Well, I finally friggin' did it

[Hector]

I had to tow my car to another section of the parking lot cause of pavement construction. (Remember I've been working on this thing for many months and I'm almost done.) With all the commotion, me being pist because of the short notice to move the car... I left the keys in the ignition switch and locked the car. I don't have a spare and the dealer said it'll cost me $100 to get one made in Germany and FedEx. It'll take 3 to 4 days--not bad. Is there another way (cheaper too) to retrieve the freakin' key?

[Jimmy535i]

Take Vin # to dealer. I got key next day $78.00

Wow. Same thing happened to me this year.

[bimmerd00d]

unfortunately, if you double locked the car, the only way is to have the key. Also, the central locking mechanism is under teh rear seat, so that's not going to be any easier.

[632 Regal]

how can you lock yourself out???

Maybe I dont want to know?

[Hector]

Just ordered the key. The clown I spoke to yesterday at the dealer said it would cost $100 and take 3 to 4 days to deliver. When I spoke to another more competent guy this morning he charged me $46 and should get the key in tomorrow. Excellent...

[Garlic Breath]

I take it you can't use a slim jim?

[Paul in NZ]

how did you lock it in.On my car you cannot push the drivers button down unless the door is actually closed

[Hector]

Garlic Breath:
I talked to several people about a slim jim, even a locksmith. One guy told me that it is almost impossible to break in the car which is a good thing. I heard from another guy, a BMW rep, that if I can find a real but real good locksmith that he might be able to break in without causing any meaningful damage. Another guy, Ian from Bavarian Autosport, said that the placement of the door locking mechanism behind the door panel virtually makes it impossible to use a slim jim. So hearing that there is a high degree of uncertainty to unlock the car, it was enough from not to pursue this route. I'll just be pateint and wait for the key.

Initially, just as a test, I gently pried the door with a screwdriver to see if I had enough room to insert a stiff piece of wire with a hook. Since the battery, and therefore the locking mechanism had been disengaged, I thought it shouldn't be that hard to hook the door lock with the wire and pull it up. The thing was that I'd have to use quite a bit of prying force to get a good gap to insert the wire but didn't like how the whole scenario was looking so I stop.

Paul in NZ:
After I had parked the car after towing, and got out of the car to untie the nylon rope from around the front xmember, got back in the car through the passenger side and locked the drivers side by hand. Then I getting out from the passenger side I locked the door by hand as well. Forgot to pull the keys from the switch. When the battery is disconnected, I can only get in the car from the passenger side with simultaneous lift of door handle and turning key clockwise, you know, the usual drill as layed out in Bently.

You can't shut the drivers door when the door is locked because it will unlock itself after the door is shut. You can do this, however, with the pasenger side. So you are right, I see the same thing.