[Beemw335]

You have to open the door manualy and then pull the trunk realese latch through the ski access "hole"

[518N55]

when i did this i had bad jumper cables too.... tow truck was on the way when I tried another set. Now I always fold down the backseat just incase

[ronny214]

I had to jumper mine to get it open....happened once and I bought jumper cables specifically for this to keep in the car. However, smart me put the jumper cables in the trunk so when the battery died guess what? I can't get to my jumper cables! I bought some nice ones from wal-mart that include a handy bag so just slide them under the seat and you'll be fine.

[MrO]

OK... So I have a 2010 135i. I was charging the battery in-place in the trunk with the negative battery cable disconnected. Closed the trunk lid and yup...couldn't get back in as the trunk latch is electric release.

Previous posts were correct, it's an easy solution, and a wise design by the BMW folks in lieu of a key latch or cable bypass.

I found this website : http://www.bavauto.com/ It has a complete list of beemers and the under hood electrical connections for this problem.
As posted, most of the Beemers have a positive electrical terminal in the engine compartment. In my 135i it's right behind the windshield washer fill reservoir, red-capped and marked as a "+" terminal.
Connect a set of jumper cables from a donor car to the terminal. (red to the terminal and black to a metal bracket in the engine compartment with good chassis ground connection)

You don't even have to start up the donor cars engine. Go back to the trunk and use the key fob button to open the trunk lid. Easy-cheesy.. Reconnected the negative battery terminal to the battery when the charge was complete. Car started right up and no reprogramming of anything required...

Cheers,

Mark (SF Bay Area)

[Sidewinderpb]

I crawled through the ski thing hahah.

[Andrewe92]

hope I never have to go through this haha

[dowmein]

I have a 2011 328i and just ran into this problem over the weekend. Jumping didn't work for me and I don't have any skill in messing with fuse box wires

I managed to solve it, but with a bit of brute force. Please read fully and take your time as it may be possible to damage something if you aren't careful.

Remove the bottom of the rear seat.

Unscrew the two Torx 50 screws at the bottom center of the back rest.

On both sides of the back rest, where the seat meets the doors, there are two black bucklelike metal strips that slide into black metal sheathes hidden underneath plastic that runs to the floor.

If you pry the strips out of the sheathes, it is possible to make enough space underneath the back rest to gain a line of sight of the emergency trunk release. Then just use a copper clothes hanger to reach in.

Take a hammer and SLOWLY pry from the bottom of the back rest. Start from where the two metal strips the T50 screws were attached to are protruding.

Use an object to chock the space you've already pried to keep the chair stable and make it easier to progress.

To reseat the back rest, you'll have to fully remove the back rest from inside the trunk using a screw driver. There are videos showing how to do this.



Posting this because this is the first result when I googled the problem. I hope noone has to tow their car just to pop their trunk. :C

[JayKno]

I almost did this while installing my JB4. I figured there would have been an easier way if it happened. So glad I didnt!

[maxihari]

+1

OK... So I have a 2010 135i. I was charging the battery in-place in the trunk with the negative battery cable disconnected. Closed the trunk lid and yup...couldn't get back in as the trunk latch is electric release.

Previous posts were correct, it's an easy solution, and a wise design by the BMW folks in lieu of a key latch or cable bypass.

I found this website : http://www.bavauto.com/ It has a complete list of beemers and the under hood electrical connections for this problem.
As posted, most of the Beemers have a positive electrical terminal in the engine compartment. In my 135i it's right behind the windshield washer fill reservoir, red-capped and marked as a "+" terminal.
Connect a set of jumper cables from a donor car to the terminal. (red to the terminal and black to a metal bracket in the engine compartment with good chassis ground connection)

You don't even have to start up the donor cars engine. Go back to the trunk and use the key fob button to open the trunk lid. Easy-cheesy.. Reconnected the negative battery terminal to the battery when the charge was complete. Car started right up and no reprogramming of anything required...

Cheers,

Mark (SF Bay Area)

[N55Jamaican]

Originally Posted by samchoi604

You have to make damn well sure that you do not disconnect the battery and then close the trunk. There will be no way to open the trunk again without a whole lot of hassle, because the trunk is electronically controlled.

Two members did that... one ended up having a technician drive to his car (which was at the port), and then send a short electrical spark to one of the wires inside the glove box to simulate the trunk opening button. The other member unbolted his rear seats to access the trunk.

To find more info on which of these wires in the fuse box you can send current to to open your trunk. In my case the trunk got shut with the positive terminal disconnected and It seems the the emergency cable inside the trunk is broken too. I had already pulled down the fuse box to sort out a different issue. So no biggie

Use thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyjRqzv1cpA

[katsooba]

If it worked on my 2010 e82 i guess it can work for anyone else here in the same position
Depending on a ski access feature

Using the ski access i got to the seat folding handles in the trunk
Folded the seats
Crawelled into the trunk with a flat head screwedriver and removed the 8 retaining clips of the trunk door liner

It then exposed a mechanical cable to pull on and open the trunk

Then i just made a bicycle shifter cable extention under the rear seats so i could pull on it everytime i need to from inside the car

[murrydan]

I just ran into this problem with my 2011 E90.

Here's a quick fix:

1. Remove just enough trim to remove the plastic from under the glovebox.
2. Disconnect the 2 wiring harnesses to the junction box behind the glovebox and push them aside.
3. Search through the dozen or so wires in the back right-hand corner of the junction box and find the gray wire with a green stripe.
4. Shave a bald spot on on the wire and expose some copper.
5. Hit it with 12v and listen for the trunk actuator to open.

Worked like a charm for me.

[tcabill]

If your stuck in the garage use a good battery charger with at least a 20amp fast charge. Hook it up in the engine compartment like the manual says and give it about a minute and you'll hear the modules in the car wake up, go push the trunk button.

[Toome]

Same thing happened to me. All I had to do was hook the jumper terminals in the front up to another car, and that provided enough power to pop the trunk. That should work as long as the disconnected battery cable isn't touching anything metal. No point in ripping apart your interior.

[Jgcdude1]

Originally Posted by Toome

Same thing happened to me. All I had to do was hook the jumper terminals in the front up to another car, and that provided enough power to pop the trunk. That should work as long as the disconnected battery cable isn't touching anything metal. No point in ripping apart your interior.

Worked for my 2011 E93.

[Adieu]

Do the glovebox thing, DON'T break into trunk via the emergency cable.... messed up my locking mechanism, and it still wont lock properly after replacing it.

Reason for "jump" method not working is the battery (+) connector laying against the chassis in the trunk (cant believe friggin bimmer didnt think to paint the compartment with something that doesnt conduct electricity)

[Mattdrino]

I have a 2010 e90 328xi and i tried doing the ski hatch, didnt work. Tried using the terminals, didnt work (i have the positive terminal disconnected) going to try the glove box now

[Al3029]

I know this is an old post, but happened to me on my E93. Grabbed a hanger and was able to pull the glow hook through golf hatch!

[opjose]

There is a thread here that shows you how to activate the release solenoid directly from the fuse block with, if I recall correctly a 9v battery.

[EssexAl]

Did this to myself today. Turned a 15 minute job into a 4 hour one (not the first time!).

Glovebox route is legit, some pics:

View post on imgur.com

[FireBlaze]

In case this happens to someone else. The easiest way to open the trunk with the battery disconnected is hook up a portable car battery jumper box to the front terminals and the car will awake. I used the small portable USB charger from Amazon on my car and it worked fine. Using regular jumper cables and another car also works.

[N52gettin_sideways]

Originally Posted by FireBlaze

In case this happens to someone else. The easiest way to open the trunk with the battery disconnected is hook up a portable car battery jumper box to the front terminals and the car will awake. I used the small portable USB charger from Amazon on my car and it worked fine. Using regular jumper cables and another car also works.

I was replacing my alternator and my friend closed the trunk. I have the negative terminal disconnected and I cannot get any power to work through jumping it under the hood or connecting a 12 volt to the green and gray wire under the glove compartment. I'm not sure if I have some sort of electrical issue that happened, everything was working fine before what I thought was alternator went bad. Maybe it's something else? Weird.