s&^%$#%^&!!!!! Locked out!

[tfritz]

no big deal right?...right? ...so the battery died on my not so desireable beater of a bimmer (the real 535), no problem, I just take the key around to the passenger side and pop her in the hole, lift the handle, turn the key...and...and...and... nothing happens!!! Something in the lock mech. must be broken or not working as it should :mad I'm rather frustrated because I don't really want to bust a window...

[ladiesman217]

jumper the thing from underneath?

reason #1 to own a touring... if you have a key, you can always open the hatch mechanically.

[Binjammin]

Can you open the trunk? If not, you can always do the license plate light trick.

[tfritz]

yeah I have thought about finding a little person and opening my trunk and removing the metal plate, then sending them on a mission throught the car to unlock it... but I don't know any little people

[ladiesman217]

can't unlock it from the inside either if it is double locked.

[tfritz]

damnit ladiesman I hadn't thought of that yet!!!

[bman10]

Can you open the trunk? If not, you can always do the license plate light trick.

Whats this?

[mikeday1036]

From my understanding you take out the light and run 12 volts to it to give the car enough juice to unlock. but then wouldnt the lights have to be on? otherwise that circuit isnt connected.

ps- im most likely wrong, thats just my theory

[ladiesman217]

yeah, that was my understanding as well, and the same fallacy I saw with the idea.
worth a shot, before you go under the car to try and hook up to the jump points/starter/alternator etc.

[tfritz]

thanks guys we will see what I do tomorrow (its suppose to be a balmy 18 deg. F and snowing :() fun fun and all around good times

[zubbie]

If I am not mistaken the trunk trick is to open the trunk and run 12 volts to the interior trunk light which will normally be illuminated then the trunk is on. This should provide power to unlock the car.

[Spiller]

Yes, just did this last week. Open the trunk, take out the trunklight, put a little juice (12V) on the connectors and magically the lights 'll come on, and the doors will be able to open :)
Ofcourse, don't jumpstart with the cables still at the light ;)

[ladiesman217]

ahh that makes MUCH more sense.

[5271990]

is she double locked?

[tfritz]

well she is double locked. my uncle came and tried to unlock her (he is a locksmith) and we didnt have too much luck we only spent like ten min though bc its freakin cold out hopefully we will have better luck later when we can spend more time on it. I thought about unlocking the trunk and trying to power it through the trunk light as the circut should be open when the trunk is popped... we will see I suppose

[Critter7r]

Using a stategically-bent hanger you can pull on the hood cable and get the hood to open so you can put cables on the jump points under the hood to get it open. Take you 5 minutes to get in. I've done this at least 20 times.

Straighten out a hanger and fold the end 3 inches back so it forms a narrow "U" channel. Fish it up under the curl at the end of the hood above the driver's side headlight. Push it in about 3 or 4 inches - just enough for the curled back end of the hanger to go past the core support. Put the hanger in sideways initially, then after it clears the core support, turn it 90 degrees so that the opening in the "U" faces downward. Then slowly pull back till you feel the hanger grab and seat at the bottom of the "U" on the hood cable. Then give it a little tug and the hood latch should pop. It hleps to have a second person pulling up on the corner of the hood so that you can kind of see where the hanger is going.

[camaroguy]

LOL, the slimjim thing is very very very difficult on these cars, as with the hanger trick. Especially if its double locked, the mechanism is very well sheilded inside the door.

[Critter7r]

LOL, the slimjim thing is very very very difficult on these cars, as with the hanger trick. Especially if its double locked, the mechanism is very well sheilded inside the door.


This hanger trick is different, though. ( I hadn't finished my thought when it posted, so it took me a few minutes to edit it).

[nuttallacpw]

i did this about a week after buying my e34, simply plug a car battery charger to the interior light in the boot, this will trickle charge the battery on the car, leave for about an hour like i did and then the doors will unlock.

my cars was totally dead locked the only lock that works is the boot lock witch does not deadlock like the doors.

Once you have the doors open then charge the battery propperly. if like myslef you have the 535 getting to that charging point under the bonnet is pratically impossible.

hope this solves ya prob.

[robmpulse]

If I am not mistaken the trunk trick is to open the trunk and run 12 volts to the interior trunk light which will normally be illuminated then the trunk is on. This should provide power to unlock the car.

THIS WORKS. HAVE DONE IT MYSELF

I USED A 9 VOLT BATTERY.

[SSkoda]

yeah I have thought about finding a little person and opening my trunk and removing the metal plate, then sending them on a mission throught the car to unlock it... but I don't know any little people

a couple of years ago (i didnt know anything about bm's back then either) a friend got his 530i double locked. i was 6ft and reasonably broad shoulders, i managed to get in through the centre armrest and open the car from inside.

course once you're in you can pop the hood and work from there!

[PCP JR]

Completely OT, but I have to share it as it is key/lock related and in total contrast to a secure BMW.

An acquaintance in the DC area owns an old Land Rover 88 (the short wheelbase precursor to the Defender 90). He lost his door lock key, so he goes to a locksmith hoping they'll for some reason have a British Leyland Door Key Blank. The locksmith says, sorry, nothing like that in his inventory. The LR owner is getting back in to his truck when the locksmith comes running out and says "Wait, it looks a little bit like this filing cabinet key, can we see if it fits in the lock..." so they try it (and it is uncut at this point) in the door. The door locks and unlocks just fine! So the truck owner takes the key and tries it in the ignition and it starts the truck too! :buttrock The locksmith was laughing so hard, he just gave him the blank key, and a spare for good measure.

Their technology hasn't changed much in 30 years apparently. I took my 93 Defender's door key and tried it in a friend's 95 Defender, and I opened his door. When i'd see his truck parked around town, I'd open his door, pop the hood and pull his coil wire. :D :devillook

Back on E34s; after reading about the trunk light trick, I decided that I'm going to add a fused/hardwired 12V Power Plug to the trunk area so i can just keep a lighter plug/pigtail in the toolbox and plug in to that socket and not worry about connecting clips to the trunk light. I found a nice plug that looks factory at a marine store. Way nicer than the usual $0.99 elcheapo part at NAPA, and it can power stuff too.

[Qsilver7]

So nobody's locks work when you use the emergency unlock procedure that BMW outlined in the owners manual? :dunno

You insert the key in the passenger lock or driver's lock,
lift up & hold the handle while,
turning the key to the emergency unlock position (past the detent and manytimes with some effort...also pumping the handle sometimes helps)

You are lifting the door pin manually instead of electronically...so that's why you have to use some effort...and the passenger door and drivers door turn in DIFFERENT directions to unlock.

Passenger Door
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_366.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Driver's Door
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_150.jpg

[tfritz]

the emergency unlock didn't work at all on my passenger door -I tried for ten minutes on that alone.

I, however, was not aware that it worked on the drivers door also...

Looks like I will give it a shot on the drivers door tomorrow!

[Hellrot530i]

is she double locked?Humor a newbie. What exactly does it mean to be "double-locked?"

[flyeryan]

Humor a newbie. What exactly does it mean to be "double-locked?"

It's when you turn the key all the way to the right (driver's side) and it engages a second locking pin (I think) so that even if someone were to break a window, they couldn't unlock the car without the key.

[camaroguy]

Yea, though it seems like later years instead of a "double lock" it actually just disconnects the physical link between the manual lock and the actual locking mechanism. My locks will actually pull up, they just dont unlock anything.

[Qsilver7]

Humor a newbie. What exactly does it mean to be "double-locked?"
It means that the doors can not be opened from the inside or outside EXCEPT by using the key. Like someone already stated...if someone tried to break into your car...they would have to crawl in & out of the broken window because none of the doors can be opened manually.

This also means that what ever you do...DON'T double lock the car when there are passengers left inside. They won't be able to exit the car unless a window is down that they can crawl out of. Let them push the door lock pins down from inside the car if they want to be secured within the vehicle. Or use the remote fob's top button which only single locks the doors (this doesn't apply to the e34 540i).

The car is double locked when you lock the car with the key (in e34s from 1993-1995 there is no single lock position in the door lock cylinder...your car is double locked everytime you lock it with the key). Or if you have the BMW keyless entry sysem that uses the rectangular remote fob...double locking occurs when you press the middle button AFTER you've "single"locked it by pressing the top button. If you have a 540 with the key which has the integrated lock/unlock button...the car is armed and double locked when you press the lock button.

Again, if you have the 3 button rectangular remote fob...the top button single locks the car, then when you press the middle button, the car double locks (and the red LED on the rear console or dash should illuminate if it is installed)

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/739000-739999/739005_168_full.jpg http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/739000-739999/739005_36_full.jpg