QuestionTHIS IS A STICK SHIFT. I SEE NO CABLE.ISNT IT ONLY ON THE AUTOMATIC ONES? THANKS FOR THE QUICK RESPONSE. I TRIED THE PAPER CLIP, MUST NEED A STRONGER ONE. THANKS, BILL. p.s the reason the cyl lock is being replace is the key just spins all the way arround , the electrical ignition part on the other end does not..
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-----Question-----
NEED TO REPLACE THE IGNITION CYLINDER LOCK ON A 1997 BMW 318I. ORDERED THE NEW CYL LOCK FROM DEALER BECAUSE IT HAD TO BE KEYED TO THE VIN # OF THE CAR. USUALLY THE KEY LOCKS HAVE A SMALL PIN TO PUSH ON WHEN THE KEY IS IN THE RUN OR ACC POSITION AND THEN PULL THE LOCK ASSEMBLY OUT. I CAN NOT FIND ANY TYPE OF RELEASE MECHANISM TO ENABLE ME TO PULL THE IGNITION LOCK ASSEMBLY OUT. HAVE ORIGINAL KEY. THANKS, BILL.
-----Answer-----
Dear William,
First remove the trim cover of the key hole, then the coil around the cylinder lock, then the cable for the steering lock. You may have to remove the upper and lower trim covers beneath the steering wheel for convenience.
Get a slightly big paper clip (just to show you the size needed) and insert it into the pinhole in front of the lock cylinder. Now get a strong, preferably spring like steel wire of the size that you saw would fit into the pinhole, straighten approximately 2 1/2 inches (the portion that would be used to insert into the hole, and bend the rest to give you leverage. Insert your key, insert also your wire,
turn the key and also turn the wire, play with both until you can pull out the lock with the key.
Have fun.
Tino
AnswerBill,
Thanks for telling me belatedly that your car has manual transmission. Of course it has no cable.
Once you have removed the cylinder lock, sometimes you get lucky and it comes out in a short time, sometimes not, remember to align the rear protrusions to the mating surfaces of the electric part of the ignition switch.
Tino
