Awesome! My door handle broke and I cant get it my car!!

[95DinanM3]

Seriously though, I am a little pissed right now. I go out to my car to leave and I lift the door handle....nothing happens. I yank again with same result. Turns out, I cant open my drivers door from either outside or in.

Anybody else have this open? What a lame ass part to break. Now I have to take the door panel off and hope that it is merely a part that came off and not something that broke (which is probably a special order part
Anyway, I did notice for some time that it was a little difficult to open at times but dismissed it. So I guess I will be doing it like Dukes of Hazzard and shit and going through the window :rolleyes

[amdspitfire]

gotta luv e36's

[GQ_Style]

Happens all the time to me. Push the door in slightly before pulling the handle. Should take enough pressure off the latch for it to open. Afterwards, lube it up with silicone.

[x2nervisx]

happened to me too... i also pushed in the door before lifting the handle... and afterwards used motor oill to lube up the door latch.

[BCM M3]

Me too...had to push in the door while pulling the handle in order to open it. Eventually even that wouldn't work and I had to get in the passenger side. All I had to do was lube up the latch mechanism in the door and it worked like new again. I just used motor oil, although I'm sure something else would be better.

[OrFs]

Now my handle does not evan work when i push in... totaly broke...

[bayareabmw]

no0oooo i have the same problem with my passenger door its hell of hard to open..

[rocket808]

i had the same problem. if you use silicon or something to lube up the latch and the strike plate it will keep working for a while, but it will eventually break. it is the cheap pot metal used in the handle assembly bending, that is why you keep having to pull the handle harder and farther, and you have to push the door in.

oh yea, and it is really freaking expensive to have replaced too.

[Soler NRG]

I had the same problem recently and it was getting real bad even after completely lubing the latch with spray lithium grease. My door wouldn't open from outside or inside. One day I got lucky and managed to open the door and went to work on adjusting the latch.

After lubing all latch components, adjust the "square ring" on the pillar, the one the door latches to. Loosen the two screws just enough that you can slide the ring but still stays in position when you let it go. Then open and close the door a few times. Tighten juuust a little bit, then open and close the door a couple more times. Keep doing until it's fully tightened. Don't forget to lube the ring too. My doors open smooth as a whistle now!

I don't think that E36 doors are hard to open because they are broken. I think they break because they are hard to open. Adjust those latches to make up for sagging doors before you break the handles from all that extra pulling and tugging.

[Theodore]

White lithium spray grease is what everyone needs to go out and spray on their lock mechanisms. It works wonders and is part of the spa treatment your E36 gets everytime it goes to the dealer. BMW screwed the pooch on this design and they know it.

[berlinetta]

White lithium spray grease is what everyone needs to go out and spray on their lock mechanisms. It works wonders and is part of the spa treatment your E36 gets everytime it goes to the dealer. BMW screwed the pooch on this design and they know it.

+1 on the white lithium grease, worked for me

[M3zie]

Happens all the time to me. Push the door in slightly before pulling the handle. Should take enough pressure off the latch for it to open. Afterwards, lube it up with silicone.

Be careful though...I leaned against mine with my hip so it would open and leaned a bit too hard. Put a baseball-sized dent in the door :(