[TwinSnails]

Door fixed. Thanks everyone for the help with this!


Looks like I have the good old door lock actuator issue for my rear driver side door. Ive checked fuses and none are blown. I am unable to open the door. Ive tried locking unlocking, but the lock doesnt budge. Ive tried locking myself inside with the central locking system and yanking the handle and have no luck.

So i've taken off the interior seat and door skin. I am able to see the actuator but have no idea at this point how to open the door still. Ive yanked down the the latch manually with pliers and the door still doesnt open. The latch is shown in picture two right above the numbers 7060295 in white.

Any ideas of how to get the door open? $10 via pay pal for the first correction solution.

"HOW TO- Open a locked rear door with a ceased door actuator on a 750i". Similar issue but unable to figure out how to do the same on an E90 actuator.
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/474380

DIY to replace the actuator.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ight=actuators

[TwinSnails]

Bump.

[sleepyx637]

can't take it to the dealer?

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by sleepyx637

can't take it to the dealer?

I purchased the car as a CPO and it is still under warantee, but the dealer said that the window isnt original and has been replaced. Was replaced by the previous owner. They are stating broken glass probably got into the actuator causing it to malfunction and isnt covered by the CPO warrantee.

Bogus, so im stuck trying to figure this out.. Any suggestions?

[fdriller9]

Have you tried feeding 12v directly to the actuator?

What about that torx screw? Does that hold the actuator in?

[GetSomeE92]

Originally Posted by TwinSnails

I purchased the car as a CPO and it is still under warantee, but the dealer said that the window isnt original and has been replaced. Was replaced by the previous owner. They are stating broken glass probably got into the actuator causing it to malfunction and isnt covered by the CPO warrantee.

Bogus, so im stuck trying to figure this out.. Any suggestions?

By that logic, shouldn't the car have not passed the CPO inspection? I would raise hell at the dealer and/or contact BMWNA.

[Victorae]

Originally Posted by GetSomeE92

By that logic, shouldn't the car have not passed the CPO inspection? I would raise hell at the dealer and/or contact BMWNA.

Good point, but then they would argue that he has no proof he didn't change the window himself?

[mike3000fl]

see the actuator with 706295 on it, push or pull that lever up or down in that opening.

if that doesn't do anything then in the oval opening directly above that opening, slide that piece with the hole up or down. does the actuator do anything when you try to unlock (noise or click).

heres a nice diy someone wrote up with pics of how the front one looks. look for the metal rod that goes up to the lock/unlock thing that pops up, the bottom of that rod goes into that hole in the oval opening. there's also a cable that goes to the lever thing where you see the actuator.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=477507

wanted to add that if none of that works it is possible that door is childlocked and wouldn't open from the inside anyway. in that case you are going to have to reach in and figure out how the outside handle gets that lock actuator to unlock (linkage or lever).

[sleepyx637]

Originally Posted by GetSomeE92

By that logic, shouldn't the car have not passed the CPO inspection? I would raise hell at the dealer and/or contact BMWNA.

+1. It's probably not going to be worth the dealer's trouble to fight you hard on this -- easier for them to just fix it. Try another dealer?

[///M3NACE]

I know how to open the door. Please paypal to ishaik89@yahoo.com. Anyways get a saw and saw your way out. I mean all you wanted was to open the door am i correct? That being said thank you!

[yakev724]

Here's what you do.

Reach inside the door, and feel for where the cable from the exterior handle runs in to the actuator. Pull on the exterior handle to get a feel for how it moves. You'll feel a lever (similar to that of the interior door handle lever which you see in your photos) which is pulled by a cable that runs from the exterior handle assembly.

The actuator is currently in a nonresponsive state and to get it unstuck, you must help the mechanism by continuing the motion of the cable described above. Pull on the exterior handle, you should feel the lever (on the actuator, inside the door) move. Even after the exterior handle is pulled all the way out, you need to manually force this lever to completion by applying force in the same direction as the initial movement. You should hear a 'click', then release pressure and the door should open and actuator should be working again.

To avoid the issue in the future, simply adjust the end link of the cable (running from the exterior handle) so it is a bit shorter and pulls on it's lever to completion. You'll need to remove the actuator to do this.

PM me if you have any questions, I had to complete this process for one of my doors.

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by *********

Have you tried feeding 12v directly to the actuator?

What about that torx screw? Does that hold the actuator in?

The actuator does have power running to it. If i use the key fob to lock and unlock i can hear the motor rotating and see a white moving part inside spin.

The torx screw is one of 3 screws holding it in place. Unfortunately, the other two screws holding it in are located in the door jam, which i can not get to.

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

see the actuator with 706295 on it, push or pull that lever up or down in that opening.

if that doesn't do anything then in the oval opening directly above that opening, slide that piece with the hole up or down. does the actuator do anything when you try to unlock (noise or click).

wanted to add that if none of that works it is possible that door is childlocked and wouldn't open from the inside anyway. in that case you are going to have to reach in and figure out how the outside handle gets that lock actuator to unlock (linkage or lever).

These are very good suggestions. Ive already tried to push and pull that lever up and down, it allows full range of motion, but it doesnt seem to be "Grabbing" on to anything inside. It does have tension from a spring but it doesnt seem to feel the same as the new actuator, when i tested the same motion.

From what i gather, the oval opening was connected to the door lock pin that goes up and down as we lock and unlock the door. The up position is unlock and and down position is lock. It is currently stuck at the down position and even with two interior handle yanks, it doesnt unlock. When i do the same test on a new actuator, it causes the oval in the bottom position to unlock to the upper position automatically.

I jammed a thin plastic piece into the jam of the door and the door skin and was able to confirm that the child lock is in the up position, which means that the child lock is off.

[mike3000fl]

sounds like you have a good grasp of the working mechanism, especially having that new actuator to compare it to.

the white plastic part that spins is a gear, that turns another round gear in a circular direction(white i think also), this kind of arrangement...


one of those plastic gears in your actuator cracked or is missing teeth and the big round one isn't turning when the small skinny one spins.

see if you can use a screwdriver or the tip of a sharp knife to turn that big round gear.

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by ihsanshaik

I know how to open the door. Please paypal to ishaik89@yahoo.com. Anyways get a saw and saw your way out. I mean all you wanted was to open the door am i correct? That being said thank you!

I might have to do this if all else fails.. My other though, was to unhindge the door from where is connects to the pillar behind the driver door. But i'm not sure if this will allow me to get the door off still if the actuator is still in the lock position. I thought about how the lip of the rear door will damage the quarter panel and decided against trying it.

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by yakev724

Here's what you do.

Reach inside the door, and feel for where the cable from the exterior handle runs in to the actuator. Pull on the exterior handle to get a feel for how it moves. You'll feel a lever (similar to that of the interior door handle lever which you see in your photos) which is pulled by a cable that runs from the exterior handle assembly.

The actuator is currently in a nonresponsive state and to get it unstuck, you must help the mechanism by continuing the motion of the cable described above. Pull on the exterior handle, you should feel the lever (on the actuator, inside the door) move. Even after the exterior handle is pulled all the way out, you need to manually force this lever to completion by applying force in the same direction as the initial movement. You should hear a 'click', then release pressure and the door should open and actuator should be working again.

To avoid the issue in the future, simply adjust the end link of the cable (running from the exterior handle) so it is a bit shorter and pulls on it's lever to completion. You'll need to remove the actuator to do this.

PM me if you have any questions, I had to complete this process for one of my doors.

yakev,

I just attempted to do this but was unsuccessful. I reached into the door skin and found where the cable is secured and how it is connected to the U leaver. The cable seemed to compress fully, I undid the cable anyway to get it out of the way. I pushed the U level from inside the door as low as it could possibly go, with not luck. I believe that my actuator is in the lock position, because in the oval hold in my 2nd picture the latch is in the bottom position, which would make the exterior door handle inoperative. I believe i have done your procedure correctly, but took pictures of the new actuator to show what i attempted to do.

1. Door lock. Up position is unlock and bottom position is lock.

2. Interior door handle lever. This level moves downward as the interior handle is pulled.

3 Exterior door handle lever. This handle moves downward as the exterior handle is pulled.

[yakev724]

Yep, that was it. I didn't see that your lock mechanism wasn't working. I'd try sending 12V as fdriller recommended.

PMd you, good luck.

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by yakev724

Yep, that was it. I didn't see that your lock mechanism wasn't working. I'd try sending 12V as fdriller recommended.

PMd you, good luck.

if he is seeing the worm gear spin, its getting juice. one of the gears inside is stripped or cracked or broke a few teeth. use a knife or screw driver to rotate the gears.

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

if he is seeing the worm gear spin, its getting juice. one of the gears inside is stripped or cracked or broke a few teeth. use a knife or screw driver to rotate the gears.

I can try using something to turn the gears. Right above the oval lock is where I can see the white sprocket spinning. Is that the best place to try? Should I try to turn clockwise or counter clockwise?

[yakev724]

I'm playing around with a working actuator assembly I have here (convenient, I know ) and the worm gear (gold color) doesn't move if the actuator is unlocked mechanically (i.e. interior handle lever pulled).

If you really need to know, I can hook it up to my lock tomorrow and try and see which way it spins when you unlock.

Honestly, it should only be able to go one way. And I'd be pretty amazed if you can spin it with any force given the amount of space. Remember you also have to overcome the force of the magnets in the motor.

[yakev724]

How did this even happen?

[TwinSnails]

Originally Posted by yakev724

How did this even happen?

No idea. I first noticed the lock stopped working about a few weeks ago.