"Stuck Open" Door Handle

[mzairboy]

Delivery on 10/10/18

Have only been driving the car a few days, and have only been using front driver/passenger doors. Yesterday I was giving the family test drives and noticed when I open the rear passenger door from the outside, the handle does not retract back into the door, it stays sprung open. When you shut the car door, it won't latch because the handle is stuck in the open position. If I lightly push on the handle it goes back into position. During delivery it did not act this way, so I didn't notice it.

I opened the door handle several times in case there was gunk in there that needed to be worked free but it still stays stuck open. It is almost as if the spring isn't strong enough to pull it back shut. I'm going to call service tomorrow to see what they recommend. I'd go at it with silicone spray but wanted to check with service first.

In the meantime, has anyone else experienced this issue, and are there any easy fix solutions?

 

[140degreeM3]

Yup. I had that problem with two door handles and they replaced them under the warranty. It is supposedly a known issue for them.

The only downside was that I had to wait several weeks for a callback once the parts came in. They swap out the whole door handle mechanism and they had a limited parts supply at the time.

 

[sir_log_alot]

Had the issue on one handle as well.

 

[fsch]

Didn't know it happened so often with the M3. I actually thought/hoped that since the design was different, it would have been more reliable. On my MS '13, I think I'm at 9 now (either stuck outside and not operating, or not coming out). And another one started to fail. I've been out of warranty for long now so I started repairing them myself (rather than paying Tesla 1000$ each time), thanks to this thread. The failing switches costs ~2$!! Surely people will come with similar DIY solutions for the M3 when some of them get closer to the end of warranty.

 

[mzairboy]

Mobile Service came out today and is fixing the car in my driveway as I type. The technician said this is a known issue, and the handles sometimes stick open if they are out of adjustment. He ended up replacing the door handle entirely. I snapped these pics of the inside of the door while the interior panel was off.

 

[mzairboy]

I should also note that the whole process took about half an hour. The technician said it is really simple. Pop the interior panel off, then remove the power window system as he is seen holding in the previous post. Then the door handle is located within a module that unscrews. You replace the whole door handle module and it is plug and play.