I have a 1999 E39 528. About a week ago my front passenger side door would not open from either the inside hande or the outside lock. All other doors work fine. I can hear the electronic locking mechanism working inside the door, but the door won't open. I tried removing the interior handle and manually pulling on the cable, however that didn't work. I went to the dealer who told me that they would have to pry the interior door panel off with the door closed, and said it would be a minimum of 5-6 hours and $600. Any ideas on causes or solutions to this problem would be greatly appreciated!!
i would tear the inside of the door panel off myself and take a look to see whats wrong. once you can find out the broken part, then your next step is to find that part and install it.
I tried that, however the door panel is impossible to remove without breaking when the door is closed, and a new door panel would be that much anyway....I would love to make this a DIY project if at all possible though
DO NOT RIP OFF THE INTERIOR DOOR PANEL. I have the same issue and read somewhere (don't recall where I read it) once you get the panel off, you can slide it towards the rear of the car and that should get you just enough room to do what you have to do to solve the problem. Make sure the lock or the stay closed thingy it's wire is connected, pull on the cable that should do the trick.
DO NOT
take the panel apart when the door is open then shut the door and lock it and see what happens. the moving parts in the door dont rely on the door panel so its safe to remove when the door is open.
take the panel apart when the door is open then shut the door and lock it and see what happens. the moving parts in the door dont rely on the door panel so its safe to remove when the door is open.
i have the same problem the door does not open anyway
bmw 528 1997 the rear left door dose not open,
i open the panel from inside and knock on the machen with scrow driver and its works after one day its stop opening again i reopen the door panel from inside and hit it again but now way to work l look at it very carfully to see what is the problem but i see nothing wrong, what can i do now?
I had a similar issue, except I was able to unlock/open the door from the outside. You have a very odd situation as I wasn't able to find anything on Google about it either. The only thing I found about having doors get stuck is having them frozen shut which obviously does not apply here.
I wonder if a lock smith might be able to use a slim jim or something to work the mechanism from the outside. I guess it's worth the call to a locksmith.
It has to be a problem with the actuator, its a black box connected to the lock mechanism, it does unclip ....but its a pain in the arse to get off, then you will be able to get a hooked coat hanger and pull the toggle on the lock mechanism, downwards I think, maybe upwards I cant remember, and open the door.
You see that hook near #8 thats the hook you have to hook , #2 is the actuator which you have to remove 1st to allow you to get to the hook, as the actuator is hooked to the hook , if you see what I mean.
you see the hook near #8 thats the toggle mentioned which is connected to #2 the actuator, so you have to remove the actuator to get to the toggle and pull up or down.
you see the hook near #8 thats the toggle mentioned which is connected to #2 the actuator, so you have to remove the actuator to get to the toggle and pull up or down. Then the door will open.
^^^ dont know what the hell happened there as it wouldnt upload as you can see from the wording tried 3 times so cancelled and wrote it again and now its all appeared weird!!
I have the same problem with front passenger door i haven't found anyone that has any ideas on this. i see and hear the door locks go up and down as i lock and unlock door but neither inside or outside handle will open it. taking the panel off while closed is tough because you can pry it off in some areas but where the air duct on the door meets the body there is a screw holding the panel in so that sounds lke a dead end unless you dont mind breaking it.
i really dont want to go to the dealer because i believe its an easy fix as long as its open. if anyone has any ideas please let us know ill try anything at this point
It is possible to remove the door panel with the door closed, very difficult but possible. Plan to break the door panel because the odds are against you.
You need to pull the panel back far enough to see the push rod that causes the lock mechanism to open. See if you can stick your hand in and pull it. That should release the door.
I used a dremmel w a right ange attachment to hack at it. U may not have to. It depends on what ur issue is. Prying at it or pulling the rods may get it open. 1 last tip- disconnect the battery before u start. Unscrew 4 bolts holding the airbag,unplug and set aside. If this is removed while battery is connected it will trip ur airbag lite
The panel that is upholstered where your elbow sits can be removed followed by the removal of the airbag that is right under that panel generally speaking you will damage the damaged tabs that hold this panel in place but it can be put back with a little ingenuity. Opening the door can be accomplished with a little tool made out of wire with a hockey stick on end. This tool can be placed in a slot at the bottom of the locking mechanism that you can feel through the hole that you have created by removing the airbag unit. Removing the airbag unit can be a dicey Thang. I disconnected the battery prior to removing it. I made a YouTube video demonstrating the use of this homemade small tool to open the door latch mechanism.
I posted this on youtube under the name marshoemaker. E39 door wont open from inside or outside. I fought with my door latch for hours before I figured this out. There is no way to get the inner door facing off with the door closed.
Sometimes if you call the BMW guys and ask your question they will help you. BMW is about their customers and the cars. They have always helped me for no cost. Just good car people. Never hurts to ask.
OK I have a 2008 BMW 528i and I had the same problem were the drivers side door would not open either inside or outside. what I did was take the door lock plug off and pulled the top of the panel which is held on by clips off I had about 1 inch clearance to see inside the door. Thank God I knew where the interior door handle mechanism cable connected to the metal clip that opens the door. You can see that by popping off the panel on the passenger door to see how it all connects. Make sure you disconnect the negative terminal on the battery before you do this or you may screw up your airbag. I took a metal BBQ skewer bout 20 inches long and bent the tip(1/4 inch long) 90 degrees. The clip is just below the end of the door lock where there is a screw head right below so you have to go past the screw head and there is a cavity that holds the metal clip, turn the skewer 90 degrees to get into the cavity and push down. This opened the door for me but it took about 30 tries to get it to catch the clip. Good luck!
What fixed this for me was replacing fuse 28 in the interior fuse panel under the passenger dash.
Same symptoms - pulling thrall inside handle lifted the lock but it always dropped back and the door wouldn't open. A bit of contortions and you can do this without the door open.
Fuse 27 and 28 but it was 28 for me.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
BMW Werkz
668.8K posts
97.6K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to all BMW owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more for your favorite models!