Can't open passenger door either from inside or outside
 

2003 3.0i, 62K. I have followed BrianX54.4is detailed thread on how to unlock the stuck door by using a piece of wire.
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-fix-pics.html


But after two hours and endless amount of frustration i had to call it a day. I was able to latch the wire onto the lock mechanism and press downward while attempting to open the door from inside, but to no avail.

All other remotely actuated door locks work fine either by pressing key fob or using the button on the center console. Only the front passenger door lock is inoperable and I'm unable to open the door by manually pulling on the release handle.
What other options do i have to get this door to open? Will local locksmith be able to open it with slim Jim?


Things done so far:
-disconnected and reconnected the battery,
-tried using other set of keys,




Argggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is driving my insane :banghead::banghead::banghead:
On the other hand, every little thing on my fully loaded 13 year old Nissan Maxima with 165K works flawlessly. How come Japanese engineers can design water, windshield and fuel pumps, alternators, door and window actuators, timing chain tensioners, ac compressors, radiators and handfull others components to last well past the 150K mark and BMW designers put in parts that fall apart within 60K.

:iagree:I don't understand it either but I agree entirely. Almost scared to drive my X because it's got about a 3:1 drive:break ratio going. Every 3 drives something breaks.

I had to pay the dealer $135 to remove the panel with the door locked. Once you have the panel down you can unlock it. If I recall it was here a guy that posted a DIY on how to remove the door panel.

same thing happened to me... it sucks...

Anyways,my friend (former BMW master tech) un-did the door panel and it took him a while to get the door open...
Once he got it opened, the door opened and closed fine... i'm glad it was not an actuator because those list for $199.99
we did lube up the door lock afterwards... its F*cking stupid... I dont know why a BMW door would get stuck.

Thanks,

I would like to know how your friend managed to take off the door panel with the door closed without damaging it. I think this is the next thing i will try.

I didnt take pics but let me try to explain it...
first: drop the backseat and pull out the corner seat pillar.
Then pull off the window molding (runs up and down), mine thats the little corner shade on it. & pull off the fake wood trim. They are all held by clips (dont break the parts when you take it off)

POP out the window switch and unplug it.
Now, unscrew 3 hex screws. 1-under the window molding, 1- under the wood trim and near the door handle, 1 right below the arm rest

the door panel pops off then with clips, suggest you have rolled down the windows and have someone help u hold the panel while you unplug the DOOR LATCH, LED for door handle light, speaker, and the white light at the bottom of the door.

door panel is off, look for the latch mechanism, you can look at the side that works to try to figure out the height of the components because they are just mirror images.

***UPDATE*** X5 electrical gremlins acting up again
 

The door unlatched itself !!!! :wow:. Today, while i was getting ready to try again to unlock the stuck door and to my up most surprise the door opened simply by pulling on the outside handle !!!! Crazy :confused::yikes:

It seems that when actuator goes bad, it locks itself and the door can not be opened either from outside or inside.

I've managed to remove the door lock actuator, but it the process I've scratched the hell of out of my window tint. Honestly, I'd rather pull the auto tranny out of my maxima in the driveway than mess with that door again.

I'm getting ready to buy new actuator and I'm wondering which online vendor you guys recommend as far as the price and quality service.

Local dealer sells them for $306 plus tax. ECS tunning sells them for $194.

Lastly, is there a way to "bench" test the actuator to confirm that it is actually bad? I'm almost sure that it is bad. I've noticed that with the actuator removed, the car locks 3 functional locks when taking off from the stop. With the bad actuator still in the door, the car will not lock the lock while taking off the stop.

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/z...530i/photo.jpg

mine works fine now... 3 days now...
i'm not changing it unless it happens again

wont open again... OK I AM CHANGING THE PART!

I just got my oil filters and air filter from Tischer BMW (getBMWparts.com). Good fast order and all look pretty good. It seems like they are listing the door lock actuators for $164 + shipping.

Lol...had a good laugh with this one....turned to tears quickly tho...

Thanks a lot for the link, that is a great price !!! local dealer sells it for $306 plus tax. Already bought one from ECS for $196, still waiting for the part to ship.....:dunno:

X5 Passenger Door Won't Unlock -- Fix with pics
 

My wife's 05 4.4.i Sport passenger door was in "dead lock" when most of the power to the door was lost. Fuses were fine, tried removing one of the battery terminals, neither was the cause. Could not operate anything from the driver control or central locking (window, mirror, locks), and worst of all, could not open the passenger door from outside OR inside the vehicle. I knew that I would have to get the door open to make any kind of fix, so with a lot of elbow grease, and moving/reclining the passenger seat as far back (out of the way) as I could, I managed to remove the door panel (there are other great posts on how to remove the door panel). After farting around with the mechanism manually, I realized that it was in some special secure mode, and nothing was going to open it manually. The next move was to remove the cloth tape on the wires leading to the door lock actuator, and strip a bit of insulation back on each of the wires (see pic). This allowed me to apply 12V to the heavier gauge black and brown wires which fired the actuator and the door managed to get out of dead lock (I could not find a schematic, so do this at your own risk!) This allowed me to open the door with a big smile after few hours of swearing off BMW's. Anyway, since the fuses were fine, and so many things lost power, I was suspicious of the connection between the door wiring harness main wiring that can be found where the boot attaches near the door hinges. I opened this up and found 1) 4 pins corroded, 2) one pin corroded badly and broken off in the female end of the plug. A mess. See pic. I am now working on finding a replacement pin (local dealer shows a part number, but they don't have it -- helpful, as usual. Thanks Calgary BMW! They provided another wired lead that I am trying to salvage the pin from. I'll let you know how it goes.

ive been using turnermotorsports.com with good success

Similar problem here. 2003 X5 3.0D with kaput actuator in passenger door. Door locked shut. Have removed inner door panel and have access to actuator and latch mechanism but is in lock mode and so mechanism does not work. Have tried putting power through actuator directly as per Mackinop but unit is dead.
Already have a new actuator ready to go in which works fine when hooked up to wiring harness. But can not work out a way to get door opened with old actuator in situ. And can not remove old actuator with door shut! Is driving me nuts!
Anyone with any suggestions?

Have managed to unlock door! Had a look at a BMW document on Central Body Electrics zke111. This has a view of the internals of a door lock actuator. Shows a locking rod which is offset in double lock mode. Was able to get a hooked wire inside the actuator from side where Bowden cable attaches and disengage this locking rod, then pulling bowden cable (internal handle) released lock! Finally!
Link to pdf: http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/BMW_docs/x5zkeIII.pdf
Photos on p24.