Driver side door won't open, from inside and outside
 

Hey guys. Today I woke up to a pleasant surprise that my driver side door just refuses to open. I don't have a remote for my car, so I unlock it by turning the key in the door. However as of right now, the key refuses to turn in any direction from the outside. I unlocked the car from the passenger side and tried to open the door from the inside but still nothing. The door lock plunger moves when I pull the inside handle, but thats about it. It's been really frustrating and I've been reading a ton of articles but none match up to a problem on both the outside and inside. Any insight or advice? Thanks

I know this is an old post but I am having this same issue except the key will turn on mine. It was below zero degrees f yesterday when this problem started. I have it in the garage at work today warming up but still will not open. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm having the same issue on my 540it. Tried to diagnose it using another 5 series at the yards today and the only thing I can reckon is that the latch mechanism is stuck and the actuator/door handle can't budge it. Same happens on my 325i once in awhile.

Trying to figure out if I need to perform surgery on my door card to get to the latch. (I have an exact spare if I need to... )

I'll post next week what I end up doing. Perhaps it may apply to our TI's. :cool:

Hey 6cyl. Sorry took a while to respond. Also, nice to see another person from Massachusetts :). Back when I had the problem, it eventually resolved itself over time once the weather got warmer. I was really unsure about what happened but I guessed something had frozen or started not to work from cold weather. Hopefully it works now that the weather is oddly warm. Try using the key hole protection stuff too! Sorry can't help more than that.

So I finally got my door open. It was as easy as:
- Taking apart both doors to study the passenger side latch mechanism then replicating the movement on the driver side. This didn't fix the problem.
- Doing lots of searching online and not finding a satisfactory solution.
- Ordering a Bentley manual which offered no advice except for oil/lube everything.
- Ordering a new latch mechanism from BMW.
- Studying every bit of the new mechanism to see if I could pick my way into unlatching the door from inside the door panel (no such luck).
- Eventually we ended up drilling a few holes in the side if the latch from inside the door to get the pick in to release the catch.

I will take and post a reference photo of where you need to drill the hole if anyone else runs into this issue.

Then installed the new latch. Door works better than ever.

The culprit seems to be crud that built up over the ~18 years / 212k miles this car has been on the road. I think it trapped moisture and when the temp dropped below -10f it froze some part of the mechanism. Then when I tried to open the door something slipped/broke/cracked and wedged the lever that presses on the catch. Even with it out of the car it is impossible to move.

Thanks for jotting this down. I have a E39 with the same condition to troubleshoot once I finish off other cars in my project queue.


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driver door won't open from inside and outside
 

Hi,
I think your idea to drill holes is great. My question is where and how big?
Please help me.
Thank you.

Hi,
I think your idea to drill holes is great. My question is where and how big?
Please help me.
Thank you.