e34 driver door not closing

[Kalevera]

It's fairly common that, after years of being lubricated with silicon spray and derivatives, the latch mechanism will gunk up and stick. The problem is accentuated in the cold.

The remedy is to remove the latch from the door and thoroughly clean it. Ideally in a parts washer, but doable with a can of brake cleaner.

The latch is easy to remove, but the process is not entirely obvious as various mounting hardware are obscured and hidden. There is at least one Torx T55 (could be T50, not clear in my mind at the moment) hidden under the secondary weatherstripping that surrounds the perimeter of the door. You may also need to loosen the window regulator guide so that the latch will clear the door frame on removal. The most difficult part of the job is reconnecting the action rod between the latch and the door handle mechanism.

[Spjarv]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

I haven't yet gotten the chance to remove door panels (horrible weather), but I tried some things on the lock. My passenger side door lock knob goes down if you use central locking even while the door is open, but if you try this on drivers side now, all the other doors knobs will go down, then bounce back up, while driver's door does nothing. Kinda makes me wonder if the problem could be related to the actuator or the whole locking system.

Originally I figured it would be just some dumb mechanical jam/breakage in the drivers door. The problem with the door lock knob not reacting makes me wonder tho. Gotta try to work on it tomorrow, hopefully I'll be wiser after that.

[632 Regal]

might want to try syncing them first.

all the other doors knobs will go down, then bounce back up,

[andmd]

That's exactly what happened to me. The actuator was broken. And, for the record, don't try to take it apart and JB Weld it back together (unless you've nothing better to do; it's not hard) because it doesn't last. But yes, do try synching it first.

When you lock the doors, does the driver's-side knob move at all, even just a tiny bit?

My passenger side door lock knob goes down if you use central locking even while the door is open, but if you try this on drivers side now, all the other doors knobs will go down, then bounce back up, while driver's door does nothing. Kinda makes me wonder if the problem could be related to the actuator or the whole locking system.

[Spjarv]

Driver door actuator's prolly doing nothing, no movement of the knob. The driver side lock has been acting up a bit earlier this fall too, had to use passenger side lock sometimes.

Did you have problems with closing the door too in addition to the lock not working? For a layman, it feels a bit strange that the latch that just keeps the door shut would be dependant on the actuator etc when closing the door... but it also sounds a bit far-fetched to think those 2 things just happened at once by chance.

Hope I get my baby fixed up for her 17th birthday next week

[andmd]

Yeah, my door didn't latch on occasion. I had to drive home from work once holding the door shut. If the lock's not in the right position, the mechanical latch won't activate when you shut the door. If you've got a spare hour, remove the door panel (being careful not to break the plastic clips out of their position on the panel), unhook the actuator and turn the key in the lock to give it power and see if it does anything. The actuator is a black plastic box, roughly 3 inches long, with a rubber wiring boot on one end and a white plastic rod sticking out of the other. There's a loop in the end of the white plastic rod through which hooks a metal piece that's connected to the locking mechanism. The actuator should be connected to the door by two Torx screws, and there's a metal clip that keeps the wiring boot connected. It's not a terribly complicated process, and there's a writeup online. I'll try to find it.

Edit: Here's the site: http://www.bmw4life.com/doorLockActuator.htm.
It won't be the same as your setup, but it should give you an idea of where to go. BTW, you don't need to remove the actual door lock mechanism.

Driver door actuator's prolly doing nothing, no movement of the knob. The driver side lock has been acting up a bit earlier this fall too, had to use passenger side lock sometimes.

Did you have problems with closing the door too in addition to the lock not working? For a layman, it feels a bit strange that the latch that just keeps the door shut would be dependant on the actuator etc when closing the door... but it also sounds a bit far-fetched to think those 2 things just happened at once by chance.

Hope I get my baby fixed up for her 17th birthday next week