BMW E30 325i - Glove box won't open

[chomowitz]

I have a 1990 BMW E30 325i 4 door sedan. Today I discovered I can't open the glove box. The last time it was open, it took a few hard tries before it latched closed. Today was the first time I went to open it and the latch will not release.

I verified that the latch is NOT LOCKED.

I have removed the 3 nuts holding the rear hinge (under carpet). So far it has not helped me to open the latch.

I read about suggestions to reach in​ with a thin probe to realease the latch, but I cannot figure out how to do that.

If someone has had this problem and found a way to get the glove box open, please share your experience.

Thank you in advance for your help ...

[digger]

fully open the door and bang the end/side of the it with your hand to put some lateral movement into it to pop it loose

[chomowitz]

Digger ... Thank you for the idea. I tried your suggestion (for quite a while), but the latch did not pop loose. There is no motion at the latch ... It is VERY stuck closed.

[82eye]

have you tried locking and unlocking it?
we had to drill one open and replace the lock, catch, and handle after. once the latch freezes you're pretty much going to bust it to get it open.

[chomowitz]

82eye ... Thanks for the inputs.

YES, I did try locking and unlocking it, but it did not help.

I agree that I will likely have to remove the existing latch assembly somehow. I would prefer to preserve the lock. I have ordered the latch assembly repair kit.

What is the best way to take out the existing latch assembly without damaging the lock cylinder?

[82eye]

82eye ... Thanks for the inputs.

YES, I did try locking and unlocking it, but it did not help.

I agree that I will likely have to remove the existing latch assembly somehow. I would prefer to preserve the lock. I have ordered the latch assembly repair kit.

What is the best way to take out the existing latch assembly without damaging the lock cylinder?

sometimes you can access the screws on the back of the latch to remove it after dropping the back of the glove box from the firewall. there are nuts under the carpet. it might work. in every thread i've seen so far the glove box gets broken 100% of the time this occurs.

it's best to break the latch if you have to.

[chomowitz]

82eye ... As I continued to fiddle with it today, the front portion of the latch came off on its own as a hinge pin apparently broke off its mount in the front latch. With the rear portion of the latch now exposed, I managed to break the lever that held one side locked. After that I managed to release the other side and the glove box opened. The latch assembly is now unusable, but I was able to preserve the lock bolt.

I have a replacement latch assembly on order that I can install the old lock bolt in. After I receive it and install everything, I will post an update to this thread.

Thank you for all the suggestions ...

[LongTallTexan]

82eye ... As I continued to fiddle with it today, the front portion of the latch came off on its own as a hinge pin apparently broke off its mount in the front latch. ..

My son came home and I was like, "what happened to your glove box latch?

One side was sticking out.

I fiddled with it and got it off so I could manually move the latch lever to get the door open. One of the handle's hinge pins was off.

I think we will also need a new assembly.

Good luck.

[chomowitz]

UPDATE ... I received my new Latch Assembly. I installed my Original Lock Bolt into the new Latch though the assembly came with a new bolt and the inserts to setup the lock for my key.

After I reassembled everything with the new Latch, the Glove Box needs quite a bit of force (bordering on slamming) to get it to stay shut. I fiddled with the mounting at the rear hinge to try and center the Latch into the receiving hole which helped a little, but it still requires force to shut. A few times the new latch needed a forceful pull to open the glove box ... I was fearful that the new latch would freeze shut like the original did, but with more force lifting the handle and some pulling, it opened.

IS there an alignment process that can reduce the need for "Slamming"? Though it's good to be able to open the glove box, I'm not happy that the closing needs to be forceful. This Youtube video shows a replaced latch closing with no forceful pressure. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6s23jgFHI0&t=0s ). How can I get to that? PLEASE HEKP IF YOU CAN ...

[82eye]

pretty sure is mostly adjusted by the nuts at the back on the firewall. it's a massive pain on mine as well.

edit: i took everything apart to get at the ecu and it's been pissy since.

[chomowitz]

FINAL UPDATE ... Well I fiddled with the positioning of the glove box on the 3 rear hinge nuts and the glove box now closes without having to "hard slam" it shut. As ststed it is a "massive pain" to fine tune the alignment. For now I'm done repairing the glove box latch. Thanks for all the help ...