Stuck Rear Doors

[mayhem100]

1980 733i, recently purchased as a project. Neither rear door operated when I bought it, the seller suggested it was lack of use, could be, I dunno. I'm waiting on my fuel pumps and some fuel line so figured I'd try to tackle this bit and see if I can get the doors operating properly.

The driver's side I think the mechanism is possibly broken, the handles move too easily, the passenger side seems more like its possibly seized up than broken. The door is open partway...you know how they have two latch positions and sometimes it doesn't close all the way, thats where its at now and how it was when I bought it. I've tried applying brute force with my shoulder and its no good, the inner door handle doesn't want to move more than a half inch or so. I've shot a bunch of liquid wrench inside the door jamb in the hopes that enough might hit the latch to free it up, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I was thinking if I could get the door panel off I might be able to work the latch from the inside and at least get the door open, so far I've gotten all but 1 screw out of the armrest, the last one doesn't want to come out more than a couple turns, I'm fairly sure the threads are likely rusty so I squirted a bunch of penetrant into the hole and I'll let it sit. Problem is, I'm not sure I can get the panel off with the door shut, even after I get the armrest off. I believe there are a few screws around the perimeter of the door and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get at them with it shut.

Any thoughts? Is there any point in trying to wind the window down with an allen wrench (assuming the motor isn't rusted solid of course) and go in through the window opening? Is there something I can hook with a coat hanger maybe? The door lock plungers don't move very much, another sign that I think I'm dealing with rusted mechanisms.

If I have to break the door panel, are they still plentiful and relatively easy to find? They have leather on them, I'm not sure if all the early E23s do or not and I'm not sure if it'll just come off and transfer to another door panel.

Soooo...anybody got some fairy dust ideas here or am I pretty screwed and something's gonna get busted up?

[mayhem100]

Also, how do I know what my interior color is? I have what I would call tan leather, but I don't know if there were 4 shades of tan or what in 1980. Attached are a couple photos showing seats and a door panel.
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52938742_10218097873626456_2474967744609517568_n.jpg

[m735is]

I have the same issue. My 85 rear doors haven't opened in years- not driving it.

When I was driving it and ran into problems with the door lock not coming up, I seem to remember having to get at a rod that sat in a spring housing. It was rusted so that the rod wouldn't go up or down. At that time I was able to get the door open sometimes, so I was able to remove the door panel to see what I was working with. The panels are back on, so I may have to destroy mine, slightly. Those perimeter screws are tiny, so pulling through SHOULDN'T do much damage.

I actually have to search for pics of the door guts to see what I can do because I have to get those working again! I'm not putting too much force on the handle because I broke it once and don't have another replacement. They're not fun to swap out.

[Erik Dlux]

My guess is that youre going to have to pop the panel off somehow to get to the lock?

I just went thru this yesterday on mine. My problem was that a spring popped off on the mechanism and that did not allow the gate to go from lock to unlock. All I had to do is push it with my hand and it would open. I replaced the spring and all was good.