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After putting some things in the back seat we left the drive way and found the left rear door had not closed properly and was actually opening. I stopped and tried to shut it but it wouldn't latch. We went back home (one block) and tried cycling the keyless entry. This latched the door shut but now it won't open so I can't get the door panel off to investigate the problem. Both the inside and outside handles do nothing. I tried locking and unlocking while holding the handles open but don't really know what is wrong.
Any suggestions??
just a thought... disconnect battery a few hours ;-) reconnect and then let's see...
you prolly scratching your head and wondering why?
the logic:
in order to figure this one out whether the prob is electronic or mechanical... and then you can proceed.
I finally got motivated and fixed the problem. First I took off the passenger door panel to see where the lock mechanism was and how it worked. Then I carefully pried back the rear end of the leather trim insert in the area of the lock mechanism on the driver side door panel. Next I cut through the hard shell material behind the leather panel and left a lip around the edge to maintain the shape. Now I have access to the lock mechanism from inside. As it turned out there are two different cables that go to the latch. One of these cables had gotten kinked over and held the mechanism in limbo (unable to lock or unlock). I popped it lose and put some good ole wd-40 on everthing for good measure. Once the door was open I took off the door panel the rest of the way and contact cemented everything back in place. Works like a charm and there is no visible damage to the door panel, and best of all it cost nothing but glue!
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97 528i Left Rear Door won't open!! 
Linear Mode
