I have a 2004 Mini. I replaced the passenger side door actuator two years ago with a new actuator. When I replaced it, I may have messed up the cable that connects to the door handle. I did not replace the cable at the time I replaced the actuator. Generally, since that time I have to use the toggle switch in the middle panel to get the passenger door to unlock in order to get the door open. Or I would have to pull the handle and grab the door stem to pull it up enough to be able to open the door. Recently the toggle switch was not locking or unlocking the door. Sometimes I could get a rubber mallet and bang the door right above the speaker. Sometimes that would get things going again and I could lock and unlock the door. A few days ago I couldn't get the door open. I couldn't pull the handle and pull the door stem high enough to get the door to unlock. Today I crawled into the car from the driver's side, banged the door with a rubber mallet above the speaker and simultaneously pressed the toggle switch and the door unlocked and I was able to unlock the door.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do. Since the actuator is new (two years old) I don't think that's the issue. It's not located above the speaker anyway where I've been having to hit. Should I replace the cable first and see if that fixes the problem? Or does the window motor also send the lock and unlock signal and should I replace that? I haven't checked to see if the window is working when the car won't lock or unlock the door.