Key will not unlock doors after battery change
 

Hi this is my first post. I have scoured this site and the web for help on getting my keys working again. I have an 02 x5 3.0i that runs great. Recently replaced the battery myself (very easy job) and found all the electrical to be normal except the keys won't open the doors remotely. They will open the tail gate/hatch. The cabin light will come on as if the doors were being unlocked, but no locking action. The car acts normally when the keys are physically used to lock/unlock the doors.

I have been through the whole reprogram the key bit several times using just about every variation imaginable. That would be the "hold down the unlock button and click the lock button 3 times" while barking at the moon etc etc etc. I'm beginning to think that its not the keys, but the car.

The locks do work when using the keys in the door. Probably not a fuse issue.

Any suggestions? I'm trying to avoid the trip to the dealership for obvious reasons...

goodluck getting answers man...i have the same problem....people here don't seem to care about this problem for some reason =)

Yeah really... After reading several posts on changing the battery, it seems that shorting the two cables (red/black) with the battery detached tends to reset the cars system. I don't care about most of the settings, just the maintenance bars. Anyone know if the car retains critical settings? Anyone tried this? Responses that I read on previous posts/sites were highly varied. Hence the hesitation.

It would not lose any of the important settings, and I would wait about 10 minutes after disconnecting the battery before shorting the cables together to let all the capacitors in the various computers etc. bleed down, just to be safer. And for the key reinitialization, with the doors closed you quickly turn the key on/off 3 to 5 times, then as soon as you pull it out it is either hold the lock and press the unlock 3 times, releasing both buttons at the same time on the 3rd press, or the same procedure with the buttons the other way around. (hole unlock while pressing lock) If nothing seems to work then you might have a problem somewhere else in the system and should bring it in to the dealer for diagnosis.

But as for the lack of responses on this issue, there are quite a few different things that could cause the problem. But what gets me is that the interior lights come on, but the doors don't unlock? That's weird... because that means the vehicle sees the buttons being pressed. Did you check the central locking fuses by chance? (if only problems were ever that easy)

Thanks for the response.

Yes, the cabin light turns on indicating that the remote is recognized. Also, the remote successfully opens the rear hatch.

The center console button doesn't work either, car on or off.

Checked the fuses. They are fine. The locks do work when the key is inserted into the door.

You are right, it is really weird.

So it doesn't work from the console switch either, Hmmmm... It could be in the general module, but could be a number of other things as well. If you're computer is windows based, and you're on internet explorer... and have java and adobe svg viewer up to date... play around in the "online WDS" link at the top of the page and find the wiring diagram and operational descriptions for the central locking system and wireless remote system. Then you can try getting to the root of it without the dealers diagnosis.

Interesting. Unfortunately none of it makes sense yet (especially the fact that the button on the center console doesn't work). Looking at the wiring notes reminded me that I've had the siren disconnected for about a year. I wonder if it sensed that on power up (new battery) and disabled the locking. Tomorrow I'm going to try connecting the siren and disconnecting the battery again, shorting the terminals and hope that it resets itself. Will post an update then.

Thanks.

okay..the dealer told me it was the general module...how do i fix this?

Unfortunately after replacing the module it has to be encoded to the vehicle, thus meaning the dealer may be the only option...

I just tried the disconnect the battery and short the terminals routine. Didn't change anything. I guess I'll be calling the dealership. Is this module something that is usually replaced or reprogrammed?

As a side note, I called the dealership this morning and played the fool asking if I could just change the battery myself and if there was anything to watch out for or do differently than a normal battery change. The answer was no. They said that I may lose the radio and seat settings but that was all.

Will post another update after dealership...