Originally Posted by dunedin

Thanks meirion1 for your reply and information - it is very much appreciated. BTW I'm in the UK.


I've included some photos and information to help anyone else, who encounters this problem.


I managed to get the door open using the technique you suggested. It was a bit fiddly at first, but once you get the knack, it is quite straightforward.


I removed the door trim card following the information in the workshop manual from the X350 sticky. I had difficulty removing the bottom nylon fastener (underneath the trim card) and ended up carefully cutting the head off with a sharp wood chisel. I found it easiest to first pull the top corner (nearest the internal door handle) of the door card away from the door. It needs a good firm pull to get started, but once the first couple of fixings are out of their sockets it comes off quite easily. The fixings are quite robust and none of them broke during removal. Once all the trim card fasteners are out of their sockets, there is one electrical connector, which needs disconnecting; and the lock cable needs disengaging from the handle, to fully remove the trim card.


With the door trim card fully removed, it could be seen that the problem was a mechanical one; and the smaller of the two chrome levers (the one that connects to the lock cable) appeared to be out of position.


The door handle assembly is secured to the back of the trim card with two screws and has an electrical connector for the integrated audio tweeter. Once the two screws are removed, and the audio connector disengaged, the door handle assembly (Photo 1) can be completely removed.


Photo 1 shows the door handle assembly and the relative positions of the large and small door handles, as it came off the car. Point A in Photo 1 is where the lock cable nipple gets inserted.


Photo 2 shows the door handle levers from the back, as it came off the car. The part marked A should sit inside the cavity marked B. There was no signs of damage to the mechanism, but I could not readily get part A back into the part B cavity, without some gentle levering with a screwdriver. It was not obvious how the two levers got dislocated.


Photo 3 shows part A correctly re-located within the cavity at the back of the larger of the two handle levers.


After reassembling everything, the door locking system worked perfectly.


Thanks again.