Driver's door lock repair - retain existing key

[PiperZero]

Hi all!

My '84 2-dr 323i had a broken door lock (driver's side) which meant I couldn't lock from inside. Stepped out, closed the door and inserting the key, rotating 45 deg CCW still didn't work. So, went to the dealer and ordered Door Lock RH (with new key set), S/N 51-211-924-904.

My original locks did not have deadlocks (had a tough time picturing what you folks meant in some of the forum content), thus this replacement set will have some physical differences.

First, get the door card off. Unscrew the lock/unlock knob close to the B-pillar.
Then, use a screwdriver to peel this doortrim off. It will move to the back and slide off ..


Next to remove is the switch for the powered side mirrors. Again, a screwdriver poked carefully will pop out the sucker.

[PiperZero]

The switch is in two halves and can be prised apart by pressing the tabs on top and on the bottom (refer to above pic).

The other side of the female plug has wires connected.

[PiperZero]

Once separated, these are the components:
Female plug (with wires)


Male plug (with joystick)

It has 6 connector pins.

Unscrew the armrest (I think there were 3 screws) - one hidden behind the slot where the powered mirror switch belong, and another two beneath the arm rest...

[PiperZero]

The door cards will now be held to the door with some plastic push-in clips (which will break easily!) and the top part will have some sort of chrome trim held against the window glass. The pics below show the chrome strip lifted off the top.



At this stage, you can either stop for a cuppa, or lift the door card slightly and put it aside to see....

[PiperZero]

...this piece of art!







It's a 22 year old plastic rain guard, and from the looks of it, never seen the light of day!

[PiperZero]

Slowly peeling off the right edge of the plastic will give you access to the door lock mechanism. The cylinder will be have a clip in the shape of a 'C', which can be pried forward with a long screwdriver.




Once this C-clip is loose/out, the original door lock cylinder can be manoeuvered (hey did I spell that right?) out from the door. Note, there are some springs which were connected to my lock cylinder, but I couldn't see to what. After installing the new cylinder, it functioned perfectly, so if anyone has the inside view, can you please update me what I missed?

[PiperZero]

Below is the C-clip, my old lock cylinder, and the new lock cylinder, left to right.



Notice the different lengths of the mechanism. The old one didn't have a spring on top of the arm sticking out, thus the newer version has the added length to compensate. This spring will be the cause of many curses when you re-install the lock tumbler later... Lotsa patience, thin nose pliers and some luck - you'll get the spring back in within 10 minutes.

If I'm not mistaken, the arm will be triggering the physical locking mechanism at the door jamb. (Anyone, help me with this!)

[PiperZero]

These are some more closeup pictures (used a Nokia 6680, crappy camera, but didn't have digicam).






Looking at the top of the new cylinder (right side), you can just about make out the black spring coil. It has a loop into a hole on the arm, and another end has to be pushed/squeezed/cajoled/swore at into another tab on the lower part. (you'd understand this when you hold it in your hand)

[PiperZero]

From here, you choose two paths of destiny:
1. Install the new cylinder lock, and then have two separate keys for opening RH door, LH door/boot
2. Install new cylinder lock with old tumbler internals, so that you re-use your existing key for RH door, LH door and boot!

I went for destiny's child, er, destiny number 2...

Below is the pic of how the top part of the new mechanism looked like:



A couple of things to look out here:
a. In order to get at the tumbler internals, you'd have to remove the arm portion. Thus, you will face the 'Deadly Spring of Bavarian Hell' coming off...

b. To get the top off, there's a 2mm x 10mm pin that has to be pushed out. It's the round shape at the top left of the pic. I used a nail to plonk it out.

The pin I mentioned will run thru the vertical part shown in the pic above...

[PiperZero]

Removing the pin is shown here. Tapping a nail with a plier can do the trick...



The aim is to remove the top parts of BOTH lock cylinders in order to swap the tumbler internals. You won't have much problems with the old mechanism as it has no spring on top, plus you won't be using it anyways...

[PiperZero]

Once both lock cylinders have their tops removed... we'll then proceed with taking out the old tumbler internals.

Put in the old key, and you can then slowly slide the whole tumbler mechanism out of the casing.

[PiperZero]

This is what's left...

[PiperZero]

Take a close look at the tumbler internals with the key still inside..


There are tiny slots which have spring-loaded 'teeth' which corresponds to the grooves on your key. The slots are on top and bottom of the tumbler, and may have different number of slots top to bottom.

[PiperZero]

If I recall, with the key inserted, the grooves will make the 'teeth' in the slot move down into the tumbler, so that the whole thing can be a smooth shaft and rotate freely to lock/unlock the door.

Pulling the key out will essentially make the spring-loaded 'teeth' pop out slightly from the slots and ensure the shaft cannot be rotated, ie door is locked.

Our next move is to actually pull out the 'teeth' in the correct sequence to match your existing key, and then transfer them to the slots in the new tumbler.



Move the key out slowly, one slot at a time, and pull out the brass/copper 'teeth'. It will alternate between top and bottom slots. Do it for all 'teeth' and you'll end up with this:

What I've done is to arrange the 'teeth' order to be inserted into the slots of the new tumbler. The 'teeth' on the left will be slotted in from the bottom, and the 'teeth' on the right will be slotted in from the top.

[PiperZero]

Do the same on the new tumbler mechanism - insert key, pull out the whole mechanism from the casing, slowly pull out the key to allow the new 'teeth' to pop out and pull out all 'teeth' until the tumbler slots are totally empty. You may choose to note the sequence of the new 'teeth' but since you won't be using them, I don't see the point.

Then, with your shiny new tumbler mechanism, insert the old 'teeth' in the correct order (tip to base, top to bottom, it's your call). Take your old key, and insert into the tumbler to verify the 'teeth' are popping up and down smoothly. In my case, the new tumbler had extra slots and teeth at the very top. Didn't matter to me, as the number of old 'teeth' is less than then number of slots, so I left them extra slots empty.

If the tumbler works to your satisfaction, insert into the new casing (the one with the black plastic/rubber ring) and here's where the fun begins...remember 'Deadly Spring of Bavarian Hell'?

You need to re-install the part with the arm onto the tumbler/casing, and then pushfit that 2mmx10mm pin thru the hole . This will lock the arm and the casing into a single unit. Then, take a deep breath, cos you'll be squeezing the said spring back to its original position.


This is what it looks like at 80% completion. The C-clip is there to show how it is positioned between the internal doorskin and the new lock cylinder. You need to push the lock cylinder (w/o C-clip) from outside the door, and then push the C-clip from inside, thus jamming the mechanism into place.

Close door, try locking/unlocking a couple of times, and if OK, remount all the door cards, trim, arm rest and powered mirror switches. You will now have a completely new lock cylinder, old tumbler 'teeth' which works very well with your existing key which can open all doors!

Hope this has been fruitful to those who went thru the same predicament as I did....

[Ziggy]

That's some detail there! Good work!

[PiperZero]

Ziggy - thanks a bunch, I thought putting pictures would help (esp halfway thru a project and you're tempted to throw a tantrum)....

[k13]

that gives me horrid memories after going through 2 lock sets, JB weld, and missing tumbler springs. LOL

[swin]

Brilliant write up will be doing this myself tomorrow!

[daimlerman]

You can buy a 'lock repair kit',which gives you all the bits you need to build a new lock cylinder to suit your existing key,costs about £20.

[schnaarf]

You can buy a 'lock repair kit',which gives you all the bits you need to build a new lock cylinder to suit your existing key,costs about £20.

from BMW; and would this be universal or matched to the VIN number and original key? Went to lock my door a while and heard what sounded like the contents of the barrel empty into the door...

[Brianmoooore]

You get a bunch of assorted tumblers, and have to fit them yourself to match your key.

[daimlerman]

You can buy a 'lock repair kit',which gives you all the bits you need to build a new lock cylinder to suit your existing key,costs about £20.

from BMW; and would this be universal or matched to the VIN number and original key? Went to lock my door a while and heard what sounded like the contents of the barrel empty into the door...

As Brian says,you get plenty of tumblers so that you can build the barrel to suit your key.
Advantage is that you end up with a brand new lock,works properly,every time you use it.
I would suggest that whilst you have the door apart to replace the cylinder,you also remove the latch gear from the door jamb,clean and lubricate all the piviot points that you can find,'work' it by hand until it is free and light in operation,re-oil and re-fit,combined with the new lock barrel,your car will lock and un-lock properly for the next twenty years!

[schnaarf]

legends, cheers boys.

[swin]

Have a problem with my own that it doesn't click back out of the deadlock properly.have a few spare barrels here could I just build my original lock into one of them that works perfectly??

Thanks,
John

[daimlerman]

Have a problem with my own that it doesn't click back out of the deadlock properly.have a few spare barrels here could I just build my original lock into one of them that works perfectly??

Thanks,
John

That could just be the overcentre spring on the end of the barrel that's not fitted properly or just plain tired.

I went through my entire stock of door lock barrel's looking for an un-damaged locking arm....the 'L' shaped part at the inside end of the barrel....they fail at the point where the interlocking ballbearing thingy slides in it's channel!
It was this discovery that led me to find the 'lock repair kit'!

The write-up above is very good,it's an old thread that the search has dug up,wish that I could have found it at the time.

There is a piccie guide on one of the American sites that is also very useful,but once again,my computer skills are not up to finding the link.

[DHFiS]

There is a piccie guide on one of the American sites that is also very useful,but once again,my computer skills are not up to finding the link.

This one?

http://e30world.com/body/BMW-E30-lock-cylinder-repair

[daimlerman]

There is a piccie guide on one of the American sites that is also very useful,but once again,my computer skills are not up to finding the link.

This one?

http://e30world.com/body/BMW-E30-lock-cylinder-repair

That's the fella!

Thank you.

[Brianmoooore]

Have a problem with my own that it doesn't click back out of the deadlock properly.

That will be the alloy 'L' shaped piece on the back seizing up on its shaft.

[swin]

Have a basically new lock that was bought to replace the faulty one so just going to strip that and change over the internals!Be nice have everything on the one key again!!!