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      09-02-2010, 10:05 PM   #1
atomic837
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Trunk emergency!

I've done my research, searched the message forums, and have been pulling my hair out all day...

I am storing the car for a while (09 135i coupe), and I decided to remove the battery and keep that in my house to keep it away from the freezing cold of the winter. Went ahead and removed it from the car, closed the trunk, and immediately got a sinking feeling in my stomach.... there is no way to open the trunk without power.

I've read some of the other posts about dead batteries and how you can just jump start it from the front posts under the hood... unfortunately, I think that since there is no battery in the trunk and the leads are not connected, all attempts to charge or jump start have failed. My battery charger doesn't even light up as being "connected" when I try to use it with the hood posts.

I don't have the ski pass-through, so no joy there with trying to get into the trunk from the inside... heck, I've even pulled a bunch of padding and such from the rear seats in hope of finding a hole to reach through... nothing's worked.

Oh yeah, and my model year has just missed the cutoff with the actual keyhole in the trunk latch. Lucky me.


I'm at a loss for what to do now... any suggestions? Is there some way to get power to the electronics so I can unlatch the damn trunk release? Maybe through a fuse or relay? What about using one of those cigarette lighter jump start contraptions? Would that even work with no battery in the trunk? Help!
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      09-02-2010, 11:51 PM   #2
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oh shit.. sorry fella. Please keep us posted for people that is hugely enjoying consequences of some retarded german engineer.
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      09-03-2010, 12:09 AM   #3
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Can't you just use a set of jumper cables to connect your battery to the jump start terminal under the hood. That should power up the electronics so you can pop the trunk open and re-install the battery.

A battery charger connected to the jump start terminals with no battery connected may not turn on.
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      09-03-2010, 12:24 AM   #4
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The only way we have been able to figure this out is to use jumper cables on the front leads. It will be enough to pop the trunk.


But, check next to your license plate light (under the ledge near the rubber button to pop the trunk) to see if you have a key cylinder. Some of the older model 1er's have a key cylinder, but I dont remember what year they did away with them.
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      09-03-2010, 12:42 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turbobmw View Post
Can't you just use a set of jumper cables to connect your battery to the jump start terminal under the hood. That should power up the electronics so you can pop the trunk open and re-install the battery.

A battery charger connected to the jump start terminals with no battery connected may not turn on.
This may not work as the battery completes the circuit and without the battery it's an open circuit, though I'd probably give it a shot.

Man that's really shitty luck.

The only thing I can think of besides getting BMW involved would be to try to find the trunk lock solenoid or wires to the solenoid and jump it from there. If you can locate the wires cut, jump, and reconnect them.

Make sure if your doing it this way that you using correct voltage as you dont want to fry the solenoid.
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      09-03-2010, 02:41 AM   #6
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i wonder what bmw can do though even if you take it in...? take the car apart?
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      09-03-2010, 05:37 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylon View Post


But, check next to your license plate light (under the ledge near the rubber button to pop the trunk) to see if you have a key cylinder. Some of the older model 1er's have a key cylinder, but I dont remember what year they did away with them.

EXCEPT in the first post the OP states.....

"Oh yeah, and my model year has just missed the cutoff with the actual keyhole in the trunk latch. Lucky me."
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      09-03-2010, 07:00 AM   #8
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Connecting the battery under the hood should work fine. You may have to wait a few minutes, however, for the computer to figure itself out before it will start to do what you want. I would try it after a minute, then 5 minutes, etc.. all the way up to 30 minutes before I gave up on this. I see no reason it will not work. The electronics are a small draw and the jump terminals under the hood are a strong connection, easily able to transmit the necessary current.

If you get it open, you might be able to rig a cable or something to the emergency release inside the trunk so you can still take the battery out.

If the battery completely died, like got an internal short, wouldn't it create the same situation?

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      09-03-2010, 07:03 AM   #9
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I believe the suggested method of attaching the battery to the terminals under the hood should work. An open circuit is different for DC versus AC and I believe the car wiring takes this into account.

I know that a 12v battery attached to a cigarette lighter plug can be used to maintain settings on things like your radio and clock when the main battery is removed so there must be a complete circuit from there to those devices.
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      09-03-2010, 07:08 AM   #10
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You know... Just call the dealer, and ask their solution. You really don't wanna cause some glitch somewhere and end up french toasted ecu.
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      09-03-2010, 08:12 AM   #11
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Won`t the dealer also have to reprogram the ecu when the battery goes back in? This is the same thing as putting in a new battery, isn`t it?
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      09-03-2010, 09:05 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsjean View Post
I believe the suggested method of attaching the battery to the terminals under the hood should work. An open circuit is different for DC versus AC and I believe the car wiring takes this into account.

I know that a 12v battery attached to a cigarette lighter plug can be used to maintain settings on things like your radio and clock when the main battery is removed so there must be a complete citcuit from there to those devices.

^^ above is true... hooking a jumper pack / batter to underhood posts power the vehicle up just as if the BST cable popped in an accident. accessories will work, like the trunk release button in the drivers foot well..

also i just looked at an '09 128 and it has a key hole to the right of the passanger side lic. plate light. what production date do you have???

I have an '11 and never noticed if the key hole is back there. ill look

good luck ..
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      09-03-2010, 09:17 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DriveHard View Post
^^ above is true... hooking a jumper pack / batter to underhood posts power the vehicle up just as if the BST cable popped in an accident. accessories will work, like the trunk release button in the drivers foot well..

also i just looked at an '09 128 and it has a key hole to the right of the passanger side lic. plate light. what production date do you have???

I have an '11 and never noticed if the key hole is back there. ill look

good luck ..


Dont bother, its not there, lol.
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      09-03-2010, 09:37 AM   #14
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I'm glad my '08 has the key cylinder. Really, how much money did BMW save by eliminating this feature? I also noticed a few other little cost cutting things in the '11 135 loaner I had.
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      09-03-2010, 09:59 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lester View Post
Won`t the dealer also have to reprogram the ecu when the battery goes back in? This is the same thing as putting in a new battery, isn`t it?
Memory is held in a 'flash' type system (like what's on the motherboard of a PC to hold the BIOS)
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      09-03-2010, 10:31 AM   #16
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I thoughtthat the keyhole cutoff was my 2011
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      09-03-2010, 11:45 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DriveHard View Post
^^ above is true... hooking a jumper pack / batter to underhood posts power the vehicle up just as if the BST cable popped in an accident. accessories will work, like the trunk release button in the drivers foot well..

also i just looked at an '09 128 and it has a key hole to the right of the passanger side lic. plate light. what production date do you have???

I have an '11 and never noticed if the key hole is back there. ill look

good luck ..
'09 128 here. and mine doesn't have it. April production.
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      09-03-2010, 01:44 PM   #18
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I didn't put it in the original post, but I already called BMW and they had no solution other than, "we'll probably have to tow it here to take a look.". I tried jumping the car from the front hood posts and get nothing... Same with connecting the battery, although I didn't wait too long with it connected before giving up.... Still looking for a solution.
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      09-03-2010, 02:01 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atomic837 View Post
I didn't put it in the original post, but I already called BMW and they had no solution other than, "we'll probably have to tow it here to take a look.". I tried jumping the car from the front hood posts and get nothing... Same with connecting the battery, although I didn't wait too long with it connected before giving up.... Still looking for a solution.
Not sure what we are doing different but I just ran a test and disconnected the battery then attached my battery charger to the engine bay posts and then pressed the button above the interior hood latch which worked and unlocked the trunk.
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      09-03-2010, 02:07 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsjean View Post
Not sure what we are doing different but I just ran a test and disconnected the battery then attached my battery charger to the engine bay posts and then pressed the button above the interior hood latch which worked and unlocked the trunk.
wow, you are brave. I'm assuming you had the rear seats down in case your test didn't work?
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      09-03-2010, 03:27 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atomic837 View Post
I didn't put it in the original post, but I already called BMW and they had no solution other than, "we'll probably have to tow it here to take a look.". I tried jumping the car from the front hood posts and get nothing... Same with connecting the battery, although I didn't wait too long with it connected before giving up.... Still looking for a solution.
I am told you need at least 10-15 amps available at the post. I would reconnect a battery to the jump point under the hood and let it sit a moment. also open the door and turn on the dome lights or something. If it has sat a while with the battery disconnected, it is going to take some time to get the control unit to respond. you could even turn the car on ( do not try to start it) if you can get dash lights to go on then you have power....


By chance do you have the valet switch on "lock" for the trunk ??????????????????????????

p,s, i checked a few cars.. no trunk lock, including mine... I never new that ??? silly me considering the view from my window at work
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      09-03-2010, 03:28 PM   #22
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I guess the question would be; when you say the battery is disconnected, is it completely unplugged or just the negative? I have a feeling that having the battery completely disengaged from the car (no wires attached) is my problem.

Or maybe I'm doing something wrong with trying to jump start- can you post a pic of your setup?
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