I’m reading this Lewis and Clark book, and it occurs to me last night that I’ve been on my own expedition. A one-man Corps of Discovery. My monthlong odyssey of the broken car door.

Here’s what happened: The door would lock sometimes, and sometimes it wouldn’t. Not a huge deal, but it nagged at me. “Gnawed” might be a better word. So in the spirit of Westward Expansion and exploration, I took the entire door apart and tried to figure out the problem and fix it myself. This was in early April.

Now, more than a month later, the project is complete. The door is fixed.

I now leave my notes and thoughts to any others who might embark on this same journey in the hopes that my setbacks and frustrations might be avoided.

Dear reader, before you take the door off your 1997 BMW 328ic E-36 3-series vehicle, please read ahead.
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