[Pilot1981]

dealer suggested me to change both open mechanism...

[El Cheapo Loco]

Originally Posted by Pilot1981

dealer suggested me to change both open mechanism...

You don't need to change both at the same time but you should buy the kit that comes with actuators for both doors. The kit costs about the same as one actuator.

[Pilot1981]

in europe dealer, it cost 46 euros

[azzurribaggio]

So a shop quoted me $400 to repair this (if the actuator really is the problem), does this seem excessive?
I don't have time to do the repair myself but don't want to overpay for this repair also

[3.1L Z]

That's an ok price. Think the unit is about a hundred bucks. Takes them a couple of hours.

[azzurribaggio]

Sheeeeeeeeit, well alright then... I'll schedule that... will waiting too long fuk up other things or make the matter worse? Remember reading something like that somewhere

[3.1L Z]

Well u can do it if u have 5 hours. U tube video torx sockets and Allen wrenches.

[tadaska]

Do you guys find that with the new actuator the door closes easier? My 320D is 10 years old if I gently push the door to it doesn't close. When I move the latches that hold the pin in place with my fingers they feel rather stiff. I had the drivers door actuator out and took it apart and then sprayed lots of WD-40 and some silicon lubricant. It made those latches move smoother but not as smooth as I'd like. Still, the door now does close a bit easier. What are the new actuators like?

[JLa2r]

Originally Posted by rshew

I replaced my front passenger actuator today. The main write up for this post was great help.

You do not need to remove the exterior door handle when replacing the front passenger door actuator.

I left the window fully closed and removed the lower 10mm nut from the vertical bar that guides the window up and down. With the lower bolt removed and the upper bolt loosened, I was able to swing the vertical guide bar to the side to remove the actuator.

The hardest part was removing the 2 plugs that hold a wire against the actuator.

I did this today as well. My experience was identical to above with the Passenger Front door actuator. I was glad that I didn't need to deal with the window, leaving it up 100% was fine. Just loosened the guide bolts to make room for the actuator to come out and back in. Removing it was 10x harder than installing it, for whatever reason. Excellent write-up, thanks very much OP.

[tomchang75]

I just replaced mine this week on front passenger side door actuator. You do not need to remove windows. You only need to unscrew the bottom screw of the window regulator which will loosen the regulator metal bar. This will give you enough clearance to pull the old acutator out. PM me if you have more questions.

[ATLIEN]

I changed my drivers side actuator. These instructions were great. I have large hands and the job took me about 4hrs. Removing the actuator was a challenge for me but putting it back in was a snap. The door has a noticeable quieter and more luxurious close to it now.

[jfertig]

this saved me a bunch of time and $$$. thx! 2 comments: i agree that it's easier to disconnect the cable to the outside door from the inside. very easy to feel it. You don't need to mess with the outside of the door at all. however, I could not get the old one out without moving the regulator. Once i gave up on trying to AVOID moving the regulator, if went quickly. my hards were too big to get behind the glass, so for disconnecting the regulator hook from the glass, i recommend pushing on the plastic through the hole from the front side with a tool while lifting the glass with the other hand. be careful, though. i've had several people warn me that you do NOT want the tool to slip and crack the glass. i was able to get at the front side of that hole with the window almost all the way down, within about 3-4".

[bimspiration09]

I'm going to give this a shot in the next few weeks. Fixed the shift assembly issue, so how hard can this be?

Quick question...did anyone replace just the fuses and get it to work? Or is that just done as a precaution?

[ATLIEN]

Originally Posted by bimspiration09

I'm going to give this a shot in the next few weeks. Fixed the shift assembly issue, so how hard can this be?

Quick question...did anyone replace just the fuses and get it to work? Or is that just done as a precaution?

I went straight to the actuator.

[M3tallicar]

Seems like BMW had a new part number for 2011 LCI E90 M3's, changing from 51217202143 to 51217229455, the problem is the new number is much harder to find and cost twice as much. Going by the pictures it doesn't look different?

Has anyone tried using part 51217202143 in a 2011 LCI E90?

[AZDAVEBROWN]

Just did my pass side. No problems, took right at 1 hour. Got my kit (both drivers and pass side) from MYBMWCARPARTS. P# 51217263086 for $55.69 (for my car). Have found this dealer has much better pricing than anyone else. I have bought several parts over the last few weeks and they always were the best price.

[FranticM3]

Originally Posted by tsiu6

Update with this. I didn't drill it out. I stuck screwdrivers in it and turned the gears, then went and tried to unlock it with the Key and it worked (where as before with the key it had previously failed). After that, the install was a breeze, took 45 minutes and didn't remove the window.

The front actuator on my friends e92 is stuck and also does not have the cams like in the picture. How exactly did you get screw drivers in to rotate the gears? Break through the exterior housing? Thanks!

[Motorsport.Nick]

My rear door drivers door on my E91 is intermittently working. Where are you guys finding the best prices these actuators recently? I've seen the fronts pretty cheap on amazon but nothing for the rear doors...?

2008 E91
98k miles

[rogerdiaz]

Originally Posted by M3tallicar

Seems like BMW had a new part number for 2011 LCI E90 M3's, changing from 51217202143 to 51217229455, the problem is the new number is much harder to find and cost twice as much. Going by the pictures it doesn't look different?

Has anyone tried using part 51217202143 in a 2011 LCI E90?

Any updates?

Do you think it was just a part number change or has the part been redesigned for better functionality? got a 2011 335d.

[Asonchadwick]

I just did this on my 335d front passenger side. Got the parts from fcp euro cost me like $70 for both. Took me about 45 minutes but I went skiw and video everything. All in all super easy job way easier than it looks in video. Anyone need any help message me. I think driver is harder but not sure at this point.

[nerovega]

Just did this job. This write up helped a lot. took me about 1-1/2 hours to complete.

[Verte335i]

2008 335i sedan.

A few days ago, I pressed the central unlocking button and it unlocked all of the doors except mine. The only way I could get the door open was to put the key in the lock and unlock it from the outside.

I checked the fuses and they were fine. I concluded it was the lock actuator.

So I called an independent mechanic in the area and they wanted $444 which included the new door actuator at $255. I also checked with the dealer, they wanted between $600-$700.

At those prices, I figured I’d give it a try myself. I ordered the actuator from Amazon ($45.99). I bought a trim removal kit from Harbor Freight.

I began on Saturday afternoon, rueing having to take the door apart. I didn’t have much trouble getting the door panel off. But I followed one posters advice that you could get the actuator out without removing the support for the window regulator. I struggled for about an hour trying to rotate it out with no success. I managed to release the glass following a video on Youtube and duct taped it to hold it up. Then I moved the brace out of the way and it was easy to get the actuator out.

The outside door handle carrier part was also removed. Though in retrospect, I’m not sure it was necessary and caused me a lot of anguish.

The actuator did not come with any bolts and only one of the holes for the existing bolts was threaded. The one that faces the inside door. The other two holes that are on the side of the door become threaded as you screw the bolts in. It was a little tricky and I needed to use an awl to pull the holes into alignment and compress the seal but that went fine. There was also a plastic part on the old one that wasn’t on the new one. It popped off and I put it on the new one.

The door handle carrier is tricky to reinstall. It fell apart and I didn’t undertand how it worked. I combed forums and videos and finally I saw a suggestion to take it out of the door, put the door handle in and exam how it worked. Good advice. When it fell apart, a spring that was supposed to be under tension released. After studying it, I had to take carrier out, get a pair of pliers, compress the spring and hold it until it could get the pins back in their cradles. Then when you put it back in the door, you have to watch that when you tighten the screw in the slot on the front end of the handle carrier, the back part doesn’t get pulled into the opening. Then feed the LED light in and hook it over the door, slide the lock in and re-tighten the allen bolt from the side of the door. I must have done this at least 10 times so now I can do it pretty fast.

Now the front rubber gasket is slidiing out of position so I need to put something sticky on it to keep it from moving.

I haven’t put the door panel back on yet, but I’m crossing my fingers that the work is almost done and everything will work as intended.

Oh, I took the old actuator apart and a plastic gear had a piece that had broken off. So it would lock, but when trying to unlock, the tab didn’t have anything to grab onto.