E46 driver's door swap question

[RustD0ntSle3p]

Hi guys, first post here.

So my project E46T (MY 2000) came into my ownership with a moderately damaged driver's side door. Don't have a pic at the moment, but picture the standard "turned left too hard and made contact with pole" scenario. So the door is both indented as well as scraped, deeper than just paint. In addition, the "ratcheting" mechanism that gives you the varying levels of stoppable travel (IE door stays open at certain distance pushed out) is broken.

My thought is to try and find a full replacement door. If I find a donor in the same color off a car that is from the facelifted later model years, that should not mean the basic design/operations of the door itself are any different, right? IE minus trim pieces, door cards, etc, the internals and design of the important parts (window regulator mounting points, door hinges/latches, etc) should be the same, meaning I can just bolt it on. Right?

I imagine BMW did not change the overall design of the door at all during E46 production, but I can't say.

This is for non-M cars, of course, though the plan for this car long term is an S54 drivetrain swap, so it's kind of M3-related...

[bigjae46]

The doors should be universal across the E46 MYs

[RustD0ntSle3p]

Figured as much, thanks for the confirmation.

The door handles are oddly different- I keep forgetting that the facelifted model years require you to lift up while pulling inwards, not just pull straight inwards. Might be kind of odd to mix the door handle types, so I guess I should stick to a same-style door or swap handles.