QuestionI attempted to open my drivers door on my 1999 BMW 740IL. It would not open, all other doors locks go up and down when the remote is used and when the central inside button is used. I entered the passenger side and crawled into the drivers seat, I can't open the door with the inside handle. The lock button goes up when the handle is pulled but goes back down when released. Even when the button is up I can't open the door from the outside handle.
Any ideas?
AnswerLet me ask an odd question first.....what part of the country are you in? Is it possible that the drivers door is frozen shut? Not that uncommon....BMW's have a very good rubber seal around the doors, and when a driver gets in and out, tracking water, it can get the seal area wet, freezes, and won't budge. The fact your door doesn't open from the inside could indicate this.
If you live in southern Texas or similiar, what do you hear when you activate the inside door handle? Does it feel "normal"?, or sticking? or free?
Do I understand right that hitting the central inside button opens the 3 door locks but not the drivers?
Let me know more, and I'll try to chase it further with you
Just came across this from an earlier/similiar question on this board. Hope it helps!
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Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Evan Slater
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bimmermaster writes on 2007-06-14 23:08:21
Had this exact same problem on my '96 740i. Most of the suggested answer won't work, because with the door shut, you can't get round the edges of the door to unclip the trim ... but the good news is, it's pretty easy to fix - here's how:
The only bit of the door trim you need to peel back is at the top near the manual lock actuator at the door pillar end of things. First of all, pop the top off the lock actuator, then remove the rectangular black plastic piece. This is to allow the door trim to be pulled over the top of the lock linkage rod in a minute (which you should push down). Undo the inner door handle too, as Evan suggests.
Wind down the window (helps with access) and carefully pull out the door trim from under the strip that runs along the top of the door. You should be able to gently pull the trim away from the door where the lock actuator rod is, and ease it over the top of the rod.
Now, get yourself a long wide-bladed screwdriver. Peering down from the top, you'll see the first plastic trim clip on the edge of the door, just above where the lock is. Use the blade of the screwdriver to ease this out, and carefully work the edge of trim out from where it is trapped between the door and the pillar. Look further down the gap, and you'll see a second clip lower down - again, use the screwdriver to release this, and carefully ease back the top corner of the trim. You might want to wedge it with something. Wind the window up again at this point, otherwise the window glass obscures the bit of the lock you need to get at.
Now you'll need to peel back the top corner of the sound insulation. This is actually pretty easy - is held in with black gooey stuff. Your aim is to uncover the uppermost 4-inch wide access hole in the door panel. You'll see the lock mechanism, with the central locking connector, at the edge of this hole. You may wish to remove the connector temporarily for better access.
Right: now to get the door open. The problem on mine was that the linkage from the outside door handle had jammed in the "open" (handle pulled) position, preventing the lock from resetting to allow it to open after unlocking - because the pivot for this linkage had rusted. Using a small torch (and I mean small) shine the light down towards where the bottom of the lock is towards the outer edge of the door. You should see a small cable (like a bike brake cable) attached to a lever and spring round a pivot. Using the long screwdriver again, push down on the lever part where the cable joins. If it clunks downwards, it was indeed stuck - you just freed it. Now, operate the inner handle fully, twice (you might need to re-attach it). The first operation will pop up the lock; the second one should now open the door. You will need to ease the trim panel carefully past the door pillar to get it open finally.
(if this isn't your problem - get an assistant to operate the outer door handle, and operate the inner door handle, and look to see good movement of the relevant linkages and cables. Hopefully the fault will become apparent. A can of WD40 will be handy to free up and sticky mechanism.
With the door open, you can now remove the trim fully, following Evan's procedure (important -note the "pull up and out" feature to disengage the clips that hold the inner door handle in place) and get some lubricant to the guts of the lock to stop it from jamming again.
Re-assembly is *not* quite the reverse of disassembly: the key thing you need to do before putting the trim back is to take the two black plastic rectangular clips off the metal clips on the door, and slide them into the slots on the door trim. Later, when the trim is offered up to the door, these can now be pressed back in again, so that they re-engage with the metal clips. It will be obvious what I mean when you look at the parts.
I hope this helps (if you haven't fixed it already !) It was a big relief to me once I finally figured this one out - I ended up disassembling another (openable) door first to find out how it all worked, and hence work out what could have gone wrong. The pictures on the TIS were pretty unhelpful !
