Door Lock Removal Without Cutting Hole in Door???

[Lemon98]

Good morning,

My drivers door lock has become incredibly stiff and is difficult to impossible to unlock, even from the boot or passenger side so I have ordered and received a rebuild kit for the drivers door.

Having looked through the guide on the wiki here the door used has a large hole around the lock mechanism which my door doesn't have...

Is it at all possible to do this job without cutting away the inner door skin??

[BenHar]

Does this help: http://www.billswebspace.com/BMWE30Door ... ebuild.htm ?

Ben

[Grepot]

Just moved this from the other thread, apologies if it's late.

How did you manage to remove the lock from the door to rebuild it?? I've bought myself a kit from BMW but don't have the hole in my door and when trying to remove what I thought was the horsehoe clip I managed to break a plastic clip ahhaha.

& Yes I have read the page on the wiki for this and my manuals but still no dice. Am going to resort to the angle grinder to make a hole to access the lock mechanism tomorrow.

Might be a bit late but you can access the door lock using the holes already in the door. I think cabs have a different door cutout which makes the job really easy and it's more of a ballache on sedans/tourings.

Removing the winder might be an idea since you need arm access to refit the metal bracket when you replace the new lock. Getting it out is easier than getting it in. I managed without removing it since my arms can reach through the door as is.

If you place a flathead through one of the circular holes in the door (I think tourings and sedans have the same door cutouts) you can angle it just right to hook the end of the clip and lever it out. I'll post some pics up if it helps.

[Brianmoooore]

Wedge the glass in place with tape across the top of the door and/or a wooden wedge between glass and the outer skin, remove the winder mech., and the bottom part of the glass guide. All very easy when you know how!