[NigelT]

Okay, consider this an intellectual mind - bender.

320d Touring, before xmas, the passenger, rear doors won't open, tailgate and filler cap won't open. Got around to looking at car this week....flat battery. Now, can't charge car because I can't access the battery.

Any clues to this mystery? Or will anyone in the area help me to push the old girl in a lake?

[feuer]

How you mean you can't access the battery?

[NigelT]

Battery is in rear compartment. I can't get the tailgate of the tourer to open

[feuer]

Yes, but why you can't get it open? Do you have key hole on tailgate? If not you can connect charger under the hood. Also you can just apply power directly to the tailgate to open it. Wires are under the glove compartment.

[Greyfox]

Isn't it recommended to also charge the battery from the posts that are under the hood?

[gamesfrager]

What if you hook a charger to the battery terminals under the hood.
Just enough to allow you open the trunk?
Do you have the ski pass through? If that didn't work, and you don't have a key hole on the trunk; you can use that to gain access to the inside of the trunk and use something (hanger) to pull the emergency trunk release.

[tcphoto]

BMW recommends that you charge/jump the battery from the terminals under the hood.

[NigelT]

I can find the positive terminal under the hood but not a negative post. I tried to charge the battery by going positive on red post and negative to the bodywork. I managed to get some charge into the car (ignition lit up and fan started) but doors won't open. I checked the 5 fuses identified in the schematic - none seem to have blown but I replaced some that looked aged. Still nothing. I tried to start the car after 20 minutes of charging from my other car and there was a click, the speedometer and rev gauge lights went out and the car spat the key out of the fascia dock.

[N54Society]

Originally Posted by gamesfrager

What if you hook a charger to the battery terminals under the hood.

This works. I've tried it. Don't start pulling things out or jumping circuits. I had this happen to me less than 9 months ago. Disconnected battery with trunk shut. No physical keyhole, nothing. I was about to start going for the fuse box (which works too) but then I read some where that you can possibly "jump" the car to allow you to momentarily open the trunk electronically. That worked for me.

EDIT: Just read that you tried this but with no luck. When I did this, I didn't even have the battery connected in the trunk, fyi. It uses the power that comes from your charger to engage the lock. Also, I tried it with my trickle charger which is 3A but that didn't do the trick. I had to put it on my 10A charger.

[NigelT]

Originally Posted by vbp6us

This works. I've tried it. Don't start pulling things out or jumping circuits. I had this happen to me less than 9 months ago. Disconnected battery with trunk shut. No physical keyhole, nothing. I was about to start going for the fuse box (which works too) but then I read some where that you can possibly "jump" the car to allow you to momentarily open the trunk electronically. That worked for me.

What do you mean by 'Jump'? Jump start?

[nissubaru]

Originally Posted by NigelT

I can find the positive terminal under the hood but not a negative post. I tried to charge the battery by going positive on red post and negative to the bodywork. I managed to get some charge into the car (ignition lit up and fan started) but doors won't open. I checked the 5 fuses identified in the schematic - none seem to have blown but I replaced some that looked aged. Still nothing. I tried to start the car after 20 minutes of charging from my other car and there was a click, the speedometer and rev gauge lights went out and the car spat the key out of the fascia dock.

The negative post is nearby but there's nothing identifying it like the positive terminal with the red cap.

[N54Society]

Originally Posted by NigelT

What do you mean by 'Jump'? Jump start?

Yeah, the same procedure as jump starting a car. Hook up your cables, press the unlock button on your key fob. That's literally all I did. Your charger needs to be powerful enough.

[gamesfrager]

When I use trickle charge, the hood bumps into the aligator clips of the charger when I use the post highlighted by the yellow arrow, so I use the strut tower bolt and it works fine.

[NigelT]

Originally Posted by nissubaru

The negative post is nearby but there's nothing identifying it like the positive terminal with the red cap.

Brilliant! Thank you so much. That might prove a solution if I can get a charge to the battery. I'm sure somebody told me that there was a safety (?!) feature on this car that meant that the ignition wouldn't start if the battery was below a certain charge.....so I could be sitting there for a while.

[N54Society]

Originally Posted by NigelT

Brilliant! Thank you so much. That might prove a solution if I can get a charge to the battery. I'm sure somebody told me that there was a safety (?!) feature on this car that meant that the ignition wouldn't start if the battery was below a certain charge.....so I could be sitting there for a while.

If your charger has a fast charge rate (10A+), you won't have to wait at all. Just plug it in and pop the trunk.

[gamesfrager]

Originally Posted by NigelT

Brilliant! Thank you so much. That might prove a solution if I can get a charge to the battery. I'm sure somebody told me that there was a safety (?!) feature on this car that meant that the ignition wouldn't start if the battery was below a certain charge.....so I could be sitting there for a while.

Yes, well at least on my brother's F series M3. His car was dead like a stone due to voltage was below the minimum.

He got it boosted just yo start it and then he replaced it and got it hooked to a better trickle charger.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by NigelT

Okay, consider this an intellectual mind - bender.

320d Touring, before xmas, the passenger, rear doors won't open, tailgate and filler cap won't open. Got around to looking at car this week....flat battery. Now, can't charge car because I can't access the battery.

Any clues to this mystery? Or will anyone in the area help me to push the old girl in a lake?

Was it just the dead battery preventing any of the doors from opening? If you recharge the battery and still can't open any doors, then you might have a blown fuse for the central locking system. I ran into this last weekend. It was much colder than usual and I heard a door lock motor struggling, and then all sorts of flaky things were happening with the locking system. I made a few small trips that morning and it started with only the front doors locking/unlocking, then one rear door, then the front doors wouldn't work, and by mid morning everything was stuck in the closed and locked position except for the drivers side door. This meant that passengers couldn't get in/out of my car, the double-pull from inside to unlock didn't work.

I found the #57 fuse was blown. It's a 15A fuse, and I've read in several places that BMW had recommended replacing it with a 20A fuse. I didn't confirm that, so do at your own risk, but I replaced it with a 20A and it fixed all my locking issues.

I have a 06 325i so I'm not sure of the exact fuse layout for your car, but this may help:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375396

This is the diagram for mine:

[NigelT]

Fantastic community response. I thank you all. I'm going to try all of your suggestions and if that doesn't work, I'll be back next week with the next instalment.