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Thread: Rear Door Panel and Frozen Latch Cable Repair

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Amsterdam, NY
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    97 528i 87 528e 65/74MG

    Rear Door Panel and Frozen Latch Cable Repair

    JAMES here is the DIY I keep forgeting to make.



    This procedure will help you in removing the rear door panels and in repairing the rear bowden cables when they have become frozen.

    Let me know if you have any questions.

    Open the rear door



    Then locate the screw cover behind the latch



    And remove the cover with a small screwdriver or trim tool,


    Remove the screw, then working from the bottom with your fingers bigin to pop the panel off of the door, at the top you need to pop it loose then lift it off of the lock pin, the door handle twists and pushes through its hole in the panel, if you've removed it correctly you should see...


    Now you want to pull back the moisture barrier, take your time its stuck to the door and its better if you dont tear it.


    and here it is pulled back,


    Now look into the hole towards the rear of the door and you should see something that looks like this....


    Now I have seen the cable pop all the way loose like shown in the last photo and i have found them with the cleat at the end of the cable still attached to the lever, but they normally will open the door that way, just with a longer pull on the door handle.

    To repair you first need to replace the cable into the silver lever, the barrel shapped portion in the end slides into the hole in the center of the lever and then the cable slides into the slot, once it is seated then you need to return the cable sheath to the small rounded slot just above the lever( this can be a little tricky sometimes but take your time and it will go in)

    I have lubed my cables up heavily with silicone grease and this helped keep the problem from re-occuring but based on information from the dealer I will be installing a rubber shield to shed water away from the cables before the winter.

    If the problem was icing then this is the source of the trouble, the seal pulls away from the latch body and allows water to run onto the cable and then freeze it so that it pops out of the slot upon opening, then the next time you try to open the door it doesn't work.


    If you find the cables fully attached and seated then you may have an issue with the actuators for the locking system, however those seem to disable the door completely as I recall, there is a DIY on that posted someplace.
    >'97 528i, 200000 miles, Hella Xenons, 17" Stilauto wheels, Vogtland Drop Springs, Dynomax Race Muffler, Homelink, 540 brake upgrade, 15mm spacers >'65 & '74 MG Midgets BFC OT Lego Club #48 Manual conversion in process!!!



  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Placentia, CA USA
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    3
    My Cars
    1998 BMW 528i and a 2001
    Do your instructions apply to the front door too? My interior pull snapped yesterday.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Amsterdam, NY
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    97 528i 87 528e 65/74MG
    Quote Originally Posted by Surfrags View Post
    Do your instructions apply to the front door too? My interior pull snapped yesterday.
    there are many similarities but I have not torn into mine yet to document them. this should be a good guide to help you figure them out though.
    >'97 528i, 200000 miles, Hella Xenons, 17" Stilauto wheels, Vogtland Drop Springs, Dynomax Race Muffler, Homelink, 540 brake upgrade, 15mm spacers >'65 & '74 MG Midgets BFC OT Lego Club #48 Manual conversion in process!!!



  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    West Michigan
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    98 540iA (Prd 11/97)
    Nice job, Jason.
    Thank you for your effort and this DIY! I'll leave it in the main E39 section for a couple of days to garner responses, feedback or questions.
    Last edited by jamesdc4; 08-29-2010 at 09:20 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    san antonio, texas
    Posts
    19
    My Cars
    1997,BMW,528i
    Thanks Jason...your post will help me remove the door panel,my rear left window keeps sliding down after driving afew miles.I plan to remove the panel and check the window regulator.Thanks again

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Amsterdam, NY
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    James this can go into the DIY now if you want, its been a few days....
    >'97 528i, 200000 miles, Hella Xenons, 17" Stilauto wheels, Vogtland Drop Springs, Dynomax Race Muffler, Homelink, 540 brake upgrade, 15mm spacers >'65 & '74 MG Midgets BFC OT Lego Club #48 Manual conversion in process!!!



  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    West Michigan
    Posts
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    98 540iA (Prd 11/97)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    United States
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    343
    My Cars
    2004 545i
    Thank you so much I will give this a go this week.

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