Driver side, soft closing door failing? Repair options?

UnopposedCheeseBurger · 04-16-2021, 05:49 PM

A new problem popped up today. Drove my vehicle for the first time in a couple days. After getting in and closing the door, the locking mechanism in the driver side door made a loud rattling sound when locking. My car has comfort access and soft closing. After researching I found this video with the exact same sound (passenger side door though):

https://vimeo.com/472487264

A few questions for those who have gone through this before:

-What could have caused this to happen? there wasn't anything done to the driver's door that could have prompted this.

-What repair options do I have? Is this something that I could take out of the door and try to repair myself? or am I better off finding a replacement off ebay?

-Anyone happen to have the part number? is the soft closing mechanism different for each door or the same? any coding needed or plug-and-go?

Thanks in advance!

technician117 · 04-19-2021, 06:21 AM

First, your soft close actuator is probably failing. The gears strip out which cause that ratcheting sound.

They are not too hard to change out depending on your skill level. You have to remove the door panel, peel back the vapor barrier and work inside the door. The assembly is located near the door lock/latch. I simply unplugged the power connector for the actuator on my car for now. It doesn't cause any issues - the door just operates as if there was no soft close function.

As for finding the replacement part, you can use a website like Realoem to check part numbers or almost any online BMW parts store- compare part numbers for each door.

UnopposedCheeseBurger · 04-19-2021, 06:15 PM

Thanks for the help. Posting a update to hopefully help someone else in the future:

I was successfully able to disable the soft close mechanism in the driver side door by removing it's fuse.

In my research I came across this thread:
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/s...fuses.1354485/

That lead me to confirm that our F10s do have a dedicated fuse for each doors soft close:
https://fusesdiagram.com/bmw/fuse-bo...5-f10-f11.html

Fuse #11 in the rear corresponds with the driver side door's soft close. After pulling that, the soft close was disabled. Everything else continues to work fine, locks and all. The soft close function still works fine for the other 3 doors.

This is obviously a temporary fix. I will eventually be opening up the door panel to replace the soft close motor.

04-16-2021, 05:49 PM	#1
UnopposedCheeseBurger Private 22 Rep 54 Posts Drives: _ Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: USA iTrader: (0)	Driver side, soft closing door failing? Repair options? A new problem popped up today. Drove my vehicle for the first time in a couple days. After getting in and closing the door, the locking mechanism in the driver side door made a loud rattling sound when locking. My car has comfort access and soft closing. After researching I found this video with the exact same sound (passenger side door though): https://vimeo.com/472487264 A few questions for those who have gone through this before: -What could have caused this to happen? there wasn't anything done to the driver's door that could have prompted this. -What repair options do I have? Is this something that I could take out of the door and try to repair myself? or am I better off finding a replacement off ebay? -Anyone happen to have the part number? is the soft closing mechanism different for each door or the same? any coding needed or plug-and-go? Thanks in advance!
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04-19-2021, 06:21 AM	#2
technician117 Captain 251 Rep 606 Posts Drives: 2000 M5, 2001 M5, 2013 M5 6MT Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Buffalo iTrader: (1) Garage List 1990 BMW M5 [0.00] 2000 BMW M5 [0.00] 2013 BMW M5 [0.00]	First, your soft close actuator is probably failing. The gears strip out which cause that ratcheting sound. They are not too hard to change out depending on your skill level. You have to remove the door panel, peel back the vapor barrier and work inside the door. The assembly is located near the door lock/latch. I simply unplugged the power connector for the actuator on my car for now. It doesn't cause any issues - the door just operates as if there was no soft close function. As for finding the replacement part, you can use a website like Realoem to check part numbers or almost any online BMW parts store- compare part numbers for each door.
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04-19-2021, 06:15 PM	#3
UnopposedCheeseBurger Private 22 Rep 54 Posts Drives: _ Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: USA iTrader: (0)	Thanks for the help. Posting a update to hopefully help someone else in the future: I was successfully able to disable the soft close mechanism in the driver side door by removing it's fuse. In my research I came across this thread: https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/s...fuses.1354485/ That lead me to confirm that our F10s do have a dedicated fuse for each doors soft close: https://fusesdiagram.com/bmw/fuse-bo...5-f10-f11.html Fuse #11 in the rear corresponds with the driver side door's soft close. After pulling that, the soft close was disabled. Everything else continues to work fine, locks and all. The soft close function still works fine for the other 3 doors. This is obviously a temporary fix. I will eventually be opening up the door panel to replace the soft close motor.
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