:

I made a detailed post at bimmerfest how to repair for free if you break your carrier in the most likely way including videos as I actually repaired it.

Usually the hinge snaps: you can wire it together with some thin metal wire (think thick paper clip). More than likely a couple nylon zip ties would also work.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=894305

My repair starts at post # 20. Numerous tips after doing this repair twice. First doing a swap then I took the broken carrier and fixed it for free and put the fixed one that came from my wife's car and put into mine.

You'll never break one again if you simply pay attention and learn the forces involved to open to recognize when the lock mechanism is stuck. I'm confident to say that at least 95% of the time this part breaks because the lock mechanism sticks, the car is unlocked but the handle is not, most often when coincidentally it's cold and you are programmed to think the door seal is frozen stuck so you pull hard. Your 100# tug becomes 1000# with leverage and you snap the hinge.

The hinge has a very weak link: it's ingeniously (BMW like) designed so the hinge pin is not entirely enclosed anywhere so it can't rust tight. Unfortunately that drops the strength of the hinge by a factor of 2-3 and makes it easy to break.


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Door handle carrier replacement
 

Word to the wise -- don't buy cheap, Chinese made parts from Amazon.

I purchased a left rear passenger door carrier for my BMW X5 and I struggled to get it back together and it still doesn't work.
The fit was not quite right and now I have to remove everything again and take the new, non-fitting part out.

And suddently, my driver's door handle carrier is broken. I do believe it was an original.

BMW OEM parts are 3-4 times more expensive, but if you buy cheap parts, you run the risk of spending 3-4 times more time finally getting it fixed right.

Do NOT buy Chinese parts (that sound like it's an American company)!

if your hinge broke (have only witnessed one time it wasn't) you can just repair the hinge with some wire; it will be stronger than new (no longer brittle and prone to breaking).

knock-off is likely to be fit-and-finish issue but nothing that can't be fixed with a dremel, a file or a knife. When i moved an OE part from my wife's car to my car i needed to do the EXACT SAME tweaking required of a 'chinese knock off' so paying more is not going to necessarily save you any grief; in this case it's because reusing the rubber boot that is 17 years old doesn't compress like a new one; i needed to shave it down before the handle would close flush with the door. I've done this repair about half a dozen times now, have one more broken that will be done soon. If i'm correct and just the hinge broken it will be a 20 minute repair of the part and 40 or so minutes to take the part out and put back in .

I just did my left rear also.... bought it on amazon... what a mission!

It just would not align and fit properly. After approx 2 hours of fitting it, pulling it out, jiggling it, comparing it with the original etc, I finally figured out that although the part was a great match, the new rubber was slightly oversize and that was stopping it aligning properly.

Swapped the rubber with the original and in it went no probs...

All was good until I closed it... it wouldn't now open at all... so I went and had a bit of lunch before I threw a hammer at it and got the door open by pulling on the internal cable. All good except I broke the Bowden cable mount so now I need a new latch.... and the door doesn't open again since I locked it..

Off to the wreckers for a new latch and then back to having a play with the handle for round 2!

Gotta love these things...

The axle broke on my left rear over a month ago. Since you can reach the inner handle from the from the front door if necessary it didn't beat the priority of things like replace broken rear brake line. Also a solid tug will still get the door open that's how I know it's the axle.

I just discovered I have a broken carrier from the front left door. Miracle the axle not broken. I may be able to swap parts to repair the back one.

I'll be posting either way.

I took some advice about the door handle carrier and wired my broken hinge on the driver's side door.
That worked and I saved about $140 for an OEM part.

The cheap knock offs just don't fit well and my handle, although opening the door, doesn't match up well.
It looks like crap actually.

Also, I purchased some door snaps from Amazon and those broke immediately on trying to snap the door panel back onto the door.
I'm done with Amazon's cheap BMW parts.