The standard handles for the fortwo are a dark grey plastic across the Pure, Pulse and Passion lines. However, the Brabus models benefit from from a different design with a highly glossy finish. They are definitely worth the upgrade.

The standard handle is secured by two bolts at either end:

Use a T25 bit to undo the bolts:

The new handles only fit one way round so ensure that they are well positioned before refitting the bolts.

If you have electric wing mirrors, the driver side is slight more complicated due to the position of the switch.

Start by levering out the switch. Be careful not to chew up the plastic frame of the switch module. The switch wiring connector is held by a black retainer shown in the second picture below. You need to carefully lift this up whilst pulling the grey connecter.

Remove the old handle in the same way as before.

Feed the wiring through the new handle and reconnect the switch. If your new handles do not have the base plate for the switch, you can use the one off the old handle. Scroll to the bottom of the guide for more information on how to do this.

Finally, fix the handle back to the door with the two bolts.

To reuse your old switch bracket

The bracket it held to the handle with two T20 screws which need to be removed.

You will notice that there is a locating peg on the underside of the switch bracket that fits in the corresponding hole on the handle.

To fit the bracket to your new handle, you will need to drill a hole 3mm in diameter for the locating peg in the new handle. The dimensions are as follows. Note that the 50mm is from the edge of the chamfer and the 19mm is from the very edge of the handle exactly as shown below:

Locate the switch bracket on the peg and check alignment. Once you are happy, pilot drill the screw holes and reassemble. The handle can now be fitted to the car.