[rfultz09]

Car: 2000 BMW 328ci

Issue: Cannot lock/unlock driver side door with key but the button inside the car locks/unlocks the door just fine.

Caused By: Hit-and-run side swipe of my driver side door.

Concern: Do I need a new actuator or can i take my door apart to fix something that may have been knocked loose on the actuator. And if so, any insight on what may actually have been knocked loose to not allow turning the key to work.

Thanks!

 

[ngillan]

I have something similar going on. I cannot unlock my driver's side door with the button on the key but I can manually put the key in and turn to unlock the door. The passenger side works fine with the key button. I called bmw and of course they said that I should let their shop look at it and not to try to fix anything myself.

 

[kd7iwp]

Issue: Cannot lock/unlock driver side door with key but the button inside the car locks/unlocks the door just fine.

Sounds like the shaft coming off the back of the lock cylinder is no longer connected to the locking actuator. Here is a video from another thread showing how to assemble the parts on the back of a lock cylinder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPAeS9l7oTI

You'll see one of the last pieces to go on is a shaft that looks like a phillips head screwdriver. That piece fits into the door and twists the actuator back and forth. If the side-swipe pushed your lock sideways that shaft could have come dislodged or fallen into the door which would prevent your key from doing anything. I think you should get a replacement lock (from a dealer it's pricey so you could try a used lock like I recently did http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=913272 and that should fix it.

On second thought, you may be able to remove your door card and find parts down in the bottom of the door and reassemble. The first step is to remove your lock cylinder (this should be easy) and find out what's broken.

 

[rfultz09]

Interesting! Thanks for the reply. I took off my door yesterday connecting the wires for a new mirror, the old one was snapped off in the side swipe. There weren't any loose parts so perhaps something was dislodged but not broken so hopefully I won't need to spend any money and I can fix it myself but we'll see once I get in there and see what the problem is.