RE: e30 central lock

[Alex Fadeev <Alex.Fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> >2) It's a fairly
> >complex job to get all those parts in exactly the right place.  The
> >directions are auf Deutsch and not very helpful even when translated.
> >Only you can judge for yourself by looking at the old lock cylinder
> >whether or not you would feel comfortable assembling one of them.
> >
> >- --
> >  John Bolhuis 
> >
> Damn you stopped me right in my tracks, i was going to go get 
> the cylinder tonight. 

Dave,
	Keying a lock is very simple! I had tried it for the first time in
my life on my E30's driver door and had it working within 1/2 hour. 
	Yes, German directions are marginally useless. But the process
itself is _very_ straight forward. 

> Does putting in the lock cylinder require
> expertise or would a mechanic fool around for hours trying to fix
> it just like the way I will.

	Over the (few) years of BMW ownership I had found that there is
_nothing_ a skilled mechanic can not fool around with for hours assuming you
are footing the bill. Your local dealer will agree to re-key a lock for 2.5
hours of labor (and tell your to forget about doing this yourself). My
former independent mechanic (Twin Star in Richmond VA - great guys) in VA
quoted a flat rate of $75. Now that I am in TX, local independent mechanics
will either screw up the procedure or charge twice the dealer rate.

	Anyway, I digress. 
	The "hardest" part is getting the cylinder out of the door.
Unsnapping the interior door panel without breaking any plastic pins plus
removing the lock cylinder by sliding the metallic C-wedge (rotated 180
degrees) that jams the lock to the door may take up to 1/2 hour of
procrastination.
	Once the lock is out, take it indoors, lay it out on the table next
to the replacement kit and be patient.
	The lock is 'keyed' by inserting a number of (6 or 8?) tumblers into
the lock cylinder. The tumblers are numbered and are all of different
length. Once you insert the key into the lock cylinder, the key will move
the tumblers up depending on the cuts in your key. If the key "fits", all
the tumblers will settle flush with the top of the key cylinder allowing it
to freely rotate inside the lock housing. Thus you can lock/unlock the door.
There are 2 additional tumblers at the end of the lock cylinder that control
turning beyond 45 degrees to enable/disable the dead lock. Now you know why
the wallet key can not unlock a dead locked car - it does not have the right
ridges to settle the last 2 tumblers flush with the cylinder surface to
allow the cylinder to rotate full 90 degrees. 
	Very mechanical. Very simple!
	Enough theory. 
	Now you will want to carefully disassemble the old lock. The
tumblers are loaded with springs, so be careful disassembling the old lock
or the tumblers might fly all over the table. You can still re-key the new
lock by fitting tumblers one by one so that they 'fit' your key. But is a
lot simpler and faster to write down the tumbler numbers off your old
cylinder and then put them back into the new cylinder in the same order. 
	Now double check that it works, liberally grease the cylinder with
the provided oil and put it all back in your car.
	Your are done! 
	Go put it back in the car and have a beer. 

> I would like to do it myself but if a
> Tech can do it in an hour I would rather pay and not waste a Saturday.
> I had the patience to replace SI batteries how would this compare?

	The same, only 100% mechanical and there is no chance to solder
through the SI board. 

have fun,
alex


P.S: If I missed something, send corrections to David before he takes apart
his car. You might also want to check the digest archives for the same time
last year. I was asking the exactly the same questions and getting a lot of
good answers when I was replacing my lock.

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End of bmw-digest V9 #318
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