Door Locks Going Crazy

[pwarren]

My 96 328is seems to be having a door lock problem. All of a suden the door locks will lock and unlock while driving and while the car is off in the garage. what is going on??????

[komodo]

Originally posted by pwarren@Jan 19 2005, 09:25 AM
My 96 328is seems to be having a door lock problem. All of a suden the door locks will lock and unlock while driving and while the car is off in the garage. what is going on??????

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Does this happen after the car is locked with the remote? If not, it's probably a short (or lose wire) in the locking button on the center console (by the shift knob), but if the car's locked by remote, it should double lock and disable that button. If it does it while locked via remote, then it's probably a short somewhere in the alarm or remote control module inside the car.

Eitherway it's probably electrical, which can be a pain, so I'd suggest having the dealer look at it. (I don't trust any shops to look at the electrial system on my car since it can get kinda complex, just me though)

Good luck!

[pwarren]

Yea, if i lock it by the remote it still does it. Go to the dealer eh??? That really sucks!!! Will the diagnistics tool that plugs in tell me anything???

[komodo]

Originally posted by pwarren@Jan 19 2005, 09:34 AM
Yea, if i lock it by the remote it still does it. Go to the dealer eh??? That really sucks!!! Will the diagnistics tool that plugs in tell me anything???

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Probably not. The diag. tool is mostly for telling you what's causing the check engine light to popup. Though there might also be a simple answer I don't know about. Don't take it to the dealer just yet, give it a few more days to see who else answers this thread first.

[frank3]

As said, usually an electrical problem (short) will cause the locks to unlock. Sometimes, locking the car a second time (with or without remote) will keep it locked in place. If it's locking/unlocking while you're driving, then it sure sounds like a short to me. I recently read on the 5-series thread that someone solved this problem by replacing some wiring at a well-know problem source...the wiring loom that is in the trunk right where the wiring bends alot at the trunk hinge area. May well be worth unwrapping the wiring covering at this spot and checking for worn wires or shorting.

One more thing to do to eliminate problem areas is to temporarily take out your remote brain which is located behind the glove box (see FAQs on how to do this). If you remove this, and your problem disappears, then you may want to look closer at that area.

Let us know how this turns out.

[victorgallas]

There is a little magic swicth on the door lock mechanism that tells the car and the window that is closed, if the swich does not make contact, the door thinks is open and so it will keep the window down as if wehn you open the door it drops the glass a little so it goes up afterwards. or it will unlock the doors, because is thinking the door is not closed.


But this failed swicth also brings weird door locking problem, door wont lock, and also interior lights going on..

if its just the window acting up,
then is the sensor inside the window motor that is gone,
this sensor tell the motor where the window is at..
so get a new motor., before doing that..

reset the window

Before you do the procedure, the top must be closed and the key off.
get in the car, lower the window all the way down, (ok turn it on to lower the window, but then turn it off). hit the window swicth next to the ignition, you know the one that cuts out window power.. then go on the engine and take the drivers door window motor fuse out. wait like a minute. then put it back in, close your hood. get into the car, then close the doors and put the key on the on position, do not start engine. hit the window swicth next to teh ignition, wait some ten seconds. then press the window swithc, to lift the window and keep holding the swicth on the up position for like 5 sec after is all the way up. then lower the window all the way down and keep holding for 5 secs.

dont forget the reset works only if the door locking swich is working.
if its not wokring, you will have to remove the whole locking mechanism to change this.. yes it is a pain;...

and as a foo note here, i do not know how are the coupes and convert. but on the sedans, besides from having the swicht on the door lock mechanism the part where the lock locks into, you know the hook that is on the door pillar on the car body, normally is black. ther is also a swicth on that, if you look closely there is a swicht on the center rectangular part of it. this can also fail. And if you plan to replace this switch, use tape or something to mark exaclty where the strikers sits on. because to adjust the position requires a bmw tool.

hope this can help.

if needed send me last 7 digits of vin, and ill send you the part number and the pic of the diagram..

the fix procedure can be found under google as e36 door lock fix.. etc.

[frank3]

window goes down on an e36 when you open close the door? Never heard of it...only on the newer 3 series.

[victorgallas]

Originally posted by frank3@Jan 19 2005, 07:44 PM
window goes down on an e36 when you open close the door? Never heard of it...only on the newer 3 series.

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no it does not..

What happened is that he asket for something that i had answered before on another post, so i just copied here.

on that post he was having trouble with a convertible and the window not working properly..

And the window goes down, by and inch.
this is standart on any e36 coupe or convert, since there is not frame around the window, the frame is the cars body, the windows goes down when opening the door, so it clear the rubber seal, and then when the door closes it goes up so the window fits on the right place on the rubber seal..

if you think this is not true. look for how the system work on z3, z4,, any bmw car that does not have a frame aroung the glass, it will do this to ensure proper window sealing.