I am posting for a friend. Apparently none of the doors will unlock. It used to be that she could unlock the trunk and all other doors would unlock. NOw that stopped too. Any ideas?
Thank you
This is a 1988 BMW 325E
electronic unit situated behind the stereo speaker in the front driver's footwell. ( I am British so it is possible that your unit is behind the passenger footwell - right / left hand drive - you see ) . After a number of years they have a habit of failing and the central locking develops a mind of its own. It is possible to by pass all of the electronic control by just physically disconnecting the electronic system ( until you get around to replacing the control unit - which may be expensive?? ). It is a bit of a pain but you need to remove the door interior trim and unhook the solenoid actuators for each lock. Just un - screw / un - bolt them and un - hook the wire loop that connects them to the lock itself ( don't forget the boot ( ok - trunk! ) and the fuel filler cap - which you can get at from behind the carpet / trim in the boot ( ok - tunk!! ) ). Each lock can now be operated independently using the key. You do not, of course, have central locking or dead locking ( called by BMW - double locking ) but at least you can get in and out of your car!!
I know this because it happened to me. One a number of occasions the doors would lock and unlock repeatedly for no apparent reason. Hpe you can get it fixed.
David Matkin.
I just got finished working on my door locks. The locks all work by mechanical linkage connected directly to the key.
Each lock also has a switch that when activated will operate a motor on each of the other locks to either lock or unlock the lock as is apporpriate. The electrical locking and unlocking is controlled by a central controller, and if the electrical lociking and unlocking is toast, then the problem is most likely in the controller. But, if the electrical locking and unlocking works from some locks but not others, then I'd have to suspect the switch on the offending lock.
I have a '94 convertable -- same operation as the coupe -- and the windows are supposed to drop a bit when the door handle is lifted. My drive side door failed to drop the window unless I operated the latch by hand and allowed it to slam. The switch that controlled this operation was dirty -- not surprising after 12 years -- and needed to be cleaned. The switch itself was okay, but the linkage surrounding it was gooey. I have to think that your switches are gooey in much the same manner, OR the controller has taken a bye.
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