Drivers door won't open from outside

M

Mowflow

Senior member
 Glasgow
When I got my car it felt like the outside door handle on the drivers side had to be pulled awful hard/far out to get the door to open. It's not got any worse but now that we are having some good weather it appears that the sun affects this and the handle won't work at all if the car has been in the sun for any length of time. The door still open from the inside so it's just a case of opening the passenger side and leaning across.

Anyone had the same/similar problem or even got any ideas what it could be. My guess is that some kind of cable has stretched over time and stretches further in the heat rendering it useless until it cools down. Just my theory.
 
Did not suffer this issue myselves, but quite a few blokes on the Dutch forum did. My lucky guess is therefore that your bowden cable for the outer opener (number 7 in the below picture) is no longer properly attached / broken.

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Tom14s made an excellent write up on external door handle removal, you may find useful in resolving this problem:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10075
 
I had the same symptom a couple of months back when the car was in the sun on a very hot day with the roof up - only I couldn't get into the car as neither the drivers nor passenger doors were opening! I had to put the key into the lock and hold it in the 'open' position (I can't remember exactly how long for, or if there was a sequence) but this lowered the roof so I could reach into the cabin and use the internal handle.

It was the one and only time it ever happened, now if I know the car is going to be in the sun with the roof up, I leave the windows open just a fraction just as a preventative measure.
 
Thank you both for the info and the link. I'll take a look at the mechanism over the weekend and i'll just pop out now and open a window just incase.
 
Very odd. Went out to the car just after my last post to crack open a window and all of a sudden the handle works again. It's not like it's got any cooler, if anything the car is hotter as it's not clouded over. Oh well, must fix anyway.
 
You may be lucky, the cable may just need a thorough lubrication at this point. If not attended to, it will eventually stretch, then break. Although it may be something else in need of lube rather than the cable. Lube everything you can while you're at it.
 
Common fault with as stated stretched bowden cable. Usually shows itself on real hot days when direct sun shoots the inside of the door's temp up.

Just replace it.
 
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