locked out of my '91 520

[jim.f]

I know I must be stupid but, my battery is flat and my car is parked against a wall, so I cannot get into the passenger door (of my rhd, uk car) my leg is in plaster, which is why I have not been using the car.

Can anyone help, or do I have to smash a window?

[LarryBrown]

Regarding being locked out of your BMW because the battery ran down:

1: Check the owners manual for the "emergency unlock" procedure for just this situation. On my 1989 735i, you operate the key in the drivers door in a certain way while holding up on the handle. This engages a mechanical action that unlocks the door. However, on my 735i, this function did not work.

If you can open the trunk, here are two solutions:

1: Jumper 12 volts from another car to the trunk light on your BMW. That should give you enough juice to operate the door locks with the key. Make sure you use the trunk light, which will come "on" whenever the trunk lid is open, allowing the juice to reach back into other circuits. I tried to use the license plate lights, but that didn't work since those lights are only active when the headlights are turned on, that cut the juice off at the headlight switch and so it didn't reach the door locks.

2: Get your wife, child, or other small person to break into the car thru the ski hatch. On my 1989 735i, I was able to knock out the ski hatch cover from inside the trunk, then I was able to undo and remove the rear seat leather arm rest console, then my wife was able to squeeze thru the hatch (be careful of sharp metal edges) and get in the car and operate the door locks manually. Of course, this is a last resort! Also will not work if the double lock has been thrown on the doors the last time you locked them!

[harleybrokemyteeth]

nice...too bad the tow guy is on his way

[Jaltam90]

hi do you know if this procedure works on a 525I, and if yes, how?

[lowridder11]

To bad the Z3 doesn't have that

[JTan1990]

My locks are frozen too at the moment. I had to open up the trunk, and use a broom handle through the ski-boot hole and unlock the rear passenger door. It wasn't easy, but I was able to open up the door ok after doing so. My battery is fine though, I'm sufferring from other electrical problems. Not only my door locks won't work, but my radio, power seats, power windows, interior dome light and windshield wipers dont' work either. They all stopped working at once, however I can start my car and drive it, the exterior lights work along with signals and everything. I tried to look at the fuses in the engine compartment and couldn't find anything wrong. Mine is a 1990 525I. So if anyone has any ideas what fuse or control module to fix/replace, it would help...

[eddie rogers]

You use the "Passenger Door" for the emergency unlock procedure.

Try that,
Eddie

'91 525i M50
'87 325i convertable
'96 328i

[m5stingray18]

I have no idea if this will work on a BMW, but I recently locked myself out of my 94 Saturn. To get the door unlocked, I pulled the exterior seal assembly away off the door, and used used a heavy wire to manually unlock the door. My car does have electric locks, but there was a visible mechanical system. Sounds to me like the BMW might not have an accessible lock mechanism, and the seal might be harder to get off too. On mine, the seal just snaps on. Just thought I'd mention it...