E30 Zone

1991 320i coupe. This happened once before. Turned key to lock the car & the key went past a quarter turn & it dead locked, key came out in the horizontal position. Now it won't turn all the way back to vertical and unlock. Last time after several attempts the key clicked over to vertical, but not this time. Passenger lock hasn't worked since I got the car. Can open the boot but obviously can't get any further. Locked out! Any advice please.....

It happened to me , keep at it and will unlock. Happens when the weather changes for some reason. Nothing to do with the barrel its the lock its self

if you really get stuck its no real hard ship to pop the rubber seal on the front or rear screen and the whole window will just lift out

Before anyone moans about telling people how to break in to a car, its not exactly a quick procedure so cant see a thief using this method.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mod ... g=41&fg=40

think its number 20, 21 and 23 thats the parts that need swapping

If the average thief wants to remove glass to gain entry, a brick would be the tool of choice.
Even if you get into the car, you still won't be able to open the doors without digging the locking ECU out of the driver's footwell and releasing the dead locks.

Mr mooore what parts are the main bits to swap to stop the lock not working with deadlock??

Thanks for all the advice guys. It sounded as though the dead lock was releasing, so managed to get a wire coat hanger in and lift the button, but then I still couldn't get the key out unless it was in the dead lock position! Got some GT85 in the lock & it turned eventually. Problem now being I don't want to risk locking the car in case I can't get back in!

On the back end of the lock barrel (11) there is an L shaped alloy piece which is hinged to the rest of the barrel and located in one of two positions by an over centre spring mechanism.
This mechanism is probably either broken or stuck through lack of lubrication.

lack of lub it is then did that a few years back and was fine so needs more lub again

Cheers