Passenger door won't open

proboner · 11-12-2017, 01:22 PM

Ok, technically that's a lie. I have gotten the passenger door open following the guidance listed in this post: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=78772 What I'm looking for is advice on what all I need to replace to actually fix the issue.

Basically, the passenger door stopped opening from the inside or outside handle. It seems to lock/unlock fine, but specifically I could feel a "mushy" spot at the end of the outside door handle's travel, where I imagine it should be unlatching the door.

As mentioned, I've since gotten the door open by disconnecting the outer door handle cable (Bowden cable?) and manually pushing down the outer door handle latch. I then proceeded to brake clean and lube up the door latch itself and it can once again be opened from the inside door handle, but the outer handle is no longer hooked up.

Questions:
- How to tell if the outer handle cable is bad?
- Is that the only piece I need to replace?
- Has anyone made or seen a writeup on how to do this?

Thanks!

StickMon · 11-14-2017, 03:10 PM

Have you completely removed the door card?
I used this DIY.

P.S.
If you're going to pull the door card, you want to have plenty of these and these (2 different lengths).
RealOEM says 6 yellow and 8 white per door.

elerner61 · 11-20-2017, 02:10 PM

Since this almost seems to eventually happen, is there a DIY maintenance to be done? Maybe replace the Bowden cables (they're cheap) at a certain interval? I've only been in my doors once so I can't really offer any info.

11-12-2017, 01:22 PM	#1
proboner Private First Class 67 Rep 198 Posts Drives: 2003 Z4 3.0 6-speed Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Mountain View, CA iTrader: (0)	Passenger door won't open Ok, technically that's a lie. I have gotten the passenger door open following the guidance listed in this post: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=78772 What I'm looking for is advice on what all I need to replace to actually fix the issue. Basically, the passenger door stopped opening from the inside or outside handle. It seems to lock/unlock fine, but specifically I could feel a "mushy" spot at the end of the outside door handle's travel, where I imagine it should be unlatching the door. As mentioned, I've since gotten the door open by disconnecting the outer door handle cable (Bowden cable?) and manually pushing down the outer door handle latch. I then proceeded to brake clean and lube up the door latch itself and it can once again be opened from the inside door handle, but the outer handle is no longer hooked up. Questions: - How to tell if the outer handle cable is bad? - Is that the only piece I need to replace? - Has anyone made or seen a writeup on how to do this? Thanks!
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11-14-2017, 03:10 PM	#2
StickMon My other car is on Mars 636 Rep 3,124 Posts Drives: 2006 MR Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lo-Cal iTrader: (1)	Have you completely removed the door card? I used this DIY. P.S. If you're going to pull the door card, you want to have plenty of these and these (2 different lengths). RealOEM says 6 yellow and 8 white per door. __________________ Warning: May contain traces of nuts. Last edited by StickMon; 11-14-2017 at 06:53 PM..
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11-20-2017, 02:10 PM	#3
elerner61 Major 157 Rep 1,107 Posts Drives: '07 Z4M Roadster Join Date: May 2011 Location: Mount Kisco, NY iTrader: (0)	Since this almost seems to eventually happen, is there a DIY maintenance to be done? Maybe replace the Bowden cables (they're cheap) at a certain interval? I've only been in my doors once so I can't really offer any info.
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