The Final Say: Door Lock Mechanisms

[TheGuy34]

Hey guys, I think I've got enough information to give a final word on the subject. This info applies to coupes only, I did no research on sedans and I have no knowledge of the convertibles. The assemblies have micro-switches in them (marked by white arrows). They are usually the reason behind the window drop feature not working. I believe that the yellow switch is what makes the window drop, then when the black switch is activated, that is what closes the window. The assemblies changed in late '93. They replaced the black plug with a switch in the door striker.

I know most of you guys probably know this, but it was pretty confusing for me to try to figure it all out. So I decided to sum it all up in one place for anyone who doesn't know or is having trouble. If you guys have anything I should correct or add just let me know and I will correct the post.

Thanks,
Brian


P.s. If you are having trouble with your yellow switch, check post 3 or 5 they both contain very good information on the subject.

[TheGuy34]

Sorry, could only put five pictures per post.

[dhangjr]

they changed to the striker in 1995 from what i have read. I hav a 94 and my drivers side is fixed. i just fixed the drop down window. I think what is butched is something with the alarm or central locking. IDK as everything works. But what I do know is the micro switch worked fine inmine and others (very littlw out there) had same issue from what I have seen. The switch is fine. When you press it the window drops release it the window goes up. The little box the switch sits in fails. In mine it was the spring.
http://www.frankies-bmw.com/3series/...icroswitch.php
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...php?p=25911044

[TheGuy34]

Thanks for your post. I've never seen that site before. Anyway, I did not know about the little arm issue. My assemblies are broke, but instead of the yellow being the issue it is the black one. The switch works fine, it is the arm that is broken, but the arm for the black switch is in the mechanism and can't be removed. So I have to replace the whole thing.

[dhangjr]

My switch was fine too. I pluged it in and press button as detailed.
you are talking about this piece that holds the switch?
Damn I can't find the pic I want, but Here tho is this is the piece I think you are talking about.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ictureid=16693

The arm should be fine. Take some pics for me and put em up.
Frankie does not tell you how to fix this when the switch iit self functions as it did for myself as well.

I attempted to lol.

What I did was spray with wd40 and took a wire brush to the tiny spring that pushes on the arm we speak of. soak the spring in wd40 and silicone spray overnight.
(very very emphasis on very meticulously cleaning the spring. I got in between every grove where the spring sits on it self)
after the soaking and cleaning came the bending. I took the two arms on the spring (ahhh I wish I could find all those pics I took for this) and I bent em AWAY from eachouther as to tighten the spring. That did not do, so I used two needle nose plyers and bent the spring pretty good. It seats diffrent now and im sure it will fail again but it now recoils back as it should. I know this is confusing but keep reading it and playing. It took me a few trys to figure it out. as with math, once the function made sense everything else was elementary.

On a ide note. At first i thought my arm was the issue at first too. I noticed that the spring was not recoiling after I manually activated mechanistic. I know that is confusing. so try this.
Put the switch in the "black housing" and assemble it as it should be
push the arm it should "click" when the switch is pressed , but I put money on it when you let go it does not click again.
you remember that when the switch is pressed the window drops..


Mine would work one time and one time only. Meaning that the window would drop but never go up. After i pushed the arm into the switch button with my finger and herd it click it would not recoil back. This is because it is the springs job to remove the switch from the button. The way the door latch works is this. When it is closed the latch is physically in a down position. when you open your door the latch swinge "up" and hits the little arm pushing it into the switch, the window drops (and light turns on if set to)

if your a 92 your switch should be just like mine, and frankies for that matter.

[TheGuy34]

Well I appreciate your walk through, but as stated in my last post, it is not the mechanism for the yellow switch that is broken on mine. It is the brown switch that is broken. This is an arm that is in the assembly and cant be removed. Its kind of hard to see in the picture, but the arrow points to the arm that activates the brown microswitch. This piece is on the bottom side, opposite the yellow switch.

[dhangjr]

haha well that blows. It is hard to see but I brley see it. Find a pulling yard and grab one cheap.

[320IEspec]

dont mean to jack ur thread but I have the european spec e36 and when i lock my doors with the keys from the outside it locks then immedietly unlocks, i then have to do it again and it stays locked, but i cant unlock it from the driver side, i dont know anything about beamers but my first instinct is the tumbler or acutator arm is bad or fell off (for the unlock portion) but whats up with the lock part is that normal to lock then unlock?

[dhangjr]

door lock actuator or zkw moduel? IDK for sure those just pop into my having read about it memory.

[BRISTOW VA]

TheGuy34,
Just like you, I had my passenger door stuck closed last year for about 6 months. My car is a coupe, 92. The door lock mechanism had two switches, yellow and black. For replacement, I could not find one with the two switches, so I get the one with the yellow switch. Meaning, my window will not drop down 1/2" when opening and closing the door. I understand the 93 and newer E36 have the microswitch on the striker.
My question is, did you buy (get) the locking mechanism with the two switch?

[TheGuy34]

I'm still trying to source two for my car. It is proving very hard to find the proper ones seeing as they were only made for two years. (It also doesn't help that half the people I contact on here say they will check then never get back to me) If I cant find a pair in the next month. I am going to go to the junkyard and get the strikers with the microswitch and install them. Then run the wire into the door and attach it to where the black microswitch plugs in. I am really hesitant to do it though, and would love to keep it stock, but I've had the car for a year and would like to finally not be afraid of breaking my window every time I shut the door.

[dhangjr]

You may be able to push the window down every time you open the door. Mine acts up (still not dropping enough every time) It pushes down just slightly. Read someone else doing that.

[BRISTOW VA]

TheGuy34,
I hear you. Good luck with it. Let us know how it works out.

[Papichulo503]

Good afternoon everyone. So, I have Aa 2002 330i bmw. There’s Only two places to unlock the door which is the driver side in to unlock the trunk now my fob for the key does not work in the mechanism for the lock broke due to too much usage I believe. How do I get in my vehicle if the lock mechanism is broken for the driver side? The key fob does not work the battery is full I do have access to the truck because I can open my trunk. I don’t want to call a locksmith and spend over $100 on it does anyone know how to get into the vehicle through the trunk somehow?

[Mless5]

Good afternoon everyone. So, I have Aa 2002 330i bmw. There’s Only two places to unlock the door which is the driver side in to unlock the trunk now my fob for the key does not work in the mechanism for the lock broke due to too much usage I believe. How do I get in my vehicle if the lock mechanism is broken for the driver side? The key fob does not work the battery is full I do have access to the truck because I can open my trunk. I don’t want to call a locksmith and spend over $100 on it does anyone know how to get into the vehicle through the trunk somehow?

Your car is the next gen known as e46. Open the trunk with the key you have and if you are lucky, you will see levers attached to the underside of the rear shelf that are responsible for rear seat fold down mechanism.