HELP:Ignition key won't turn to start

[yanni gatos]

Gentlemen,my 325/1986/E30 has a problem that i don't know if it's easy
enough for an amateur to fix.
When i insert the key in the ignition, the steering wheel will unlock fine and
the key will turn two clicks untill the idiot lights come on and then it freezes
and it won,t go to the springed stage that cranks the engine.
I don,t know much but i assume the key cylinder must be ok otherwise it
wouldn,t turn at all, so there must be something else preventing the key from going to the start position.
Your expertise would be appreciated otherwise i,ll have to sell my first born
to pay the mechanics.
If any one has any photos of how to access this thing and what it looks like
that would be great.
Thank you all for your time.
Yanni gatos

[Critter7r]

My first guess would be the housing that the ignition lock cylinder is in has an internal broken tab. Replacing it is pretty easy. Remove the steering column trim, take out the lock cylinder (there's a special tool for this but turning the key to position 1 and pushing a big fat paperclip into the hole in the lock cylinder usually works just fine). Then you can remove the lock housing. I don't know if there's a test for it or not, but I can't think of anything else in there that would prevent the key from turning. Good luck!

[AL325iCab]

ok i have kind of a similar problem, the steering is locked and the guy lost the key, i cant even steer to properly tow it, how hard/expensive is it to swap out a steering column. is it even a good idea, the previous owner really messed with the wiring around the ignition, seems like its gonna be a big task no matter what...any opinions??

[TomC]

Remove the steering column. Jump the black and red wires. If it starts, run the wire to a foglight button. Put that in an empty place above your stereo. You can mod the button so that it will not click in... it'll just pop out. I did it really easily.

Now no one can start your car even with the keys unless they know about the button.

Let me know if you want some more info on the button.

[AL325iCab]

ok i have kind of a similar problem, the steering is locked and the guy lost the key, i cant even steer to properly tow it, how hard/expensive is it to swap out a steering column. is it even a good idea, the previous owner really messed with the wiring around the ignition, seems like its gonna be a big task no matter what...any opinions??

Any answers to my question??
and yes more info plealse!

[TomC]

You don't even need to remove the steering column. Just the kickpannel, and splice the red and blakc wire going to the ignition.

[pacecar78vette]

I actually bought my car with the key broken off in the ingition, so I can give some pointers. From what it sounds like your ingition switch, the electronic part, not the tumbler is the issue. It is on the left side of the collum on the end of the tumbler. So if you imagine a straight like throuh the collum just as the key goes in. You need to remove the steering wheel ( mark it before you take it off, or it make take a few tries to get it on straight again) and then remove the lower plastic housing around the steering collum. There are 2 bolts in the front and I think just 2 underneath. But you have to take the steering wheel off to get the front ones. I was never able to get the top of the collum cover off, but assume it would require dropping the collum slightly, but you dont necessarly need the top off to get at the switch. The ingition switch is held on the collum by 2 little plastic clips. You can carefully pry the switch off of the collum, but be careful!!!... if the tiny little plastic tabs break you will need a new switch, so just go slow and gentle. Once you have it off you can turn it with a flat screwdriver to see if it is still functional. If the car does not start that way, replace the switch.

If it does start another thing that gave me a problem was the little plastic tabs on the switch. If they are broken then it will not hold onto the collum enough to engage to the start position. That was a big problem I had.

The good thing is that you can probably find one used pretty eaisly on most e30's in the junk yard, as most people dont go after them. That is where I got mine.

Otherwise it may be a issue with the tumbler, and those are pretty easy to remove....but if you want advice on that let me know

If you need or want more info, just pm me

[AL325iCab]

thank you all so much, im going to go see the car this weekend..i have yet to pick it up due to this issue, but thanks for all the help! I'd be F&@#@ w/o bf!

[AL325iCab]

oh yeah...one last question...will this start the car w/o the key? or unlock the steering wheel?

[TomC]

The button I was talking about? It's totaly worthless except for starting it. You still need to insert the key and turn it to the 3rd position to unlock the steering wheel and get the electronics flowing. It's a real good mod because people won't be able to start your car. I cut the black wire from the ignition so you have to press the button to start it. Make sure your wires are done really good, beause it'd suck to have it come loose lol.

[AL325iCab]

gotcha...well my main problem is trying to get the steering unlocked because i dont have a key...

[pacecar78vette]

Sorry to tell you that you cant do pretty much anything without the key. You cant even get the old ingition lock out in order to replace it without the key because you need to turn it to the on position to be able to remove the tumbler. You cant even get at the switch because you cant get the collum covers off without taking the steering wheel off, and the steering wheel is lock on unless the key is turned on. I found all this out the hard way.

But you can go to the BMW dealer with the title or sometimes just the vin number and they can cut a key from the vin number

[TomC]

Try your best to get a key, because like he said, your pretty screwed. If you cannot, you can take the bottom kick panel off and short out the red/black wires from the ignition. It's a square connector, and i can get more info on it if you want. Actualy, you'd have to short alot out, to make the car think it's been turned on. Your best bet is to get a key, as even if you did short it, you'd have to break the wheel lock.

[jaxon7181]

had the same problem yesterday,spray some lubricant in the keyway,worked for me.

[chrishonson]

First post here! I have a very similar problem. I drove my car to work, key worked fine, I go out to lunch and the key simply will not turn at all. No matter how much I try wiggleing the steering wheel and playing with the key. I sprayed WD-40 and all that too. I tried playing with the pins and they all "seem" to opperate fine.
Any help would be totally awsome!
It seems like breaking the steering lock and rigging the ignition is the only thing that'll work.
84' 325e 5-spd. 160,000mi cheap if anyone wants it.