Hello,

I have 1990 535I and yesterday I discovered very weird problem. I am unable to lock the front door(driver side) with a key. The lock push pin would not go down (even when I push it down physically) and this messes up all the other locks.

As soon as I lock, I hear the double click and all doors unlock and then lock (except driver's, which just stays open).
I read the write up on the dead locked door, where the lock actuator was out of place.
Can the dore be dead "unlocked" or can this be electrical issue?

Please advice where to start?

Thank you

check your lock actuator, if you have the bentley manual it will show you where its at, if not its on top of the lock assembly. You would need to take off your door panel to do this, few screws and ur in. its a black box on top that you can prop it off or you can unscrew it with a t30, double check it with a good lock actuator from the passenger side and it can eliminate the actuator if it wasn't that. Hope this helps

If the door can't be locked by pushing down on the knob, then it may not be an actuator. Remember, the knob can't be pushed down at all unless the door is closed. It may not be a bad idea to rule out the actuator, but my guess would be that something is jammed or misaligned in the lock mechanism that is preventing the knob from moving. You may need to disassemble to track it down. Look for broken/missing grommets between the links that operate the locking system.

Have you tried resynching the locks first? Try the easiest fixes first.


From Bentley
Synchronizing central locking system
After manually locking or unlocking the system. the door
locks may become unsynchronized. To synchronize the
locks. close all doors. trunk lid. and tailgate. Lock the passenger
door by turning the key clockwise into the emergency locking
position (approximately 110° from position 0). Unlock the
driver's door. If any of the locks do not operate . repeat the
locking procedure until the locking system is synchronized.



http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u120/e34ntoys/Lock.jpg

I had a very similiar problem last year. I was not able to lock the doors suddenly. The door actuator did not move and the key did nothing. I tried replacing the GC, but still nothing. Ultimately what I had to do was replace all 4 doorlock actuators. Even after I removed them, they were all frozen in the open position. Nothing could make them move, it was like they were solid. It wasn't cheap but it did the trick. As far as I know, no one else has experienced this problem.

I had an issue similar to this with my passanger door. All the doors would lock but that one, and I couldn't push the little knob down either to lock it. When I did lock the doors I could hear the actuator trying to do its job. To fix it I had to take the lock cylinder apart and changed the position of this little piece that the lock linkages attach to and had somehow gotten out of place. It had 2 locations it could be in and somehow got in the other location which removed some of the range of motion in the linkages and the actuator couldn't lock the door.

I had exactly the same issue on my '89. It turned out to be bent linkage between the lock cylinder and the latch mechanism, and a grommet that had slipped out of place where the link rod attaches to the lock cylinder. I dismantled everything, straightened the bent link rod, reinstalled the grommet and the link rod, and everything is fine now.

I am having this problem with my E30. the passeger door doesn't lock. But when the system unlocks, it doesn't lock back.,.... so I can't lock my door.

I tried fooling with the driver side, and after trying to get the lock cylinder out, it got wedged in there and now won't come the rest of the way out or the rest of the way in. lol

It's going to the shop torrow. There is NO room to work on and E30 cabrio's locks :(

I also had a hard time getting into my car last week after it sat for a couple weeks. I left the radar detector on by mistake, killed the battery, and then when I turned the key to unlock it, nothing happened.

I had to hook a 6v battery to the wire going to the trunk light, to momentarily power the car, and then was able to unlock the doors. lol

Jeez, my central locking is buggy as well - thank god I can still lock and unlock it. My .02 is that my old Volvo 850's central locking worked solid and without complications for years. The car, according to the new owner, is at 110,000 mi now and still bug free. Go figure. Too bad it only had about 150 HP.

Thank you all for your help, I just got to it right now, so I am taking the door panel apart and will let you know!

Again, thanks for all you input!

Alex

I had an issue similar to this with my passanger door. All the doors would lock but that one, and I couldn't push the little knob down either to lock it. When I did lock the doors I could hear the actuator trying to do its job. To fix it I had to take the lock cylinder apart and changed the position of this little piece that the lock linkages attach to and had somehow gotten out of place. It had 2 locations it could be in and somehow got in the other location which removed some of the range of motion in the linkages and the actuator couldn't lock the door.
Hey Drew, this is exactly the problem I am having, I took everything apart and the range of the motion in linkage is restricted, so the actuator is unable to lock the door (although it's trying).
I have a question on how were you able to take the lock cylider apart?

Hey Drew, this is exactly the problem I am having, I took everything apart and the range of the motion in linkage is restricted, so the actuator is unable to lock the door (although it's trying).
I have a question on how were you able to take the lock cylider apart?

I figured it out after carefully looking at the lock cylider. The key part was removing the push pin to take it apart. I did replace the spring to the other position (there were two groves, just like you said) and now the motion seems long enough.

Thanks a lot for your tips guys. I will put everything together and will let you know if it works tomorrow.

Alex

Well, put it all together and....DONE! Everything works now. Drew900 - Thanks for the tip.