How To Replace Door Handle (Comfort Access)

Please read entire directions before starting this job. Make sure you disconnect the battery as you will be dealing with the SRS system. Also make sure the window of the door you are working on is rolled up all the way. Level of difficulty is 5. Estimated time is one hour. This DIY is for the driver side front door handle.

Lets get started!

1. Remove the plastic cover on the front area of the door panel to access the philips screw underneath

1. Unscrew the philips screw and place it in a safe location.

1. Remove the square plastic covers to access the torx screws. Be careful with these covers. They are very delicate!

1. Use a T-25 and socket extention to remove the two torx screws. The screws may not come out, but make sure you unscrew until they turn freely.

1. Remove the plastic cap on the interior door handle to access the T-20 screw underneath

1. Remove the T-20 screw and store it in a safe location

1. Remove the AIRBAG plastic cover to access the T-25 torx screw underneath.

1. At this point you are ready to remove the door panel. Pull firmly starting at the bottom of the panel. The door is held by plastic fasteners. Using a screwdriver wrapped in cloth you can also pry the panel away from the metal door.

1. Once the panel is completely free, be careful not to pull too hard. There are still electrical and cable connections to remove. The locking mechanism is also included.

1. Remove the door latch cable as shown below.

1. Next remove the white plastic clip connected to the actual door latch.

1. Gently pull the cable free

1. Carefully unplug the airbag connector. This may require prying with a screw driver.

1. Remove the top white eletrical connection for the power window switches,

1. Place the door panel in the trunk of the car. Trust me, you do not want to damage this item!!

• Unplug the power supply connector for the door latch (only if you have comfort access)

1. Remove the door insert by removing 12 fasteners located on the perimeter of the insert. There are 8 white fasteners and 4 grey fasteners.

1. You will need a 11mm socket and driver to remove these fasteners. All you need is a half of turn and they come right out. Awesome craftsmanship by BMW on this design.

• Once all have been loosen, pull the insert slighly away from the door to access the door handle. No need to completely remove the insert.

• With a long flat head screw driver, slide the metal retainer to the right. Be gentle!

• There is a bend on the retainer designed to prevent it from rattling loose. You must bend this clip straight in order to completely move the retainer to the right and detaching the handle

• Once you manage to move the clip all the way to the right, the door handle is ready to come out!

• Pull in an upward motion and carefully remove the handle. No need to apply force.

• Unplug the LED light connection and door antenna module (Comfort Access only) and remove the handle completely.

• And there you have it!

• Here is the replacement part information.

I hope this was helpful. Good Luck!

great job

thanks

What happened to the pics? Is there anyway to recover them?

For those who would rather purchase the Special Tooling from BMW than remove the door panel, this process should take less than 15 minutes.

- remove plastic access plug from rear edge of door
- use special tooling per TIS to unlock and pull metal slide towards rear of car (see photo, blue circles highlight the portion that holds than handle in place, though they are slid over in the photo)
- pull handle down, then out
- disconnect light source (fiber optic tube for 2002-2004, LED for 2005-2008) and comfort access electrical connection


Comfort Access handles are common to fail, see SIB 66 03 06 Comfort Access Function is Inoperative. I've personally seen 3 different failure modes; hand sensor fails leading to delayed unlock response, handle antenna fails leading to no door unlock or lock, internal handle short leading to current draw and battery drain.

============================
MODEL
E65, E66 (7 Series) with option 322
Vehicles produced to February 2006

SITUATION
The Comfort Access function is intermittently inoperative. The vehicle doesn't lock or unlock from outside.
There are no faults stored.

CAUSE
Cracked and corroded circuit board inside exterior door handles. The problem occurs at the soldered joint where
wire is attached to the circuit board.

CORRECTION
Install an improved door handle on affected door.
The improved part can be identified by the date on the
label (date is shown in dd/mm/yyyy).
This could be the shipping date (Versanddatum) or the
manufacturing date (Produktionsdatum).
The manufacturing process was changed from
February 16, 2006 on.
All parts from that date on are improved and can be
installed.
============================

What a complete waste of time.......

this is how you do it in less than 1 minute.....

AceFX, i like the no nonsense approach! Thanks for the post.

I have just been notified that my CA on my passenger rear door needs to be replaced to the tune of $1300!!!! Can any point me in the right direction to ordering the correct parts for a DIY?

My door handle was sticking. The dealer told me I would need a new handle ($550 for the part + $150 to match the paint + $200 to install the new handle) for a total repair of $900.
There was nothing wrong with my handle, it just needed an alignment.
The entire procedure took 20 minutes in my garage.

Apparently, the main pin that holds the spring together got out of alignment and the left side was sticking out 1mm more than it needed to.
it was catching on the lever mechanism. I removed the door handle with a very special set of tools that would make Macgyver proud.. No need to buy the $150 toolset from BMW..or wait 4 weeks for it to arrive from Germany.

I used a mechanical pencil with the clip broken off (so it would fit). The pointy end of the pencil helped free the latch. the eraser portion pushed the door release assembly in to release the handle.

I used the back end of a screwdriver to tap the left side of the hinge (the gold parts) that wedge between the aluminum body of the hinge. the gold parts need to be even on both sides for the door handle to function effectively.each side should protrude about 2.5mm for the door handle to have clearance on both sides of the door handle frame.

The hanger made an effective tool for pulling the metal slider back to lock the handle in place.

Originally Posted by ebelony

Please read entire directions before starting this job. Make sure you disconnect the battery as you will be dealing with the SRS system. Also make sure the window of the door you are working on is rolled up all the way. Level of difficulty is 5. Estimated time is one hour. This DIY is for the driver side front door handle.

Lets get started!

1. Remove the plastic cover on the front area of the door panel to access the philips screw underneath

1. Unscrew the philips screw and place it in a safe location.

1. Remove the square plastic covers to access the torx screws. Be careful with these covers. They are very delicate!

1. Use a T-25 and socket extention to remove the two torx screws. The screws may not come out, but make sure you unscrew until they turn freely.

1. Remove the plastic cap on the interior door handle to access the T-20 screw underneath

1. Remove the T-20 screw and store it in a safe location

1. Remove the AIRBAG plastic cover to access the T-25 torx screw underneath.

1. At this point you are ready to remove the door panel. Pull firmly starting at the bottom of the panel. The door is held by plastic fasteners. Using a screwdriver wrapped in cloth you can also pry the panel away from the metal door.

1. Once the panel is completely free, be careful not to pull too hard. There are still electrical and cable connections to remove. The locking mechanism is also included.

1. Remove the door latch cable as shown below.

1. Next remove the white plastic clip connected to the actual door latch.

1. Gently pull the cable free

1. Carefully unplug the airbag connector. This may require prying with a screw driver.

1. Remove the top white eletrical connection for the power window switches,

1. Place the door panel in the trunk of the car. Trust me, you do not want to damage this item!!

• Unplug the power supply connector for the door latch (only if you have comfort access)

1. Remove the door insert by removing 12 fasteners located on the perimeter of the insert. There are 8 white fasteners and 4 grey fasteners.

1. You will need a 11mm socket and driver to remove these fasteners. All you need is a half of turn and they come right out. Awesome craftsmanship by BMW on this design.

• Once all have been loosen, pull the insert slighly away from the door to access the door handle. No need to completely remove the insert.

• With a long flat head screw driver, slide the metal retainer to the right. Be gentle!

• There is a bend on the retainer designed to prevent it from rattling loose. You must bend this clip straight in order to completely move the retainer to the right and detaching the handle

• Once you manage to move the clip all the way to the right, the door handle is ready to come out!

• Pull in an upward motion and carefully remove the handle. No need to apply force.

• Unplug the LED light connection and door antenna module (Comfort Access only) and remove the handle completely.

• And there you have it!

• Here is the replacement part information.

I hope this was helpful. Good Luck!

I went through this process for my 2004 760i to replace a window regulator. What a job it was- 7 hours! But now my soft close door feature and power door lock on this door in question now does not work. I think I hooked up the locking latch wrong? When I pull on the door handle, the lock knob does go up. Again- soft close feature and auto lock mechanism with the key faub now does not work. Your thoughts appreciated.

Did this repair but now my soft close on this door stopped working as the door won't lock. Please help.