Door won't open - Fixed! See First Post

E

EdButler

Senior member
Sheffield
Hi all, I'm normally one to offer help but this has me stumped!

I'm in the middle of fixing my roof motor, and the pax door is stuck shut! I need to open it to finish the job unfortunately! This makes the car pretty hard to drive to a garage also :(

The internal and external door handle don't work. I've taken the back side of the door card off, and manually operated the mechanism to rule out the cables but that didn't work either - there is not the usual click of resistance you get when the lock releases. When operating the locks with the key it sounds like they are working fine. I have also tried lifting/pulling/pushing the door while trying to unlock to no avail.

The only thing I can think it's the door latch (not lock) is physically stuck within the lock?

FIXED!!! See Below

This is a common problem for BMW's as they all share the same door lock! The problem was that the latch was so gummed up that it was stuck closed. You therefore have to free it off with the door closed! I tried lots of wiggling to no avail - so i had to take the door card off first - God knows why the images are in crazy directions, tehy look fine on Photobucket!! Just click on them to expand, theyll be the correct way up!.


Undo the screws (Behind inner release handle, Grab Handle, and airbag tag) and push the door card with something which is sympathetic to Leather (my door cards are leather, i think some are plastic?) Wood is usually a good bet, or a plastic pry bar. Once you do this, you can see some (enough thankfully) of the lock mechanism.

If your bowden cable for the inner door handle is snagged or stretched, first try pushing down where it meets the lock (red circle). If that doesnt work, then your lock is likely stuck. In this case, spray some Graphite grease, WD40, Brake Cleaner, or any parts cleaner/lube into the lock where marked. I just used a slim tin of WD40 and a straw. This freed my lock. Hurray! :D



Be sure to clean all the gunk out of the lock and activate it many times while cleaning (move it to all positions by hand and the releasing with the handle). It is advised not to use WD40 to lube the lock - you should use graphite grease. If you clean/lube it regularly however, some PTFE/Grease will do just fine :)
 
Yes mate, the pin moves and the door 'sounds' as though it's working correctly.

I've just seen a thread saying that the latch can get jammed. The hard part will be trying to get to it, to free it!
 
Hi,
Try pushing the door in..more closed and then at the same time try the handle, the latch might be under tension stopping it from flicking up (open). Maybe something is jammed in the door that is causing this tension :)
 
This happened to me. Try reaching inside the door and where the external bowden cable fits into the actuator there is a black rubber boot sleeved around the cable. Pull this boot out from the clips so the cable end is free and the door should release. I had tried taking the slack out of the cable on mine where the external door wouldn't open and that's when mine jammed shut.
 
Thanks for the replies all. I have already tried all suggestions unfortunately. The latch seems jammed and even wobbling the door wont free it. Im going to try get some penetrating lube in there somehow tonight. If not, try some kind of slim-jim action to free the lock with a welding rod.

I also had a little idea last night - Im going to try and cycle the lock mechanism repeatedly with the engine on. The extra 2 volts to the relay may give it a bit more impact to loosen off.
 
Hi, the images are no longer on this post, does anyone have the original images by any chance? The same thing seems to have happened to my door :-(
 
Had the same problem as jamesditchy, i've got a stretched Bowden and took everything apart to remove the slack from the cable. The door works perfect the fine for a while until the latch doesn't have enough room to reset and jams from both interior and exterior.

Is the a way of adjusting the latch biting point or should i just fork out to get the new handle carrier and bowden?
 
[ref]mattyl1990[/ref],
Had the same problem some time ago.
Actually there were 4 attempts to solve it, got a new bowden - 2 months then stuck closed again.
Then got a used latch off ebay - only a week and stuck.
Then got a brand new latch - 1 month and stuck.
And lastly decided to replace handle carrier and finally realised what I did wrong over time, and hope it will help someone:

Long story short there are two variants of upper bowden bracing that without seeing it feel equally right (at least for me). The wrong one (easy to guess which one, I suppose) leads exactly to "not enough room to reset".
photo_2019-06-30_22-48-56.jpg
photo_2019-06-30_22-48-52.jpg
 
Forgot to mention a quick fix for those who have "door stuck closed", without even disassembling anything. You'll need a stud or spike ~60cm length with a hook bent at one side, a flashlight and window down. With the help of flashlight there will be a bowden visible through the window trim opening, all you have to do is either pull the lower bowden bracing upwards or pry the bowden out of lower bracing if it doesn't help.
 
allx said:
[ref]mattyl1990[/ref],
Had the same problem some time ago.
Actually there were 4 attempts to solve it, got a new bowden - 2 months then stuck closed again.
Then got a used latch off ebay - only a week and stuck.
Then got a brand new latch - 1 month and stuck.
And lastly decided to replace handle carrier and finally realised what I did wrong over time, and hope it will help someone:

Long story short there are two variants of upper bowden bracing that without seeing it feel equally right (at least for me). The wrong one (easy to guess which one, I suppose) leads exactly to "not enough room to reset".
Click to expand...

This post solved my problem thank you. I changed the bowden cable and had refitted it as per your first photo thinking that was right. It looked ok and the door would work... for a while.
I have just refitted it as per the second photo, which was a right PITA as there is not much roof to get your fingers in! I ended up taking the door handle and it's frame out but now it is all back together and so far so good. :)
 
Hello! I'm a newbie to the forum and recent acquirer of a Sterling Grey 2003 Z4 and was hoping I could get some detail from Ed. My passenger door is stuck closed and I've searched/tried fixes to no avail. I've got the door card removed, have inspected the cables, removed them to manually actuate the lock to no avail. Have also tried putting pressure on the door in/out, down. My next try is the "de-gunking" but not sure where to spray the WD as the OP photo is no longer available. Details/things I've tried:

Lock actuates with both fob and central lock switch
I can move the lever that the interior and exterior door handles manually with no resistance
Disconnected the battery and reconnected to see if that resets
Followed a series of locking/unlocking, removing the connector to the actuator to reset the switch (as I've seen in other posts)
Tapped on the torx screw and the actuator itself to see if releases

Hopefully I haven't missed another suggested fix on the forum. I try to do homework before reaching out but I'm stumped! I've seen another suggestion that the actuator box may need to be "surgically" removed by chiseling it apart but I really don't want to do that. Thanks for any advice you guys might have.
 
tmark said:
I'm a newbie to the forum and recent acquirer of a Sterling Grey 2003 Z4 and was hoping I could get some detail from Ed.
Click to expand...
It seems Ed has not been active on the forum since February :idunno:
But once you've made three posts, you'll be able to send him a PM or email. So, how about introducing yourself in the newbie forum and posting a pic of your new zed :thumbsup:
 
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