outer door handle gaskets E34, E32, E36, Z3 - NEW

[shogun]

Feedback info for E36 owners from a 1998 E36 328iC Cabriolet owner,

I did mine yesterday. Look through the hole and find the small sheet metal piece in there. Put the paint can opener at the top and just off the edge of this. Push towards the outside of the door and forward. Move down a little each time and try again. You will hit it. It isn't visible in my 328ic. Took me 31 days for the drivers side and 3 minutes for the passenger side. When mine released you could see the outside panel release from the door.

lightflyer1 Location: Austin, Texas E36 328iC 1998

Marty:I own a 328i coupe and recently changed the rubber trim. What a mission. There is a slider behind a gasket, but it is very difficult to find and move. If you lift the rubber seal on the top edge of the door (where the window meets the sill just above the latch) you will find a very small gasket (see picture). If you look inside this gasket you will see a lever that moves down when you lift the door handle (a curved grey dull colour).
The slider is directly behind this (a few millimetres towards the front) against the outside panel. The slider itself has gold/yellow appearance and is in the shape of an "L" with the bottom of the "L" sticking out from the panel. You can just see the tip of slider. Use a flexible LED torch that you can poke it into the gasket and light up the area. It’s hopeless shining an ordinary torch into the gasket and trying to find it. You can’t look in and shine the torch at the same time. The best way to slide it forward (towards the front of the car) is to use an Allen key. The Allen key allows you to get in behind the handle lever. If you can imagine the slider being an “L” shape and the Allen key being an “L” shape, then the idea is to push the bottom of the Allen key (tip of the “L”) against the tip of the “L” of the slider. Be careful as the locking mechanism is in very close proximity to the slider and you don’t want to damage it.

I my case the slider was difficult to move. But a few taps on the Allen key with the handle of a rubber grip screwdriver did the trick. Once you get the trim off and replace the rubber use the Allen key as a hook to pull the slider back.
The best thing you can do is to find/make and LED flexible torch that will poke through the gasket. Once you do this and get a glimpse of the slider you will see how it all works. There is no need to pull the door apart.I hope this helps you guys. It’s difficult to explain and even more difficult to photograph (even though I tried).
The Slider tip is just in front of the door handle lever (see the pic for details). It’s between a small piece of painted sheet metal on the inside of the outer panel (just visible through the gasket) and the door handle lever.
Hope these pictures explain things a bit better. Marty New Zealand 328i E36