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Thread: Passenger Rear Door won't open

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Converse, TX
    Posts
    5
    My Cars
    1995 BMW 740i

    Passenger Rear Door won't open

    Ok I just got this car. It is a 95 740i. The passenger back door doesn't seem to wanna unlock. The knob comes up but does't unlock the door but as soon as u release the knob or door handle the knob falls back down. Is there a way I can get the door panel off without tearing it up with the door shut? Or is there a trick to open the door? lol Thanks in advance for any help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Amsterdam NL
    Posts
    19,644
    My Cars
    735i 2001 E38
    There are a few posts about this here, please do a search

    Have a technical question, don't send me a PM but post it on the board so others can benefit from it!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Converse, TX
    Posts
    5
    My Cars
    1995 BMW 740i
    Quote Originally Posted by Edwin NL View Post
    There are a few posts about this here, please do a search
    Ok, all those posts are for are the the removal of door panel. My door will not open at all. I was curious of anyone had an idea of how to get the door panel off with the door shut. I see there is a lip on the door panel that looks like it is in the door jamb. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Amsterdam NL
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    19,644
    My Cars
    735i 2001 E38
    It's hard and tricky to remove the panel when the door is closed, are you sure you can't pull the door cable to trigger the lock?

    Have a technical question, don't send me a PM but post it on the board so others can benefit from it!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Denver, CO USA
    Posts
    6
    My Cars
    1999 BMW 740iL

    I had (and solved) this problem

    I had this problem on my 1999 740il.

    When I bought the car (used, from a private party,) the driver's side rear outside door latch didn't work. While fiddling with it, the guy who was selling the car had, without thinking, activated the child lock. Then the door wouldn't open from the inside either. I realized there was no way to get the door panel off intact, and I certainly didn't want to tear it up and have to buy a replacement.

    What I finally did was to remove the inside wooden trim, which is a strip about an inch wide near the top of the door. I drilled a series of side-by-side half-inch-diameter holes about 6" from the back edge of the door into the space behind the trim, then filed the opening out to be a fairly big slot. I dropped a little light on a wire down into the space inside the door, and with a very long screwdriver was finally able to trip the actual latch, which is on the rear panel of the door.

    The original problem with the outside latch was easily fixed when I finally got the panel off; it was just that the cable had come unhooked on one end.

    BTW, I took the panel off of the opposite (opening) door before I started so I could see where everything was. I strongly recommend doing that first.

    I found this to be a surprisingly challenging problem, and felt very lucky to be able to fix it. Good luck! (Sincerely!)

    Foster

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Newburyport ma
    Posts
    2,108
    My Cars
    88,m5 95 740 04 XI E90
    You can get the panel off with the door closed. It is fairly brutal and does some damage to the panel. But the panel can be reused as the damage does not show. I used a giant screwdriver like 3 feet long to pop all of the clips and force the panel off. Not for the faint of heart. You can always find a used panel if you do too much damage. I have some silver il panels if you destroy it. Sometimes you just have no choice in the matter. It sounds like it's stuck in deadbolt since the button comes up with the inside handle and then goes right back down. Leave the panel off for a couple of days to make sure you have solved the problem. Could be a bad actuator or a broken/corroded wire.

  7. #7
    IcemanBHE's Avatar
    IcemanBHE is offline ¿pǝpɹɐʇǝɹ noʎ ǝɹɐ
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    Post #5 sounds brilliant. Good thinking.
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