To OldSkewel:
You said the car battery is fine...so was the car double locked prior to you being locked out? I ask because if you have been inserting things inside the cabin...the IMS (interior motion sensor) should have set things off. So if the IMS hasn't activated...is the red clown nose flashing (the status LED below the interior rear view mirror)?
If the red LED isn't flashing...it means DWA (anti-theft alarm siren system) hasn't been activated...or the car's battery is dead and/or the alarm siren's internal battery is also dead since it hasn't sounded off when things were inserted inside the cabin.
In order for the the "secret" interior UNLOCK procedure to work when the car has been double locked...requires that the car's battery is charged because the FZV (central locking) to work...requires electrical power. And to others reading this...anything 1999-back...when double locked...the car is LOCKED and will require a working key to unlock the car...
you must have a 2000-up BMW to unlock a double-locked BMW using the procedure below but you MUST also have electrical power. They central lock/unlock button must have power to work:
- Press the interior central locking button (once)
- Pull TWICE on an interior door handle
To all:
Just to make a correction to the
MANUAL UNLOCK procedure that was mentioned earlier in this thread...
DO NOT pull up & hold on the door handle when trying to MANUALLY unlock the door. Those instructions to pull & hold is for the prior generation e32/e34/e36 BMW models.
The e38/e39/e46/e53 manual unlock procedure is just to (see text highlighted in red box from the owners manual below): - Insert key into driver's door lock cylinder
- Turn key CCW (counter clockewise) 90° to the manual unlock position. If you only turn the key 45°, you're only turning to the electrically actuated key positions to lock or unlock the vehicle.