Bobby pin measurements for removing ignition tumbler on an E36

[xxxxxxx]

Recently had to remove my tumbler. It was difficult to turn they key, and I was afraid the barrel might break sometime causing much irritation. As such, I took everything apart, filed down the mould flashing (which was pretty bad), polished the surfaces and greased everything.

But to the point of this post, it was kind of a pain in the neck getting the tumbler out. I used a few different pins and fiddled around for probably 45 min.

To save you some trouble, here are the details for what finally worked:

- Bobby pin 1.5mm x .65mm
- 3.3mm from end, bend up slightly
- Turn key to position 1, or just enough that the pin can enter the hole
- Insert the bobby pin to a depth of 20.7mm
- Gently rotate bobby pin in a clockwise direction while pushing tumbler gently towards steering column

It should then pop out.

Good luck!

IMG_3775.jpg

[Manolito]

Thanks for the tip, and I am impressed. As a veteran of two e36s that I drove for many years, my experience is that it is impossible for me to remove an old tumbler from an old housing. I had to remove the housing on both cars and replace it. I tried removing the new tumblers from the new housings just to see if I was doing it correctly. That was a piece of cake.

[scooper]

Thanks for posting OP!

[Fluids]

In the process of tackling this issue currently, sourced from recent search. Otherwise I'll have to continue the drill out / hacksaw method lol.