Drivers door lock malfunction

[Tcdoe]

Ever since I bought the car I noticed that the lock on the drivers door is stiffer than on the passenger side (I don't have keyless entry, yet). The drivers side lock started acting up recently, here are the symptoms:

- Turning the key in the drivers side lock won't open any of the doors when the door is closed.
- If I open the door and turn the key in the lock it works normally.
- I can lock the doors normally, whether the door is open or closed.

So I have to open the doors by turning the key in the passenger side lock, however this won't always open the drivers door so then I have to open the left rear door and reach for the knob on the front door.

Hope that wasn't too confusing :)

Is this kind of thing common on e34s? I haven't removed the door panel yet but I'll do it soon. Any tips on what could be wrong?

Oh btw, I saw one of those cheap aftermarket keyless entry systems made by a company called Sikura for ~$50. Anyone have any experience with that?

[shogun]

Go to my website and then click the link to Johan and Sean's E32 site. Look for doorlock, door microswitch, broken doorlock bracket etc etc.
Good instructions with nice pics.
Anyway, you have to remove the door panels to see it. W/o it is just a speculation.

[Tcdoe]

Thanks, looks like it could be the microswitch..

One thing I don't understand though, is why the lock works fine when the door is open?

[Javier]

specially the flexible section from the door to the pillar. Guess it have a lot to do with the fact that opening/closing have different behavior, even more if you note that if the door is not fully closed, but almost, act as if the door was closed.

Javier

[Tcdoe]

Good idea, thanks. I'll have to look into that tomorrow.