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Old 10-03-2021, 11:17 PM
spaceleaf spaceleaf is offline
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Unhappy 2002 X5 Lockout, Good Battery, Tried Almost Everything

Hello, my 2002 E53 X5 is locked out right now. I've been searching around this forum and others and have tried many of the things people do to get around this. Resorting to making a new post in case I've missed something or anyone can offer any more insight before I have to resort to getting this towed to a dealer or smashing a window in (currently have it on my driveway). Here are some details -

- Car was last locked using the fob, so I assume it is currently in it's Double-Lock state.

- I have a key and fob. Of course, the key barrel / actuator mechanism is not working to manually unlock the car, that mechanism was broken when I bought the thing a few months ago - the key just spins freely in there with no response from the vehicle. Turning and holding counter clockwise to try and activate convenience unlock with the windows does not work. Nor does holding down the unlock on the fob.

- I tried replacing the Fobs battery with a brand new one.

- Clown nose / Anti-theft under the rearview mirror is blinking.

- Battery is good, was able to pop the hood with the roadside assistance guy using a lockout kit and measured ~12.4V across the terminals with a voltmeter. I have tried attaching a battery charger just in case to see if it would change anything - no dice.

- Roadside Assistance guy tried pressing down on the central locking button with his lockout rod, nothing. If the double lock is engaged, I'm not sure how I'd be able to do the procedure of holding that button down while pulling on the handle twice, all from the outside.. He was actually able to pop the lock up using his tools, but the handle still wasn't able to open the door when it was popped up (feature of the double-lock?).

- I have tried unlocking the trunk by applying positive power to both the left and right license plate light bulbs (separately, not at the same time) while keeping negative clamped to the exhaust. Did nothing, I'm guessing this method is more for when the battery is dead and the car is not double-locked.

I saw some people were having luck by drilling through the screw next to the keyhole. I wanted to ask if that would even get me through while the Double-Lock is in place? I don't want to destroy that piece for nothing if I can avoid it, but if it would work that would probably be my next thing to try pending any other suggestions. Also considering buying my own lockout kit and taping a key to the end of the rod and trying to get it into the ignition through a wedge in the door.

Considering other options outside of double lock - maybe the central locking module went faulty, or some kind of associated fuse? All of which I don't think I can access from the outside.. I also considered finding a way to drain the battery in hopes of resetting the anti-theft system, but I read here somewhere that that wouldn't achieve this result as it would remain double-locked.

Does it even make sense that the car doesn't respond to the Fob out of nowhere while the battery is fully charged? This perplexes me a little and makes me think the issue could be something less obvious, but I don't know. I'm pretty new to this vehicle and it's the only bmw I've owned.

Would gratefully welcome any suggestions, very much hoping to avoid dumping dealership service money or smashing glass to get this thing open. This happened out of no-where, car has a daily driver for the past 4 months or so. Please let me know if I can provide any more useful information.


EDIT - I got in, thanks for the help everyone.

Last edited by spaceleaf; 10-05-2021 at 08:30 PM. Reason: my problem has been solved.
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