[vexith]

Hi,

I've just experienced a very odd and aggravating issue. Yesterday, randomly without any signs my car's lock system decided to completely stop working.

I unlocked the car as normal and started to drive. I noticed that the auto lock mechanism was not activating so i tried locking the car by pressing the button inside the car but nothing happened. I shrugged it of as something minor and continued my journey. Once i reached my destination (15 mins later), i tried again and the car was still not locking through the in - car button.

At this point, i manually locked all the doors around the car by pushing that thingy down and then trying to unlock via the in-car button and the key fob but no luck. But here is where it gets really stupid. All the passenger doors were impossible to unlock now in any method, including via the door handle. They had become permanently locked. I'm very fortunate that i had tried this after letting out all my passengers, otherwise they would have had to crawl through the drivers side.

And on the drivers side, the door lock thingy would not budge down at all. Weird. So at this point, the only way to lock the drivers side and access the car was through the manual keyhole. And whenever i get access to my car, the alarm goes off and i have to insert the key fob to make it stop.

To top things off, both my key fobs have become completely unresponsive to the car.

I took it to a local garage today and he managed to get the doors unlocking/locking again via the in-car button and through the manual keyhole. But the key fob was still unresponsive to the car. This cost me £40.

However, that did not completely fix the issue. The drivers side lock does not seem to be connected to the mechanism. So all 3 passengers side lock and unlock via the in-car button but the only way to lock the drivers side is through the manual keyhole. Whats more is that the car alarm is still going off every time i try get access to the car and again the only way to switch it of is by inserting the keyfob.

The mechanic was absolutely in shock that this randomly occurred and questioned the fact that if the car ever dead-locks like this, it should be able to be open from inside via the door handle or it could be a very big safety issue if we were in an accident with no way to get out.

He said that i would have to go back to BMW and get both my Key fobs reprogrammed back to the car and this could also fix the issue of the driver side lock.

I am annoyed as hell as i will have to probably pay BMW a stupid amount of cash to get my key fobs re-programmed for something that should not have happened. I mean the mechanic did have a point, if i was involved in an accident with the car locked like that, their would literally be no escape!

[tmarshall57]

There is a known issue whereby one or more or the door lock actuators starts to consume higher than normal current and blows the fuse. The solution is to replace the blown fuse with one of a higher rating (next size up). If this fails to correct the issue (it has worked for me for the past 2 years) then the door actuator needs to be replaced - usually the one which repsonds slower than the others. This recounts my experience and may help you. I can't tell you which fuse to replace as the fuse numbers differ from model to model but the card on the fuse box cover in the glove box will contain a fuse map.

[vexith]

Originally Posted by tmarshall57

There is a known issue whereby one or more or the door lock actuators starts to consume higher than normal current and blows the fuse. The solution is to replace the blown fuse with one of a higher rating (next size up). If this fails to correct the issue (it has worked for me for the past 2 years) then the door actuator needs to be replaced - usually the one which repsonds slower than the others. This recounts my experience and may help you. I can't tell you which fuse to replace as the fuse numbers differ from model to model but the card on the fuse box cover in the glove box will contain a fuse map.

The fuses were checked and none of them were blown. I'm hoping nothing needs to be replaced and it's just an electrical issue as the doors locks are now working, just the driver side not functioning in the correct way.

[ade146]

Actuator is a very common problem. I have just had to change my passenger lock so I know there is no shortage of info out there. Easy fix and easier than the internet suggests. Less than an hour start to finish.

[vexith]

Originally Posted by ade146

Actuator is a very common problem. I have just had to change my passenger lock so I know there is no shortage of info out there. Easy fix and easier than the internet suggests. Less than an hour start to finish.

Let's say the actuator needs replacing. But how does this fault explain both my key fobs becoming completely unresponsive and needing to be re programmed back to my car. I heard that this won't be cheap.