Stupid Central Locking.....please help

[siddiqi1]

Need your electrical help this time please:

From day one Ive had this car the central locking has been a pain.

Ive tried to resolve it myself however got absolutely no where, changed the OE Central locking relay box, stil nothing. Also did the red/black wire....but nothing

Did a bit of investigating and there are a further two relays i assume connected to the alarm which control the central locking too, changed those as well, to no avail.

Ive tbh had it with replace this and that, all i want to do is jsut replace the whole system with say a kit of ebay.

I was wondering, could i use the exisitng wiring loom from the OE relay box so that i can still have the function of the petrol and boot locks?

btw its a 2 door sport.

Can anyone rec. an auto electrician in the Middlesex, Hayes area and rec. a suitable central locking kit?


Many thanks

Saboor

[ZedOne]

I'm afraid I can't be of much help (don't live near you & don't even own an E30!) but have you tried the forum help guide?

CENTRAL LOCKING GUIDE

Apologies if you have already been through the guide, but it may save you buying new stuff and finding the fault was somewhere else. (been there, done that with my g/friends central locking!)

It may also save you having to pay someone else to solve it for you.

Best of luck getting it sorted...

Bruce.

[Brianmoooore]

As long as you have done the red/black wire modification, and keep the sill drains clear so that the control unit doesn't get flooded, then the OE locking system is ultra reliable, and any aftermarket rubbish will be a masssive downgrade.
There are no other relays connected with the locking.
If you give ACCURATE details of the fault(s) with the existing system, then we can sort it.

[siddiqi1]

ZedOne:

Thanks so much for your input, well i did have a look at this, but my current depression into my car has made me loose all hope of it working, so somehow Ill try and regain my strength tmrw, thanks once again

Brian:

The almighty, i was hoping you would cast your eye on this. The problem is Brian that the central locking is actually not runnig thorugh the OE Relay you know, there are TWO 5 PIN RELAYS being used instead, so bodge job Id say.

What was the intital scenario: The car used to lcok and unlock perfect, then it decided not to lock, but still used to unlock all doors.

Now i cant even lock the doors Brian, at the mo the car is a "one door cuope" The drivers door is permanetly open, the passnegers side is permanelty closed. The pin wont evne come up of go down with brute force, even with the key from the outside, it wont lock or unlock?!!!!!!


Im all out of hope, please help, what do you initially suggest?

Saboor

[m-dtech]

if its resistance on one door pin only then its a fooked solenoid.

mike

[siddiqi1]

Mike,

Thanks mate, well both are "foooked" so god damn have ot replace those too. This car is a right pain sometimes, but tis the joy of owning a classic

So new solenoids it is then

Mike, its completly jammed, i physically cannot pull the pin up, does this mean its jsut compltely fooked?

Saboor

[eko]

Mike,

Thanks mate, well both are "foooked" so god damn have ot replace those too. This car is a right pain sometimes, but tis the joy of owning a classic

So new solenoids it is then

Mike, its completly jammed, i physically cannot pull the pin up, does this mean its jsut compltely fooked?

Saboor

Could be that the deadlocks atre on.
Just found this by Brian that may help?

Could just be the deadlocks engaged on your lock motors, so plug them back in and apply 12 volts across the black and blue wires - one to earth and the other momentarily to 12 volts +. Can't remember which way is deadlock and which way is un deadlock, so try both, and see if the actuating arms come free.

[siddiqi1]

Eko,

You genious!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much............well what im first going to try is to find the OE rleay unit.........then im follow your found instructions

Thanks so much

[eko]

^ Brians wisdom not mine
Good luck with it!

PS ChrisW or Spadge will probably have a relay

[siddiqi1]

Eko:

Just got one on the way mate......along with three solenoids as you never know, so once those arrive im going to pull out all the gunsand attack this central locking.....i will get this shizzle to work!

[shazE30]

mate had the exact same problemwith my mates coupe passenger door lookpin would not move neither could you use a key on it tho using the key on the drivers door would be ok....now what we found was the wiring loom section by the door hinges was causing it we pushed the loom up a bit further into door's and started working dunno mite work on yours???

[siddiqi1]

Shaz,

Thanks for that, i do agree with what you're saying, but the passenger side i know for a fact is perfect, however the drivers side is another story, its connections are loose, ive tried all sorts to get a tight fit, might hire a hydraulic ram and forcethe damn things together.

Right now i cant open or ock the car, so firstly will switch off the deadlocks, see what that does so at least i can lock and open manually and then resolve the issues

Thanks for your input, keep them coming


Saboor

[tbmw]

can i jump in on this thread,

my central locking has now decided to not work in any size shape or form.

has never locked from drivers door, always had to use the boot to lock/unlock the car then last night went to lock it and nothing.

any ideas?

[siddiqi1]

tbmw:

Join in my frienmd, join in.....i almost gave up but as usual zone persuaded me to persist on wit hthe problem.

Am waiting for the parts to come in and will report back to see if i can help you


Saboor

[tbmw]

havin followed the zone article i can lock unlock the car from inside the relay(not really practical for day to day use) but it will not lock from the key anywhere, completely lost now

dont want to randomly order parts until i know what the prob is

[siddiqi1]

Brian is the man to ask, he'll most defo have the solution you are after.

He advised to stick with the OE locking system, i was well in favour of getting some jap central locking kit and replacing the lot, but the OE is supposed to be a definite must have!!!

I dont think you andI currently see that, lol thats bcz its not working but keep at it"!

[Brianmoooore]

havin followed the zone article i can lock unlock the car from inside the relay(not really practical for day to day use) but it will not lock from the key anywhere, completely lost now

dont want to randomly order parts until i know what the prob is

Don't really have enough info to work on. What happens if you momentarily earth the green/blue and yellow/blue wires to the locking ECU?

[Brianmoooore]

mate had the exact same problemwith my mates coupe passenger door lookpin would not move neither could you use a key on it tho using the key on the drivers door would be ok....now what we found was the wiring loom section by the door hinges was causing it we pushed the loom up a bit further into door's and started working dunno mite work on yours???

The loom from the door goes to a plug and socket in the door pillar. If the rubber cover isn't in place properly, water gets into this plug and corrodes the pins which have a voltage on them (looped in supply for central locking and supply to door mirrors).
If the damage gets bad enough, the corrosion can spread to other pins and cause problems with the locking or power windows. Sounds like this could be the problem here.

[Brianmoooore]

, there are TWO 5 PIN RELAYS being used instead, so bodge job Id say.

How are these relays fitted? Is the socket for the locking ECU still intact, or have the wire cutters been in there?

[tbmw]

weren't sure if you meant at the same time or individually so done both
nothing seemed to happen unless i done it wrong

[Brianmoooore]

weren't sure if you meant at the same time or individually so done both
nothing seemed to happen unless i done it wrong

If you can work the locking from inside the ECU (presumably by pressing the relays?) then the power feed and return must be OK, so it seems the locking ECU is faulty, unless the green/blue and yellow/blue are permanently earthed by a fault elsewhere somehow.

[tbmw]

yea was pressing the relays

ok thank you brian, will try and get a known working locking ecu and try that

[siddiqi1]

Brian:

My first confusion is : what do you mean by "pressing the relays from inside" do you mean that the actual OE relay box shoud be opened, then the relays from within should be manually contacted!?

Secondly: I have taken aborad your points of invesotgating further, i will try and dig deeper, im jsut a little afraid with all the wiring present, it seems so daunting, but well the worst is that the fuses blow, so the hell with it.

Thirdly: I did have some corrosion issues, i.e mirros stopped working, windows were on/off all thetime, i sorted this to the best of my knowledge and took the pillar aprt, gave it a good clean and reattached it, it solved the windows and emetric mirror issues; however when i open the dirvers door, the window does not operate, once i press hard on the a - pilar coupling then it works fine, but i doubt this is central locking related!!!?


Thanks Brian for all your help in advance


Saboor

[siddiqi1]

Anyone!!!

How do i open my petrol tank, damnit i just relasied, its locked shut and i need petty

Helllllllllpppppppppppppp!!!!!?

Saboor

[Brianmoooore]

Anyone!!!

How do i open my petrol tank, damnit i just relasied, its locked shut and i need petty

Helllllllllpppppppppppppp!!!!!?

Saboor

Little slot in the inner boot liner where you can reach in and work the flap solenoid by hand. BMW think of these things!

[Brianmoooore]

My first confusion is : what do you mean by "pressing the relays from inside" do you mean that the actual OE relay box shoud be opened, then the relays from within should be manually contacted!

I never suggested this - it's what tbmw did.
Inside the locking control unit there are two relays. One locks the doors and the other unlocks them. It's a valid test of the power supply to the locking ECU and the operation of the locking motors.
Check the inside of the locking ECU for signs of water damage, and check the thermal fuse in the bottom left corner. It's a small resistor mounted on end with a small spring steel leaf soldered to one end. If the resistor gets hot enough (because of an overload) the solder melts and the spring jumps away, cutting off the power.
It's soldered with special low temp solder, so don't repair with ordinary solder.

[siddiqi1]

Brian,

I tried to pull on the solenoid arm and pull it back i.e. to try and open the locking pin, buit it would not budge.

Do i need to dismantle the solenoid, or shall i just use some tarzan strength and pull very hard?!

Saboor

[Brianmoooore]

Brian,

I tried to pull on the solenoid arm and pull it back i.e. to try and open the locking pin, buit it would not budge.

Do i need to dismantle the solenoid, or shall i just use some tarzan strength and pull very hard?!

Saboor

Deadlocks are on I should think.
Disconnect the locking ECU and try to unlock them like this:
First of all, place a 12V lamp between the red/black and brown to confirm power is present.
Link the brown wire to the blue wire with a short piece of wire, and then use another piece of wire to momentarily link the black to the red/black.
This should unlock the deadlocks, unless I've got the blue and black the wrong way around.
To just enable you to open the doors, you can just unscrew the two small self tappers that hold the lock motors in place.

[Dan318-is]

keep the sill drains clear so that the control unit doesn't get flooded.

Brian, how do you keep these clear / clean them as i think that is what is wrong with mine!

[siddiqi1]

Brian,

thank you so much for input, honestly greatly appreciated, i think without your words of wisdom i would have sent this to the dump on the central locking alone, i dont know what you are made of, but you do have a lot of patience, god knows how you do it, hands down to you.

Im hoping my parts wil arive tomrow and then i will attack this and get back to asap!!

thanks so much

Saboor

[siddiqi1]

Brian,

having tried to get the car to "undeadlock" via the instructions, its unsuccesful. Having tired both methods of swapping around the wires, i hear clicks but still the key will not turn in the barrel and the lockswill not free up.

Good new is though, that the connector for the orignal OE relay is still present, the relay itself however is not.

I also found a discovery on another part,which is attached with it, its an OE part, Ill post a pic asap of it

Brian, ive ordred an OE central relay, what should i do apartfrom plug it in, lol....the blue wire and white wire had been cut, so i will join them back once i get the relay, also already done the RED/BLACK joining.

Your assistance is much appreciated

Saboor

[siddiqi1]

Right, s took some pics of the lovely wiring palawa in my car, here goes:

Firstly, ive discovered a new unit, i dont know what it is, defo dont think it works as there is severe rust around the pins, its a relay i think and i managed to get a part no. of it i think: "51221001"

Looks completely orignal, has BMW badge on it and has the orignal loom to, what is it:?



Secondly, i still have the orignal central locking relay connector plug, suppose thats a good thing, though the wires coming to it have been attacked, but they can be repaired, just a few connections requires really, the image below showswhat i think is the connectors and also the other relay:



From what little i know, i discovered that there are two relays, i dosconnected them because well they didnt look right, the other i left coonected to show yourselfs:



Please let me know of any of your opinions on the matter, car wont lock or unlock and the deadlocksare on too now forsome bizarrereason, have to try and get the damn petrol flap open!!!



Thanks

Saboor

[Brianmoooore]

The new relay you've discovered is most likely a delay off unit for the interior lights. Nothing to do with the locking, although it shares the same red/black supply wire.
There's no deadlock on the fuel cap motor, so connecting blue to brown and touching white to red/black should unlock that, if you can't get at it through the slot in the boot lining.
Can't really work out what's happened here, as you don't have a locking ECU to set the deadlocks in the first place.
Presumably the two bodged in relays just lock and unlock the doors using pulses from the lock and unlock request lines. With no connection to the black wire, how did the deadlocks get set?
The rust around your newly discovered relay suggests that the original locking ECU su8ffered flood damage as well. This often results in all the locking solenoids getting well and truly fried, but of course they may have been replaced.
It's possible, I suppose, that one of the bodged in relays has remained energised and fried the motors.
If the fuel cap motor can't be powered off by the blue and white wires as above, then this is probably what has happened.

[Dan318-is]

keep the sill drains clear so that the control unit doesn't get flooded.

Brian, how do you keep these clear / clean them as i think that is what is wrong with mine!

Any ideas mate?

[Brianmoooore]

Just make sure they're not blocked. They're obvious enough under the car.