Turned the ignition cylinder with no lock and cant return it to off position??

[csmc1013]

Now, before you all jump on the band wagon to say "oh yes, he broke something else", the one in the car works fine without a key cylinder. Maybe that one is broke? Either way, this new one one is locked. I tried pushing the shifter cable latch that that did not help. I am thinking this is a BMW antitheft thing maybe? Man, I hope not, but, I dont understand as the one in the car works like said with ye old screwdriver, as other have posted it works. Hmmmm, what am I missing?

[DrinkCoffee]

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking? Did you put a new ignition tumbler in, and now it is locked in place?

[csmc1013]

No, I took the key cylinder out. I also took the ignition switch off. I wanted to see how hard it was to turn with nothing on it. Apparently I went past what they keyed cylinder will go\turn (looking in there now and matching the lock cylinder nipple to the slot).

[DrinkCoffee]

Was there an issue with the ignition that caused you to pull the switch?

So you're saying that you turned the ignition switch past the start position? I don't think that this is possible on a working switch. There should be resistance in the start position and audible clicks when turning from/to off/accessory/run.

[csmc1013]

original lock on car basically started locking up. I killed it trying to fix it. Bought another and wanted to inspect it to try to avoid the original issue. In doing so, I removed the new tumbler and ignition switch, for less resistance and to see how it works. It did go a click past the start position and now it is locked locked. The one in my car did this once or twice but I was able to jiggle a little and get it to go back to normal mode.

[white96850turbo]

So... You removed the electrical part of the ignition switch, took the key cylinder out, and turned the metal rod that is was between those two? That rod has humps on it that make contact with the pin that locks the steering wheel.... It's possible that you've turned that rod to a point where it's jammed or locked the wheel with the rod out of place. Unless you can get that rod out or the rod turned back, your screwed.

Is the steering wheel locked?

[DrinkCoffee]

So... You removed the electrical part of the ignition switch, took the key cylinder out, and turned the metal rod that is was between those two? That rod has humps on it that make contact with the pin that locks the steering wheel.... It's possible that you've turned that rod to a point where it's jammed or locked the wheel with the rod out of place. Unless you can get that rod out or the rod turned back, your screwed.

Is the steering wheel locked?


That's bad information, actually. If the steering wheel is locked then you can simply drill a small hole and pull out a spring. This is how people make kill switches without locking the steering on E36's.

If you turned the actual ignition switch past start, then you may have broken it. Please clarify if you have turned the key 'too far' or the actual switch 'too far' with a screwdriver, etc. Can you still take the switch off of the back of the housing and turn it with the barrel or screwdriver? Or is the switch the part that is turned too far?

[csmc1013]

Unit is in my hand, but, I think the latter is the case, tho, not screwed but thrown back into experimental stage and a hacksaw as my companion. :mad

[DrinkCoffee]

Unit is in my hand, but, I think the latter is the case, tho, not screwed but thrown back into experimental stace and a hacksaw as my companion. :mad

Put the hacksaw down before you do unnecessary damage.

You say the 'unit is in your hand.' Do you mean the entire lock housing is out of the car and in your hand? Don't worry, you're not screwed....

[csmc1013]

That's bad information, actually. If the steering wheel is locked then you can simply drill a small hole and pull out a spring. This is how people make kill switches without locking the steering on E36's.

If you turned the actual ignition switch past start, then you may have broken it. Please clarify if you have turned the key 'too far' or the actual switch 'too far' with a screwdriver, etc. Can you still take the switch off of the back of the housing and turn it with the barrel or screwdriver? Or is the switch the part that is turned too far?

Sure.

Housing is in my hand.

Key and tumbler are out of the housing.

electrical ignition switch is off the housing.

inserted scerw driver and turned back and forth the inside guts of the housing, where the tumbler goes, but, is not there at the moment.

Thought I may not be turning far enough and went farther (clockwise) and then heard "click" and it was locked at the farthest point in the turn, past start position.


Sorry, trying to type and take calls at the same time.

[white96850turbo]

[QUOTE=DrinkCoffee;21737637]That's bad information, actually..... QUOTE]

Not sure I see how I gave bad information... I mean, if he what's his steering wheel to lock still, he can't get the wheel to unlock or rod to turn, he's screwed.... He could also just pull on the wheel hard and brake that pin / wheel lock.

[csmc1013]

Every bit of info helps, thanks.

[white96850turbo]

Sure.

Housing is in my hand.

Key and tumbler are out of the housing.

electrical ignition switch is off the housing.

inserted scerw driver and turned back and forth the inside guts of the housing, where the tumbler goes, but, is not there at the moment.

Thought I may not be turning far enough and went farther (clockwise) and then heard "click" and it was locked at the farthest point in the turn, past start position.


Sorry, trying to type and take calls at the same time.

Sounds like you just locked the wheel. The housing is out of the car? Try pushing in while turning back

[billyfiction]

Have you heard of the site www.realoem.com ? This gives you exploded views of everything BMW.

For the ignition

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CA63&mospid=47490&btnr=32_0909&hg=32&fg=30

[DrinkCoffee]

[QUOTE=DrinkCoffee;21737637]That's bad information, actually..... QUOTE]

Not sure I see how I gave bad information... I mean, if he what's his steering wheel to lock still, he can't get the wheel to unlock or rod to turn, he's screwed.... He could also just pull on the wheel hard and brake that pin / wheel lock.

Because he's not really screwed, unlocking the steering housing with a drill is about a 3 minute procedure. If he wants his steering wheel to lock still, it's probably just a matter of patience (getting the spring and pin back in behind the cylinder). I didn't mean to insult you, just to let him know not to do anything drastic, like destroy parts yet; sorry.

I'm guessing that you actually pulled the cylinder behind the tumbler back a little bit. There's a spring-loaded pin that will come out when you pull the cylinder out of the housing. I'm unsure if it's possible to get the piece back in; it looked so difficult that I went the route of disabling the steering lock. I can try to take some pictures so we can get better communication going :thumbup:

[white96850turbo]

[quote=white96850turbo;21737712]

Because he's not really screwed, unlocking the steering housing with a drill is about a 3 minute procedure. If he wants his steering wheel to lock still, it's probably just a matter of patience (getting the spring and pin back in behind the cylinder). I didn't mean to insult you, just to let him know not to do anything drastic, like destroy parts yet; sorry.

I'm guessing that you actually pulled the cylinder behind the tumbler back a little bit. There's a spring-loaded pin that will come out when you pull the cylinder out of the housing. I'm unsure if it's possible to get the piece back in; it looked so difficult that I went the route of disabling the steering lock. I can try to take some pictures so we can get better communication going :thumbup:

I wonder if we are all talking about the same parts... hahaha. When I pulled the key cylinder and ignition switch in my car there wasn't any spring or pin comming out... I know BMW made like 3 or 4 diffrent ignition housings (a.k.a. steering lock) and they changed it in mid 1998, so maybe its diffrent for my car?? idk

[DrinkCoffee]

There should be a spring and pin (only a few mm long) inserted into the bottom hole seen in the housing in this picture:
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5269/0407011203a.jpg

The pin is pressed by the barrel when rotated, effectively pressing it downwards and unlocking the steering. This pin should be inserted, with the spring behind it, (and possibly held there somehow?) and then the switch actuator should be inserted afterwards, holding it in place.

This will re-enable your working steering housing (lock).

Edit: I didn't realize the year of your car (lol). The locks were indeed changed in 94 (pretty sure 94) to incorporate a satellite ring, which is another crappy anti-theft device. I'm not sure what other changes were made, but it is possible that the actually steering lock design was changed. In our 1993 steering housings, the switch actuator simply pushed the lock downwards when pressed in by the tumbler (in run position), which unlocked the steering. When the tumbler isn't in run, the actuator is not pressed in by the tumbler, and the spring loaded pin pops out, which locks the steering lock upwards (locked position) in the housing. Sorry if that's a little confusing; I'm not the best technical writer.

[white96850turbo]

^^^ Yep... that's diffrent then my steering lock (and I didn't have any springs or pins come loose when I remove the guts of my housing). I would give more advice, but with diffrent housings I would be guessing what's the same and what's diffrent. Good luck

[DrinkCoffee]

Yeah I wasn't trying to criticize you, I simply didn't check the production year diffences (lol). By the way, the reason for my screwdriver in there is actually to hold the steering lock mechanism up, because I had removed the spring to disable mine, so it always sits flaccid and unlocked.

I did a terrible job finding the spring, but it doesn't matter since there is so much free space in the bottom of the housing.
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4400/0407011204.jpg

The hole on the left is where I found the spring. If you do decide to drill, it's really as simple as drilling in that same spot, seeing the spring, and pulling it out with pliers/lockpick tools.

[csmc1013]

okay, see #2? Thats what I have in my hand. See all the parts that are seperated? Thats all the parts that are/is NOT on #2

Whats inside of #2 causing it to stay locked?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/n/s/6.png

[white96850turbo]

Yeah I wasn't trying to criticize you...

No worries, budddy.

[csmc1013]

Where did drink coffee go, lol???

[DrinkCoffee]

Hey sorry, I had to go to class and forgot to post after wards.

That's what I was trying to explain in post 17. Inside the ignition hole, you can see a latch towards the back with a hole in the bottom. There should be a spring-loaded pin inside of it. I'm not sure about how to hold the pin back in place when you're inserting the actuator of the lock, though. I imagine you might be able to figure out if it is possible or not.

If you are unable to reinstall the spring & pin: To delete the steering lock, you simply have to remove the spring that is forcing the lock up into the housing cylinder. This is done by drilling a hole, then pulling the spring out with pliers. It only takes a few minutes.

[DrinkCoffee]

The mechanism that is causing it to stay locked is simply the spring pushing it upwards, btw. If you reach a finger in, you can unlock the steering momentarily; it will remain unlocked as long as it is held down (against the spring). You can gain a pretty good understanding of how it works by doing this a few times.

[csmc1013]

Na, that wasnt it, the pin got dislodged. One i beat the hell out of it it fell out. All is fine now, thanks, your pics and such helped out, i appreciate it.