another door lock problem

[jiminEcricket]

i have an 89' 525i . today i went to lowes for odds & ends, lock the doors w/the key as i always do with no problem . when i come out , i cannot unlock any doors (no actuator sounds, nothing) i tried the manual unlock procedure to no avail. i can see the lock knob "trying" to move on both front doors ,but they don't move up enough to unlock the door. fortunately for me i left the sunroof propped up, enabling me to get a bent coathanger around the lock knob to be pulled by a friend while i played w/the key. still did not work.at this point i'm wondering if the battery(only 1 yr old) is bad,or is the problem isolated to the lock circuit,but i cannot get in to try any other systems. so as i write this ,i wait for lowes to close so the tow truck can bring it to me as they cannot get a flat bed to hook up to it in such a crowded parking lot.when i called ,the bill was $40.00, but now since they have to wait until after business hours ,it's $75.00 unfortunately i left the sunroof propped up so i feel uncomfortable leaving it anywhere too long.i figured i would just WALK to the local Minute Mart & get a beer to ease the stress, BUT,oh wait , my i.d. is in the car w/ my wallet. ARRGGHH!!!

[ve39]

Hey man my guess you left the lights on what you do is go to the passenger side put the key in the lock turn it then get the hendle up then you'll be able to turn the key even more this will open your door thats how i did it on my 89 525 so try it i dunno why it didn't work on drivers side door but it did work on the passenger side

[ck1995]

When my fusible link blew I had the same problem. Kept trying manual unlock and wouldn't work, finally tried passenger side and it worked.

[jiminEcricket]

thanks for the advice. i didn't leave the lights on & now i believe the problem "may" be isolated to the lock circuit. i am going to try to get in it today. i can open the trunk and the light there is very strong , so i know the battery is not dead. where is this fusible link ? if i can't get the door open , maybe i can pop the hood from the outside and replace the link if it's under the hood? again thanks

[jiminEcricket]

i finally got the drivers door open, the manual unlock never did seem to work. now that i have broken off my 4 month old key in the lock . i need to get under the back seat bottom to check the general module, fuses and relay BUT , now i can't get the seat bottom out w/o removing two bolts at the outer edges, which i can't get to because i can't get the rear doors open. is there any trick to getting the rears open when they are locked? this car is going to give my a stroke

[632 Regal]

you could try jumping power to the lock system and go from there??? idonno, Id try it.

[jiminEcricket]

ck1995, you were right my fusible (80A) link in the engine compt. had a hairline crack in it ,causing total power loss to the rear fuse panel. causing in-op door locks,int.lights and power windows. i just wish i knew where this link was prior to breaking my key off in the door lock.so now 110.00 later i will have the new key and lock cylinder to install , but i try to look at the bright side , at least i did not have to buy the 250-350 dollar general module. thanks for all you guys's help.

[genphreak]

It is hard to get right, but it works. If you ever get locked out again, you'll be heaping praise on BMW instead of breaking keys and (perhaps you didn't but I would be) getting royally p'd off!

I was amazed when I had to use it... after a little while presto! I know how hard these cars are to break into - was thanking my lucky stars...

U never know, perhaps that fuse was bad for a reason (doubt it).

Basically you wait with the key in the passenger lock turned to the fully locked position. Then you turn s-l-o-w-l-y to the unlock position (whilst starting lifting the handle along the way). You'll see that lock start moving and then pop. No battery required... Brilliant! GP