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Thread: RIP....LH inner door pull...and my small rant

  1. #1
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    RIP....LH inner door pull...and my small rant

    235k miles...99 coupe ...and 6 mos ago orig lh inner door pull shoes some movt/damage, but its still secure.

    Go for a state inspec this am to a shop Ive known for yrs.......I tell the shop dont close door from inside w/ door pull handle!..use ventvwindow frame pls.

    thru the yrs Ive watched if any1 was working on my car(which is rare)..but Ive mellowed a bit and realize life is too short. just trust folks more.



    get in car to leave,,,,,,,,,...door pull is blowing in the wind and no longer attchd at upper end to door panel......foooooooooock

  2. #2
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    Looks like someone just got a free door panel. You can't let that slide

  3. #3
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    Im not sure I agree....but u do make me think

    I know the shop well. The owner always gives me a break on inspections..


    door pull was on its last legs.....but it was attached


    I prolly coulda got a long time myself out of it....and not have it totally break.

    I think Id feel like an arse coming after the shop for this, but I could be wrong.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by jrkoupe View Post
    ... door pull was on its last legs.....but it was attached. I prolly coulda got a long time myself out of it....and not have it totally break...
    The plastic base of the handle broke first, so the handle was no longer attached to the metal door. by a screw. But the handle was still attached to the door card by the handle's plastic post, which is heat-flared out behind the card. Then the shop broke the post.

    Door pull base.jpg

    http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...89&postcount=5
    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...5#post27426485
    Last edited by Vintage42; 06-14-2018 at 12:57 PM.
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  5. #5
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    I forgot about the post!


    thnx vintage!

    so a new handle has a new post as well?

  6. #6
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    Well at least a decent salvage door card or some other consideration seems fair. Especially since you prewarned them. I had door dings fixed on my 1st roadster and the body shop broke the mirror spacer while taking the mirror off. I didn't even have to ask they proactively bought a salvage replacement and repainted it too

  7. #7
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    I see your point....but i left....and its been over 3 hrs...............it wont break the bank.......Im good

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by jrkoupe View Post
    ... so a new handle has a new post as well?
    Yes.
    https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/51418398735/
    I repaired the broken plastic screw base with JB Weld, which made the handle usable. But I did not use the handle because of the broken post. I suppose I could have run a long sheet metal screw into the hole where the post broke, from the other side of the card with a fender washer. But I bought a new handle.

    The screw in the base of the handle is a structural connection to the sheet metal door. When the handle's plastic screw base breaks, the handle is only connected by its post to the door card. Probably the flexibility of that, the pulling on the weak card, can be felt when closing the door. That is a warning to take the handle and the card off, and replace the handle, before the post breaks and the front end of the handle comes completely loose.
    Last edited by Vintage42; 06-14-2018 at 06:01 PM.
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  9. #9
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    I knew most of this......but not all.

    I told the shop to not pull......siiiiigh


    Im going to PM you in about 10 mins

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    ... I repaired the broken plastic screw base with JB Weld...
    And painted it black. A long sheet metal screw with a fender washer could be screwed into the hole where the post broke off.

    3 Pull base repair 2.jpg
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  11. #11
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    I'm looking for one of these handles, if anyone has one! I bought my car with it already broken and gone.
    -Anthony Magagnoli
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Z3SpdDmn View Post
    I'm looking for one of these handles, if anyone has one! I bought my car with it already broken and gone.
    If anyone has a handle to sell, the plastic post must be broken, because that's the only way to get the handle off the door card. My old driver handle is for sale for $50, like this except missing plastic post:
    https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/51418398735/
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    If anyone has a handle to sell, the plastic post must be broken, because that's the only way to get the handle off the door card. My old beige driver handle in Post #10 is for sale for $50, like this except missing plastic post:
    https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/51418398735/
    I see from your cracked dash post that you need a black handle.
    Last edited by Vintage42; 06-19-2018 at 10:51 AM.
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  14. #14
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    I had to replace mine with a new one some time ago. The place on handle where it screws to the door is the weak point. I epoxed a small washer on the inside where the screw passes through reinforce it.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob M View Post
    I had to replace mine with a new one some time ago. The place on handle where it screws to the door is the weak point. I epoxed a small washer on the inside where the screw passes through reinforce it.
    I think you posted about the washer a few years ago, and I was going to do it with my new handle. But the washer that fitted flush at the bottom of the hole seemed the same size as the screw head. I was afraid a washer larger than the screw head might spread, stress and break the plastic base when the screw was tightened.
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  16. #16
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    Yeah, I'm hoping to find one that's been pulled out of a wrecked/scrapped car.
    Yes, black is needed.

    Thanks
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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Z3SpdDmn View Post
    Yeah, I'm hoping to find one that's been pulled out of a wrecked/scrapped car...
    As you probably know from this thread, you are not likely to find a handle that has been pulled out of a junk car. For that, the salvager has to find a perfect handle, remove the front screw, and break the plastic post to fee the handle from the card.
    I think any usable handle will have to come from an owner whose handle broke loose, and he repaired the base and did not keep the handle. If you find such a handle, you then have to succeed in using a screw to replace the plastic post.
    Last edited by Vintage42; 06-19-2018 at 01:43 PM.
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  18. #18
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    well said

    I do think most folks think a used handle is fine,...and they are usually not as the post most likely is broken

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    I think you posted about the washer a few years ago, and I was going to do it with my new handle. But the washer that fitted flush at the bottom of the hole seemed the same size as the screw head. I was afraid a washer larger than the screw head might spread, stress and break the plastic base when the screw was tightened.
    As I recall I took the handle to a Lowes or such and found a washer that did the trick.
    It’s not broken since. I’m sure either way is fine.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    As you probably know from this thread, you are not likely to find a handle that has been pulled out of a junk car. For that, the salvager has to find a perfect handle, remove the front screw, and break the plastic post to fee the handle from the card.
    I think any usable handle will have to come from an owner whose handle broke loose, and he repaired the base and did not keep the handle. If you find such a handle, you then have to succeed in using a screw to replace the plastic post.
    Well, you're right in that I'm not finding any. I'd think if a salvager was stripping a car, he'd pull the entire door card, at which time it would be easy to pull a handle. You might be convincing me to spend the insane amount of money on the new one. The previous owner of the car said he "had one on order from the dealership", but it was BS, as I fully expected it to be. When he said it was $60, that's when I knew.
    -Anthony Magagnoli
    #80 BMW M235i Racing - Pirelli World Challenge TC - 2017 Rookie of the Year
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  21. #21
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    u could pull a handle from a card yes......but chances are youll bust the plastic post

    orrrr u could re melt it and kinda reverse engineer the surgery?

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by jrkoupe View Post
    u could pull a handle from a card yes......but chances are youll bust the plastic post... orrrr u could re melt it and kinda reverse engineer the surgery?
    The tip of the post is flared by flattening it with a heated screwdriver blade, and the flare is less than the size and thickness of a dime. A flared post will not pull through the strong card material before breaking the post.
    To remelt and shape that flare back into being the tip of its post, using heated screwdriver blades, is unlikely. And then it will need to be flared again to reinstall the handle.
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  23. #23
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    ahhhhh...I understand

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob M View Post
    As I recall I took the handle to a Lowes or such and found a washer that did the trick.
    It’s not broken since. I’m sure either way is fine.
    Recently performed this trick with JB Weld epoxy. Hoping it will last a bit longer before complete failure.
    IMG_0093.jpg

  25. #25
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    A similar situation happened to the glovebox in my car after the evaporator was replaced. That lovely BMW plastic was on its last leg, so I had to find a replacement panel.

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