325e : Central Locking Failed

[Christopher Pawlowicz <chrisp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

murari sez
>All of a sudden, the central locking/unlocking on my  86 325e
>has failed. This happened when I was trying to unlock the 
>front passenger door (all four doors were locked at the time).
>
> - I'm able to lock/unlock the driver's door, but it does not
>   do anything to the locks in the other doors.
> 
> - I'm able to open the front passenger door by turning the
>   key slightly (as if I were unlocking it) while pulling on
>   the door handle.
>
> - the two rear doors are locked - I cannot release the locks
>   even by pulling on the buttons from inside the vehicle.
>

check my faq (various locations, but available from:)
ftp://ftp.doe.carleton.ca/pub/chrisp/bmw/central.lock.faq
ftp://ftp.doe.carleton.ca/pub/chrisp/bmw/central.lock.pdf

what has happened is 
a) the door lock cylinder has failed, 'double lock' is engaged and you can't
 disengage it or
b) the microswitch has moved out of alignment and is still signaling the
 computer to double lock the car or
c) the A pillar connector has corrosion and is not letting the signals get
 through to the computer

as far as opening the passenger door with the key and pulling on the handle-
that is a secret undocumented way of opening the car when double locked


chris pawlowicz
'89 325i
'74 2002

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