[Jelle458]

I have no idea what to look for in terms of replacement parts. Do I need to replace the door handle? A chip in the door?
Does said part need recoding, or can I do a simple swap?

Suddenly it just stopped working to both lock and unlock the car. Driver side works how it always has. Start engine also works without key. Stopped working about 4 days ago, just refuses to do anything.

Does anyone know?

Car is 2005 330i E90 with comfort access as factory option.

It does not have light package.

I was looking into door handles as they might be the culprit, but all I can find are part numbers for door handles with light package. I also see people suspect low batteri, need to check batteri voltage.

Last 7 chassis number is kc23187. From this I found door handle part number 51217207542. Hard to find factory new but I can find used, got a buddy with a paint shop, so could get painted easily. Just want to know if I can do a simple swap, or if door handle needs to be coded to the car. If coding needed I might not be able to repair it at all

[NZE90]

It is pretty common for the handles to fail, but you should probably diagnose it properly before replacing parts. They do not need to be coded. Scan the car for fault codes first, if your lucky it may just be a broken wire.

[Jelle458]

Thank you.

I have an older delphi copy tester. It reports bad eeprom on passenger door, but has done it for 3 years and keyless worked all this time.

For now the only error I have on the delphi is the water thermostat and still that eeprom error.

I'll try to get a door handle and see, lucky me it doesn't need coding, no one I know of can do it, and it has halted a few projects. Need to dig into it myself when I can.

[StradaRedlands]

All other doors lock/unlock fine? If so, probably just the door lock actuator which is a pretty easy fix. Lots of videos and plenty of new and used parts. I swapped in a low mileage used one for $15USD a few years ago, and it's been fine.

[Jelle458]

I found a new handle at schmiedmann in the same color as the car. Hopefully it matches and works, thanks!