how to: E36 lock actuator replacement

[284Shooter]

Same happened to mine. RMEuropean has OE VDO actuators for $81 shipped. There was an advertiser here (they have pics of front bumpers on the top banner) selling actuators for $45. Not sure of the brand.

[beamster]

Hi all,

I just need some clarification about where the tabs fit into the actuator.

So the two silver ones go into the green slots, what about the two gold ones?

Which of the gold tabs goes in the blue slot and where does the other one go?

For some reason I've made the swap but my door now locks when opened / opens when locked.

What have I done wrong?

Would like to upload images but admin won't allow urls...

Bump

[beamster]

Bump - help needed...

[MauiM3Mania]

You need 15 posts before sharing images. Host the pics elsewhere and post an altered link, such as:

Xttp://www.fixedgeartshirts.com/post/bmw_projects_12.2008/images/IMG_0613.JPG

We'll figure out what you did.

[beamster]

Great thanks very much, i'd like some clarification as to where the pins need to go...

For some reason - whenever I pull up to unlock the door it locks it and vice versa. I think it must have something to do with the pin placement?

I have added the following links...

- Firstly I have numbered the pins from the images before, could you clarify what holes they need to go in?

http://picturepush.com/public/12197270

http://picturepush.com/public/12197276

- I have also taken some photos of what I have done... maybe you can see why my door unlocks when you lock it and vice versa?

http://picturepush.com/public/12197284

http://picturepush.com/public/12197285

http://picturepush.com/public/12197280

http://picturepush.com/public/12197279

Central locking has stopped functioning since I swapped the actuator too... any thoughts?

[CMG]

You put it in qhen lock was in wrong position maybe. Try unplugging actuator and making sure all locks are either open or closed, then plug in again and try

[jrubins]

Just wanted to say thanks to the OP for this thread. Very helpful.
Beamster, your central pin must be on the wrong side of the sliding lock trigger.

[bimmerbobster]

I just finished the rear door lock actuator in my e36 318i and have the following to add.


The 3 torx bolts holding the latch to the door were very tight. I saw a post of someone grabbing them with vice grips, I chose to use my Makita 18v torque wrench and blasted them out in record time. So satisfying.


Also the little plastic screw that holds the plastic "L" shaped bracket that is the pivot for the lock button we pull up and down disintegrated when I tried to loosen it with a phillips head screwdriver. Just the head of this little screw fell apart. It just fills the space down the center of the pivot, not sure how else to explain it, and I simply drilled it out and then used a screw extractor to get it out. The cool thing is that I just took the extracted screw when I was reassembling the door and jammed it in its place and it is working fine.

[pwillikers]

You guys rock. Without this guide I would have totally disassembled my passenger door. With it, 40 minutes start to finish. :-)

My addition to the process:

There's a small square hole in the door panel in which, after you remove the old actuator, you can clearly see the front fixed pin of the bracket that the actuator slides on. I made a mark with a red grease pencil on the side of the new actuator in the same place, front to back, where it fits over the front fixed pin. This enabled me, by looking directly into the square hole, to exactly locate the actuator, front to back, in the correct place on the bracket without actually being able to see the bracket pin or the receiving hole in the bottom of the actuator.

It really helped.

EDIT: The driver's side door actuator died so I got do do it all over again and take pictures .

Slide1.JPG

Slide2.JPG

Slide3.JPG

Slide4.JPG

[BMWManiac]

Thanks for all the info. I think this took me all of 20 min yesterday. I didnt remove anything except for the door panel and the the actuator itself with the connector still on. Took me a little time to reinstall without the connector installed...as someone else mentioned, couldnt get leverage. Once I did though, it snapped into place, reconnected the wiring loom and reinstalled panels...easy!

[jjoel]

Best thread ever! Thank you for the additional clarification on getting the actuator back on. I got it, still don't know how the silver tab fits in there but somehow it does. Screwed with it for an hour trying to get it on, then I found the additional pictures and had it on within 30 seconds.

[jerrycastillo]

I have replaced the actuator on the passenger's door and the door is latched closed and will not open. Trying to figure out what I did wrong. Do the two metal sliding tabs from the latch go inside the same opening on the actuator bottom? (# 2 and 3 of the pictures posted by beamster). Thanks guys for any help you may supply!

[jerrycastillo]

BMW E36 Door Lock Actuator Replacement

I have been tinkering with my passenger door actuator for a few days, as my passenger door did not unlock when I used the fob and decided to install a new actuator (OEM $107)

I removed the old actuator, disassembled it and removed one of the side panels to see how it works. Here are a few pictures and tips that may help you if you decide to take on this job.

This is a picture of the top of the lock mechanism inside the passenger door with the actuator removed. You can notice the large metal tongue that goes in the large groove along the center line on the bottom side of the actuator. You also see to the right of the picture the single lock lever (round head) towards the center and the double lock lever (rectangular head) more to the right, that go into the actuator allowing it to lock/unlock the door lock mechanism.
(see door lock mechanism a. photo hereunder)

Unlocked position
The following picture shows the actuator in the unlocked position. Notice the slide on the bottom of the actuator (where the single lock lever inserts) at the far right of the run (away from the side of the actuator with the electrical connections). Also, note you can see through the two large side openings (you can see the micro switch for the double lock position through the top one). The double lock lever inserts into one of these openings (more about it later on).
(see photo door lock actuator unlocked position a. hereunder)

Single locked position
If you press on your door knob the single lock will be activated. In this instance the slide inside the actuator slides about half way inside the actuator, looking like this:
(see photo door lock actuator single locked position a. hereunder)

Notice the hollow slide under the actuator where the single lock lever inserts is now at the other end of the run (against the side of the actuator with the electrical plug). The door may be opened from the inside but the outside handle is disengaged.

Double lock position
Locking the car using the key or the fob, you will activate the double lock. The slide inside the actuator goes to the end of the run with its plastic levers blocking the double lock lever that inserts into one of the large side openings on the bottom of the actuator. The following picture shows the side openings where the double lock lever inserts. The pink arrow shows the opening used on the passenger side actuator. The green arrow shows the opening used on the driver side actuator.
(see photo door lock actuator double lock position a. hereunder)
(see photo door lock actuator double lock lever openings hereunder)

Unlocking from double lock
You double unlock the doors ONLY using your key or fob. The slide inside the actuator will move clearing the side openings, freeing the double lock lever and allowing the single lock lever to move backwards, unlocking the door lock mechanism.

You can further explore the actuator mechanism at this website address:

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/images/lock.pdf

Hope it helps!

[LivesNearCostco]

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. I just used it to replace the lock actuator in my front right door. Now it locks and unlocks again!

[BMW1999M3FL]

Thank you very much for this excellent detailed post. Although I followed it as closely as I could, I struggled to lift the old actuator on my 1999 M3 (e36). I loosened the three bolts of the door lock mechanism and eventually had to set it free to be able to remove that old actuator. As you said it is challenge to put back the new one as you need to align the three (or 4 I though) metal tabs - (2 movable and 2 anchoring ones). When I bolted the door lock back, I closed the door and while the actuator responded well by lifting the door locking pin up and down, the door was shut permanently locked with no way to open it from the inside or the outside. Wiggling and pulling on the control rods did not release the door latch. On close look (see photo), I noticed that the lever of the outdoor handle was no longer threaded through it wide rectangular/circular opening. So the door handle on the outside is not as freely movable as it used to be. Any tip on how to fix this? I need to have the door open to remove the two bolts holding the locking mechanism. I have tried for hours to open the door to no avail! Please any help will be greatly appreciated!
IMG_1076.jpg

[wihiker]

By far this is the simplest and most intuitive method to replace actuators. Mine is a '98 328i sedan. I replaced both front door actuators using this method with no issues.

Disabled battery negative and then waited 20+ minutes. The side airbags are mounted over the access hole to each actuator. I removed both airbags (carefully, of course) and then proceeded to get at the actuators.

It helped to use an inspection mirror and flashlight to see what I was doing. Actuators detached easily. Reinstalling isn't so difficult if you take your time, use the mirror and think. It is possible to insert a thin screwdriver in same opening as manual locking mechanism if you need help repositioning the actuators.

Perhaps 45-60 minutes per door. I used Dorman actuators through Amazon. About $40-45 each. Let's see how these work. No big deal to replace if one should fail.

Gotta love those bimmers! Everything goes together so nicely.

Yesterday I replaced my failing driver's side lock actuator. I'm not much of a mechanical whiz, but I figured it out myself and I'd like to share how I did it. I just read the existing write-up in the DIY links and the way I did it is a lot easier I think, plus a few details might have been left out:

1 - remove door panel: slip off inside latch trim, two torx screws behind inside handle, and the super secret torx screw behind the plastic "airbag" badge, then pull panel straight out to disengage plastic fasteners. There are wires to the speakers so don't pull too hard.

2 - Peel back vapor barrier around lock area of door. The gooey tar stuff gets all over you and everything if you're not careful.

3 - There is a hole in the inner sheet metal which provides access to remove the entire lock mechanism - completely expose this hole so you can get in there with your hands. (You don't need to remove the lock or disengage any of the control rods.) You should just barely be able to see the wire-end of the wiring harness which connects to the actuator - you'll recognize the pattern of the 6 wires which are just like the 6 pins on your new actuator. The actuator connects to the lock at an angle.

4 - To remove the old actuator, first visually memorize where the old actuator is connected to the lock and how it is oriented so you can put the new one on later. Leave the wiring harness connected, but clip open the wire-tie holding the wiring to the door. Then, just push the old actuator straight up and off the lock. (By straight up I don't mean vertically, I mean exactly perpendicular to the length of the actuator.)

5 - Work the old actuator out of the door, then remove the wiring harness by slipping the locking sleeve down and then pulling harness off. Attach new actuator to harness and lock with sleeve.

6 - Reinstalling the new actuator is a little difficult, but not too bad once you study what has to be done. If you look at just the right angle (a small angled mirror may help, or else just crouch down and peer upwards) you can see the metal surface where the actuator goes. There are 3 metal tabs that need to fit into the bottom (white part) of the actuator. There is a sort of a hook shaped movable tab (which controls the lock) that goes into the slot in the movable plastic piece on the bottom of the actuator, and there are 2 different sized fixed rectangular tabs that fit into the 2 square slots in front of and behind the movable piece on the bottom of the actuator. Study the arrangement of these slots on the new actuator so you'll understand how to orient it to the lock. (Note that there are numerous other slots and holes in the bottom of the actuator that nothing fits into, the only ones that matter are the movable one and the 2 small ones in front and in back of it.)

7 - So to finish up, the first thing you need to make sure of is that the actuator, which is now connected electrically (but not yet mechanically) to the rest of the locking system, is in sync with the lock. Use your central locking button to put all locks into the unlocked position if they aren't already, and then manually make sure the lock you're working on is in the unlocked position too by pulling up on the vertical manual control if need be. Also make sure the movable piece on the bottom of the new actuator is in the correct unlocked position. You can slide it with your finger if not. (I don't remember which way is which but you'll be able to tell by manually locking and unlocking the lock and seeing which way the metal tab moves.)

8 - Then, put the new actuator inside the door and get it in the correct general area above the tabs on the lock, and then peer up at it so you can clearly see the larger fixed tab which is the one closest to you. Get it to line up with the larger or the 2 small square slots on the actuator and position it loosely inside the slot. Then, get your hand inside the door behind the lock, palm facing you, and curl your fingers toward you and you'll be able to push down on the top of the actuator with your fingers with enough leverage to push it firmly onto all 3 tabs. Test it out with the central lock button.

9 - Stick the vapor barrier back on, reinstall the door panel ,and you're done.

[JetBlackE46]

Are E36 coupes the same as sedans in terms of the DIY?

My driver side door will not lock or unlock with the remote. It only unlocks and locks with the key. I can see the manual stem move slightly when I use the remote. Is it the actuator or could something just have gotten loose?

[dworthy]

Yes, for the most part they are the same as they use the same handles, ect. It's just a couple of the rods that are different in length is all.

Can you hear the lock actuator? Can you move it with the key in the lock?

[JetBlackE46]

I can lock/unlock with the key. With the remote I see the button move a bit but doesn't actually go up or down. I hear something but it's not as loud as the passenger door which works fine

[dworthy]

I think the lock actuator is getting weak, unlock with the key and see if the remote can lock the car. Normally it will pull the plunger back down, but have problems with pushing it back up.

[JetBlackE46]

you're probably right, the last few times, the door will unlock but not lock with the remote. strange. wouldn't it be easier to just remove the locking mechanism to replace the actuator?

[dworthy]

Yes, it will be easier. I think the driver door actuator is from 92-98 so look for those years if you plan on going used.

However the idea is to ensure the item to be replaced is what is actually failing. I would double check the wiring, as the door wiring tends to get weak over time.

[JetBlackE46]

good idea, maybe the electrical contacts are just dirty. i'll have to check it out. intermittent electrical related issues are the worse to troubleshoot.

[norcale28]

Great DIY. Make sure you read carefully. I didn't and it took me 2 hours to reinstall the actuator when it should have taken about 15 minutes. The devil is in the details. fixed pin, sliding pin. Oh man, what a dumbass. Live and learn. BTW, my locks still won't open and close each time I engage the switch next to the gearshift. Can't get an alarm installed until that is rectified. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[theManning]

Bump