Drivers done hard to open

[gareth82]

Hi since I bought my X5 well over 2 years ago the drivers door has always been hard to open.  It takes between 1 and sometimes 5 hardish pulls of the handle before the door opens, is there anything to adjust to make it easier to open or is it a new mechanism needed?

Thanks

[Sanj]

No - you'll have to open it all up and check...

[X5Sport]

Is the catch releasing and the door not opening, or is the mechanism not functioning?

Do all the gaps around the door and it's alignment to the roof, rear door and sill look OK?  Any sign of wear etc on the door rubbers?

Just wondered if it was out of alignment or the door seal had gone hard or sticky?  If that's all fine then it sounds like the lock unit itself... :'(

Richard

[Horizon]

Mine was getting stiff so I removed the plastic bung on the door above the lock mechanism. You have to remove the inside segment of the bung, leaving the outer bit if plastic in the door. Get a can of WD 40 with the drinking straw type nozzle extension. And spray where you can. If that fails, strip off the door card as advised in the previous posts

[Jamine16]

There is a small metal cable that connects the door handle/carrier to the lock mechanism.

I had the same problem and im guessing my cable probably stretched a bit.

I managed to adjust it, but it put to much pressure on the carrier and it snapped the joint from the main swing mechanism.

In the end I just replaced the whole carrier. (£75)

There is a good tutorial somewhere on the forum.

[Reusch]

+1 get it fixed before it goes altogether and get an original part not the s***e on e-bay.

[Smeeagain]

I tried the WD40 option but it only worked for a period of time and it got stiffer/harder to open. I have now bought a can of spray grease with the drinking straw extension and plan to try that

Smee

[macca]

i also had the same problem and i just slightly bent the Bowden cables lower mounting point up , thats the two tabs that the outer cable sits in.

i believe over time that the cable stretches, i had to replace the handle carrier a while back and i noticed that the outer handle had to be pulled virtually all the way out to release the door, as opposed to the other doors that release at half travel.

im of the opinion that its this that stresses the door handle carrier and finally causes it to fail.

since ive done my bending mod the drivers door has worked like the others, i use my car daily and its been good now since the end of last year.

however i will also add, my car does not live in a cold climate

[gareth82]

Thanks all for your advice, sorry for the late reply, I forgot about this topic