A DIY guide: how to make a bad problem worse
 

So yesterday my SO pulled on the rear door handle and the door wouldn't open. The handle is also stuck in the weird position and does not fully retract.

From what I gathered, the door handles are a sore point and it was not a question if but when the first one will break.

Now comes the interesting part. I went to inspect the door and what would it take to crack it open. In the process I ran into a child lock lever, and being a child as I am, when I see a switch or a lever I just have to fiddle with it.

So I did.

And I did not make sure I set it back as it was.

And I closed the door.

Now I can't open the door at all, which is super-nice especially with the child seat back there. :loser:

I hope the dear Lord will have mercy and it is possible to remove the door panel from inside to access the innards, even if it means removing the back seat (which I need to do anyway because of some fuel pump issues I am suspecting).

Not sure there is a question hidden somewhere in this post. Just needed to vent. :)

That blows. I don't have any experience doing it that way but I did just have all 4 door cards off to replace the window regulator support clips. If you cannot get the child lock undone (I don't know how that works), there might be *just* enough room to get the door card off. I think if you remove the rear seat bottom it will clear. Or maybe just enough to somehow open the door. Prepare to break the clips though as you will probably have to go blunt force pulling the door card inwards, I doubt you can get a trim pry tool in that minimal space. Luckily all of the screws are accessible with the door closed.

Guess I should order some new clips right away. Good thing is that I have really tiny hands, so I am hoping I might be able to reach the lock and pull on *something*. I will let everyone know how it went.

you might get some extra room to get that door card off by pulling out the seat ;)

Ha little hands always come in handy.

You can get clips much cheaper off eBay than the dealer fyi

It can be done. It isn't pretty, but I did it. Twice. I marvel at that statement even as I write it. Yes, twice :)

Haha, thanks, makes me feel a tiny bit better. :)

I have done it this morning and I will share a couple of things that may help someone else.

First I realised that I may be able to flip the child lock switch with a coat hanger. It might have worked but I stopped it after my door rubber started falling apart from repeated attempts.

On to the rear seat removal. It was way easier than expected apart from one thing. The centre seat passenger belt was stuck. I wasn't aware of it at all, it was stuck fully retracted preventing me to remove the seat. After some time I reached a point where I wanted to cut it loose, but then I let the backrest lay on my head loosening the slack on the belt while I undid the buckle mount underneath the seat. What a PITA. After getting it free. the belt mechanism got unstuck after a few tugs. At least one thing got fixed.

On to the door. I removed all the screws (a few were already missing). I was a bit concerned with pulling the bottom part of the door card but it popped out easily. Might have something to do with the fact that the window regulator was replaced in the past. Getting thew door cover free took some effort. The rear part needs to be pulled straight in, and the part below the main window needs to go up. This takes some force, and I did crack a couple of plastic pieces from the privacy shade attachment. After 10+ years in Kuwait moon-like climate the plastic parts tend to fall apart in your hands.
After removing the door cover, a plastic piece came off. It is "door handle grip support", I need to figure out where it is supposed to go.
At this point I figured out that I may be able to flip the child lock switch using something long and thin. I used MasterCard, but I suspect Visa or even a Debit card might do the trick. I succeeded and opened the door.
Mission accomplished, but then I went on to remove the door handle mechanism to see what went wrong. This process is thoroughly documented already. I did have an issue where the part that is supposed to come out after undoing the hex bolt from the inside would not move. It seemed to be stuck and it took some effort to come out after a bit of wiggling. Probably caused by the fine sand that got in there, as the drivers door lock cylinder slid out easily. Removed the handle, the external screw, unbolted the lock mechanism itself to give it more room and wiggled out the door handle support. Unclipped the steel line that connects to the lock and it was out.
One of the hinges broke, of course. It never ceases to amaze me how car manufacturers keep using a material that resembles a mixture of aluminium and sugar for door handles. I think I was up to 6th handle on my old Audi.
Also, looking at the weird contraption the BMW door handle mechanism is, it almost looks like they forgot the include it completely and at the end they had to tack in on somehow,ending up with this mess.
Anyway, I am off to a local junkyard tomorrow morning to see if I can get a good price on a used one. I would prefer to get new, but the local dealer parts shop is mostly overpriced and I'd like to sort it out soon. Plan B is ordering online, but shipping here is always a pain....I already ordered a bag of door clips.
I also decided I will grease up the mechanism on remaining three doors to prevent this.

Thanks for everyone's support. :)

I need help.

I got a replacement handle carrier and I spent an hour trying to get it in and gave up when it started to get dark and when I realised that I am spending more time cursing than trying to do anything productive.

It is the rear door I am talking about and no matter how I try I can't get the handle carrier to lay flush with the door. I looks as something is in the way under the top part. The carrier is fine, I even tried to put the original one back in and I am running into the same problem. I feel the protrusion in there, though I am supposed to slide the carrier underneath it, but whatever I tried it didn't work. It seems to line up with the door if I pull the mechanism out (as when opening the door) but that can't be right.

What am I missing here?

As a note to myself, here is a thread that may be helpful, will try tonight. :)

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...dle-issue.html