E30 Zone

Hi all...my first E30 so lots of questions to come!..

A couple of phots for you. already finding your site invaluable.

First tech query regarding central locking.....obs not working....just a feint click by drivers footwell when trying to lock. Removed relay as per your tech advice...found spring stem unsoldered so resoldered this and connected back....still not working BUT....no clicking sound heard at all this time and trying to unlock the drivers door is really really difficult, having to use quite some pressure on the key turn. Disconnected the relay unit and the key unlocks door really easily again. ?? Bit weird.
Swapped 30A fuse around from the 30A fuse next to it in the fusebox so all there looked ok.

Any ideas please?

Have checked the boot and petrol flap rods and they seem free but have not taken off the door trim panels yet.

Many thanks.

ricardo2019 wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:30 pm

Hi all...my first E30 so lots of questions to come!

Welcome to the zone mate and loads of pics are required .lol

Mart.

..... we like prefaces,,,,

welcome !

nice to get another e30 member, welcome...as Mart says pictures please,

Allan

Not sure if ive posted my tech central locking query in the right place soz...still navigating the site lol.!

ricardo2019 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:33 pm

Not sure if ive posted my tech central locking query in the right place soz...still navigating the site lol.!

No, it should be in E30 Tech Help, but I'll answer it here for now. Best if you carry on with the thread in that section. It's only by luck that I found it here.
First of all, the unsoldered spring is NOT a fault. Like a blown fuse, it's simply indicating that there is a fault somewhere else. You say you resoldered it, which is fine as long as you didn't add any solder. The original solder is a special low temperature melting alloy, so any ordinary solder, especially the hopeless lead free stuff, will render the only effective electrical safety device for the central locking totally useless.
If the lock motor for the drivers door is stiff to operate this may be all (or part) of your problem. You can work the system with any of the lock motors disconnected, so try different combinations of motors unplugged until what is left works.

Ok thats great thank you so much...ill keep you posted.

Would this car of had a 'remote' central locking key do you know? I only have the ignition/door key.

Brian's subtle hint didn't really get though to you, did it?

Post questions in the appropriate section, please.

Ben

ricardo2019 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:08 pm

Would this car of had a 'remote' central locking key do you know? I only have the ignition/door key.

It would have, if the original purchaser ticked the right options box.
An E30 came from the factory with very little - not even a radio, but the buyer would have been presented with an options list, which if fully ticked would have just about doubled the cost of the car.
Remote central locking was packaged with an alarm and an immobiliser, both of which are ridiculously easy to defeat, and was far from cheap - about the same as a limited slip differential, IIRC.
In my experience, I would estimate that about half of E30s had this option fitted. If it was, there should be an alarm sounder under the bonnet.

I have been investigating further the lack of central locking.....resoldered the footwell relay as above...diconnected the drivers door, boot and petrol flap actuators and all moving freely. Seems the boot and petrol flap were working well together and the drivers door worked the others every now and again...checked the wiring junction box(drivers side) with the door and all looked ok, gave it a squirt of WD40 inside......investigating the passenger side door lock, lubricating etc today...disconnected no electrical parts but used the key to turn the lock and this locked everything for the first time...but...now can't unlock the drivers door or petrol flap. Removed the footwell relay and still no go..checked the solder was still good and is, fuse ok...unlocked boot ok so removed actuator for petrol flap and it is now locked solid where as last week was moving freely??!! The drivers door is the same, locked solid...any ideas please. Havnt done the 3 red/blcack wire mod yet ,that go into the drivers door JB....prob do that next? Really curious why last week the boot actuator was moving freely but now its solid even when removed.! Than ks for your help in advance. )

It looks like your locking ECU has fried the lock motors by keeping them powered up for too long. This is what commonly tends to happen when the ECU gets flooded as a result of blocked sill drains.
I've never known it happen with a dry ECU, but there's always a first time. The thermal fuse is designed to stop this happening, but it often doesn't operate quickly enough. Did you add solder when you repaired it?
Red/black wire mod. should be done on all E30s for the future reliability of all the wiring that passes through the door plug, but isn't the problem in this case, if your descriptions are accurate.

Did your lock ECU have a tide mark round it? Mine did and it was an indication that it had been flooded at some time.

Hi, I re-soldered using the solder already on the terminal so didn't add any....the car although registered in the uk spent most of its life in Spain and Italy and the body etc is virtually rust free so no signs of water collecting in the relay area you describe. ...Does the red/black wire mod ideally require doing at both doors ? Have ordered a new central locking relay with Cotswold and a petrol flap actuator , although they don't know when the drivers door actuators are going to be available....may have to get a s/h one. I was expecting to find an actuator in the passenger door but there's a microswitch instead which visually looks ok and not worn as far as I can see insitu.
As far as the immobiliser goes it does seem to have one, key hole in the drivers door with light, light under number plate....where under the bonnet would the sounder be and what does it look like...a horn?. Have tried re-setting the immobiliser as per the owners manual but no success...any other ideas ? Thank you.

Red/black wire mod. applies to the driver's door only. The relevant wires don't exist on the passenger side.
Good second hand parts are perfectly acceptable. They are extremely reliable and only fail under specific unusual conditions. There's very little to be gained by using new parts (which will statistically be less reliable than used parts).
Water passes through the area that the ECU lives in by design. It also leaves the area by design, unless the three drain slots are blocked, often by the application of excess underseal.
There is a microswitch in both the passenger and driver's doors, although they have totally different functions. There should also be a lock motor in each door, which should be fitted about half way down the rear edges of the doors in two slotted holes. Some late E30s were fitted with lock motors built into the door catches, similar to those used in later BMWs, such as the E34 and 36. These are bad news as regards reliability.
Your car appears to be too early for these, but I suppose if a new door had been fitted at some time, it's possible it came with the later lock.
If you have the weird second keyhole in the door and external LED, I think the alarm/ immobiliser ECU for that is a purple coloured box mounted above the engine ECU, near the driver's right knee. AFAIK, the sounder for this is underneath the panel in front of the left front wheel arch.
This version of the immobiliser/alarm does not control remote central locking, or is connected to the locking in any way, and is not the optional alarm/immobiliser I referred to earlier in the thread, although it's not uncommon to find both fitted.

Thats really helpful thank you so much. Ill try and find the drain holes and check they are not blocked. Definitely no actuator in the pass.door and as far as I can see it looks the same in originally as the drivers door. microswitches on both door locks inside. From memory when the locks were working for a short time when I turned the passenger door lock with the key there was a clicking sound from the ECU.
Whist in the drivers footwell I saw the purple coloured box with a thick bunch of cables coming from it, all wrapped in in grey (slightly bigger in size than an aerial cable), which then leads down and through the same door JB as the red/black wires and then into the door....ah hah..so that goes to the immobiliser then.
I have some original colour photos the car, from the previous owner who purchased the vehicle ,and were taken on the day of delivery which show the red immobiliser warning light bellow the number plate and a copy of the original vehicle details showing the options and show option 301 Anti Theft alarm,. I does look like a completely separate sysytem to the central locking....those were the days!
It look s like the door trim panels with the sheet of plastic behind have never been removed. Would it be possible to lock all the doors ,and passenger door with no actuator, from the drivers door or boot? Thanks so far...very informative.

You definitely need an actuator (solenoid) in the passenger door.

https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.p ... al_Locking

Ben

As above. If the passenger door has at any time locked or unlocked itself, then it definitely has an actuator fitted. The old type actuator is fitted about half way down the rear inside face of the door, with the mounting screws in two slightly slotted holes, about 40mm apart, with one directly above the other. If the plastic liner is in place, then it will just cover the screws on its rear edge.
If by some strange event you do have the later lock motors, they are totally invisible until the catch is removed from the door. The only clues that this type is fitted are that the earlier lock motor is missing, and there are wires disappearing towards the door catch.
Note that the inside of the doors is another place that is designed to have water enter it, and then drain out from the bottom. The plastic sheet behind the door card is an important part of the waterproofing of the cabin, and must be refitted, or replaced, if damaged.