Door Lock Stuck - Fix with Pics!!!

[syncrocrick]

This has been said before but just wanted to add my own experience. I needed to open the door on a X5 at Pick'N Pull to remove the side passenger mirror.

I can confirm as other have said that it is possible to remove the door panel with the door closed (front passenger).

The rod trick wouldn't work for me. After removing the side airbag, I had good access to the mechanism but was unable to push it.

What finally worked for me was to apply 12V current to the actuator. I believe it was the blue wire and one of the white one. That finally unlocked the door and I was able to open it.

Thanks!

[E36X5er]

one of my three torx bolts is stripped inside the lock, it just spins but won’t back out. any ideas on how to remove?

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by E36X5er

one of my three torx bolts is stripped inside the lock, it just spins but won’t back out. any ideas on how to remove?

Put inward pressure on the lock assembly (via the main aperture) while spinning the stripped bolt...

[mendes9]

This job was pure hell !! I'm a DIY mechanic I do everything suspension brakes, intake manifolds, brakes, etc this was the worse car experience I ever had and I'm over 50 years old. I want to punch the BMW engineer in the face who created this over complicated door mechanism that is junk and prone to failure. A few days ago 12/23/22 very cold freeze days, opening the door I broke my handle carrier passenger side. Common problem, simple replace the door carrier right? After replacing the door carrier (that took about 6 hours of hell) upon the door locking, I couldn't get it open from outside or inside. I found this thread, luckily I didn't have to resort to this method as trying it maybe 30 times the door finally opened. The root cause thanks to amazon reviews, was the cable on the aftermarket part was like a 2 millimeters short causing the unlock not to work. I could write a book, tons of videos on youtube and no one tells you the finer details of likely problems you will face. My recommendation to most people, pay someone it will worth the money.

[vonholtumc]

So I’ve been having a similar issue but if I could lay out all details to see if anyone has a tip
Three weeks ago I began replacing a drivers side door handle carrier. This is my third x5 and is always a recurring issue so I’m very comfortable now replacing them. Hadn’t put the door panel back on and went to go somewhere and my battery/alternator quit.
So then after a new alternator and battery I’m up and running again. Back to the door project!
Door was opening and closing fine with new carrier, door card still off and window switch attached. Locks working with key fob, and still do. I locked the door with fob and then No!! Cannot open door. Door stuck shut.
The door card is open so I can easily see carrier is attached with ball clip properly seated. It moves the levers and I’ve manually moved them in the manner of the slim Jim trick to see if it just isn’t getting far enough but it seems that part is working properly. The inside handle wire also seems to be working fine.
So I’m thinking all I have left to try is the 12v to the actuator? Is there any other manual flipping of the levers I can try being that the door card is open?

[e53uk]

Glad I found this post, thank you Brian!

Couldn't open passenger door so ordered new handle carrier from BMW.

Went to carry out job and found it wouldn't open from inside either.

Quick search I found this post and after making a tool from a metal coat hanger door was open in seconds!

Has worked ok since but I'm going to have to get the card off and grease up the points shown.

[DAVIDYCHU]

Originally Posted by BrianX54.4is

Quite a few of us have experienced problems with the door locks sticking whereby either (a) the door cannot latch closed (pull the door closed and it just swings open again - the latch will not catch) or (b) the door has latched closed and now cannot be opened from either the inside or outside handles even though the door pin/operating rod pops up and down ok with the central locking.

Although there are various things that can go wrong with the lock and outside handle carrier - a common problem can be caused by the door lock mechanism sticking due to corrosion of the moving parts where the cable from the outside handle carrier connects to the door lock. Pulling the outside handle causes the lock mechanism to move up but then it sticks in the up position and it's return spring does not reset it to the resting position when the handle is released. This situation leaves the inner lock mechanism in a position where neither the outside or inside handle can release the catch to open the door.

Lubricating the sticking part involves accessing the door lock which of course involves removing the door card, side airbag and then the lock. Sounds a bit daunting but it's actually strightforward enough and the whole job took me about an hour not having done it before.

Of course if the situation is as (b) above then the lock mechanism must be unstuck before the door can be opened to remove the lock.
The good news is that it is possible to free the stuck mechanism without risking any damage or attempting to remove the door card with the door still closed!!!
Once you know in your minds eye the whereabouts of the stuck parts within the door cavity - a little "keyhole surgery" is all that's needed to get the door open.

You will need the following:
20 inches of wire coat hanger or welding rod or similar thin but stiff wire to free the stuck lock mechanism.
T20 Torx driver/wrench to remove door card.
T30 Torx driver/wrench to remove door lock.
4mm Hex wrench to remove the key cylinder (only required if working on the drivers door).
10mm Socket/wrench to remove the side airbag.
Flat head driver to pry door card clips, window switch and footwell light.
Spray on grease to lubricate the lock mechanism.

I used a welding rod which is quite thin but also very stiff. A wire coat hanger should work just as well. Put a small right angle bend about 8mm on one end and mark the wire about 10 inches from this bend with some tape (as a depth gauge). Bend the other end of the wire in the same or opposite direction (so you can tell which way the other end is pointing when it's in the door).

With the window open - the wire can be pushed down into the door cavity where the inner window channel cover ends. By pure chance, this entry point will drop the wire down exactly where you need it to go!
DO NOT PUT THE WIRE DOWN BETWEEN THE GLASS AND THE INNER SEAL - THIS WILL SCRATCH THE WINDOW TINT!!!

Here is a link to the RealOEM parts diagram of the front door control. Part #1 is the focus of our attention.

Here is a pic of the welding rod I prepared for the job and illustrates how far the wire will need to go down into the door cavity.
Attachment 34751

1. Okay - let's get started!
Open the window and insert the wire between the rubber channel cover and window frame as shown and push it down vertically about 9 to 10 inches with the bent end pointing towards the door jamb. Use the bend at the other end of the wire as a direction reference.
Attachment 34752

2. Raise the outside handle slightly as you prod downwards with the wire. When you feel the handle being pulled back in as you prod down - you know the wire is hitting the right spot. Prod down frimly a few times and then try the inside handle to release the door. Persist with this method until the inner handle releases the catch and the door opens. I got the door open in about a minute. The following pics from inside the door will show you what you are aiming to achieve.
Pic "A" shows the lock mechanism stuck in the raised position.
Pic "B" shows the wire successfully pushing the mechanism down to it's rest position. The door can now be opened with the inside door handle.
Pic "C" shows the wire as it rests on the now reset mechanism.
Pic "D" shows the wire rising as the outside handle is pulled.
Attachment 34753

3. Now that you have the door open, close the window and remove the door card as follows.
First remove the upper trim as shown below and pop off the "Airbag" sign.
Carefully pry up the window switch and disconnect the wiring as shown.
Attachment 34754

4. Remove the 4 T20 torx screws arrowed red and remove and disconnect the footwell light.
Attachment 34755

5. Starting at the lower inner corner carefully pry free the plastic retaining clips holding on the door card using the flathead driver (use a cloth between the tool and paintwork to avoid scratching).
Now use your fingers working along the bottom and then up the sides to free the remaining clips.
Pull the door card firmly away from the metal clips along the top edge.
Unclip the inner handle bowden cable clip as shown and remove the LED light from the inner door release lever.
Attachment 34756

6. Put the door card out of the way and the door now looks like this.
Unfix the airbag by removing the 3 bolts - DO NOT DISCONNECT THE CABLE (this could store an SRS fault code).
Gently peel back the foam lining as shown.
Refix the airbag temporarily to the lower fixing point using one bolt as shown.
Attachment 34757

7. Here is a view into the cavity towards the lock (the welding rod used free the mechanism is still in situ).
Release the inner handle bowden cable clip and push out and unhook the cable from the lock.
Use a flathead driver to pop the outer handle cable off the lock at the points shown below.
Attachment 34758

8. If working on the drivers side lock you will need to next remove the key
cylinder.
Pop off the blind plug in the door jamb (centre piece first) and remove the hex screw as shown below.
Attachment 34759

9. Pry out the key cylinder (the pic shows the passenger door so this is a cylinder blank).
Now remove the 3 T30 torx screws to release the lock.
Rotate the lock in the door cavity to access and remove the wiring connector
Remove the lock from the door cavity as shown.
Attachment 34760

10. Here is a pic of the now removed lock.
Attachment 34761

11. Below we can see the rust on the moving joints of the exposed mechanism causing the problem.
Apply a good coat of the spray on grease and work it in until the mechanism operates smoothly.
Attachment 34762

Reassemble everything in the reverse order.

[MODS - CAN THIS POST BE PUT IN THE X5 TIPS & TRICKS PAGE?]

[Bottomfeeder]

Hi All -

Replying to this thread because it was my turn to have door lock problems. Looks like I'm in good company. :-)

A couple of months ago I started noticing problems with the central locking on the front passenger’s side door of my 2005 X5 3.0. At that point, the lock didn’t seem to want to go down to the locked position consistently when locking the doors with the key fob, but it could still be locked and opened manually.

I bought an OEM door lock actuator assembly (ouch! $$) and had made a mental note to just live with it until the weather gets a little cooler. Apparently that was not a great plan, as last week the passenger side door became stuck in the closed position. The door lock knob stayed down, and neither the inner or outer door latch would open the door.

I first tried using the bent rod tip described in the original post of the thread. I was able to find the position of the lock mechanism pretty easily (I could feel the handle being pulled back as I pushed down with the rod, as described in the procedure) but no amount of prodding/pushing with the rod made the door able to be opened with either the inner or outer latch.

The next thing I tried was pulling fuse #20 and #24 as suggested in post #40. No luck there, unfortunately.

In my case, the only thing that worked for me was the approach suggested in posts #41 and #44: taking the door card off with door closed to access the actuator. It wasn't especially easy to do, but it can be done (at least on my 05) if you're slow and careful. Once I had access, I was able to start prying the plastic cover off of the actuator assembly (as suggested way back in post #12). Almost immediately, something gave internally and the door popped open.

So as others have suggested, if your actuator is the problem the bent rod trick probably isn't going to help you. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread - lots of helpful information. The job was still a real PITA, but surely could have been worse.

Best regards,
Chris
Lockhart TX