1994 318i door handle woes

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Pelias - 01 Jul 2006 20:15 GMT

Here's the situation...my driver's side doors won't open from the
outside...door handle moves, but does not activate whatever unlatches
the door. However, they can be opened from the inside, even though
that mechanism appears to be getting weak as well. I took off the door
trim and can see the linkage move with the inside door handle, but I
can't tell why the outside door handle doesn't work...any ideas as to
whether this is a mechanical or electrical problem? Door locks seem to
work fine, and the outside handle will actually trip the door latch if
I have the door open and lock the latch in place manually, i.e. it
thinks the door is closed. Any help would be appreciated.

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Andrew Morton - 03 Jul 2006 09:46 GMT

> Here's the situation...my driver's side doors won't open from the
> outside...door handle moves, but does not activate whatever unlatches
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> I have the door open and lock the latch in place manually, i.e. it
> thinks the door is closed. Any help would be appreciated.

I had the same problem in hot weather with my '93 320i. Once I had to
operate the inside and outside handles to open it. It /seems/ to have been
cured by spraying white lithium grease on the pivots for the handle, the
small horizontal plastic guide (well, just blob a bit on with your finger),
and the lock catch. If you're using spray, remember to put something behind
to stop it getting on the glass.

Unless anyone knows a reason not to, while the door trim is off you could
put some of the same grease on the window lifter mechanism.

HTH

Andrew

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