Front Passenger Door Won't Fully Open

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paulrlandon

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
Messages
5
A strong wind blew the door out of my son's hand last night and hyper-extended the passenger door. The door now won't fully open. There is not any thing visible broke or out of alignment. I believe the door limiter is hanging up on something inside the door. Does anyone have detailed instructions on how to access this area? I removed the inner door panel (removed 3 screws from behind door latch and door pull area), but can't see how to easily access this area. Any help is much appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Paul
 
I had the same thing exactly happen two days ago with my Drivers side door. Wind blew it out of my hand when opening it and it went all the way fully open with a really LOUD CRACK!. I was sure I had broken it. However, the door seems to operate normally, nothing appears to be out of alignment or damaged.
Never had this happen before but I am still getting used to the I3 so I will be more careful in the future.
 
Fixed it! Only had to remove the inner door panel (thanks YouTube) and cut a small opening in the sound deading foam to access the bent piece of metal that was hanging up the end of the door limiter. I don't know how to insert pictures, but I removed the speaker and felt for where the limiter was hanging up. Turns out there is a formed protrusion of the foam that I cut on 3 sides and folded over to access the assembly. PM me and I'll send pictures if you need. Very straight forward. Took about and hour. Could do again in half the time.
 
paulrlandon said:
Fixed it! Only had to remove the inner door panel (thanks YouTube) and cut a small opening in the sound deading foam to access the bent piece of metal that was hanging up the end of the door limiter.
Were you able to straighten the bent piece of metal? If this piece of metal was part of the door stop, do you think that it will function normally or has it been weakened such that replacing it, if possible, might be required?
 
The piece that needed to be bent back didn't seem to be compromised at all. What appears to have happened is that when the "T" end stop of the limiter hit it's stop with great force, it did so with such force, that it bent the aluminum piece (~3" from the point of contact) in toward the cabin. This wouldn't be a problem, but there is an access window (presumably for access to the window tract) in the metal that the "T" then slides into upon opening the door. This is what prevents the door from opening fully. By gently bending the thin aluminum back, the "T" no longer gets caught in the front part of the access window.
Has this compromised the integrity of the door or door stop? Probably to some extent. Will it cause problems in the future? I doubt it. Is this the recommended repair by BMW? Doubtful. Does it work for me? Yes.
 
alohart said:
This might provide more information or lead you to what you need to know.

Hi, the link appears to have been taken down. Does anyone have any other resources. Wind blew my driver’s side door out and it only opens halfway now. Thanks!
 
I had this same issue, also caused by wind (driver's side). I watched a YouTube video to learn how to get the door panel off and then finding this thread and I was able to fix it in about an hour. Could have been more if I knew exactly what I was looking for, but this definitely helped get me going in the right direction. Thanks guys and sorry I didn't get pics to contribute!
 
Fixed it! Only had to remove the inner door panel (thanks YouTube) and cut a small opening in the sound deading foam to access the bent piece of metal that was hanging up the end of the door limiter. I don't know how to insert pictures, but I removed the speaker and felt for where the limiter was hanging up. Turns out there is a formed protrusion of the foam that I cut on 3 sides and folded over to access the assembly. PM me and I'll send pictures if you need. Very straight forward. Took about and hour. Could do again in half the time.
Hi Paul,
Could you please send me some photos? I’ve got the same problem, and the link that was mentioned in the topic where you posted your helpful description has ‘been removed at the request of BMW AG’, unsurprisingly they don’t want us fixing our own cars. I found a video on removing the door card, but it’s rather poor definition, with sunlight in the background making it too dark to clearly see. My email is [email protected] thanks very much!
 
Hi both, I too have the same issue and can't find working links to a YouTube clip to help guide my repairs - if you could post here or forward any photos or video guidance you know of also to [email protected] I too would be most appreciative!

Cheers in advance, Tim
 
Hi both, I too have the same issue and can't find working links to a YouTube clip to help guide my repairs - if you could post here or forward any photos or video guidance you know of also to [email protected] I too would be most appreciative!

Cheers in advance, Tim
I found this video, not specific about the door retainer but how to get the door card off (and the door skin, maybe the latter not necessary for our problem) I've also emailed it to you.
 
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