E30 Zone

rite all of a sudden my doors wont lock when i turn the key there is a buzzing clicking noise from drivers footwell, is it simpily a new central locking unit do ya recon



Car also has remote central locking alarm that still works but doors dont lock

I cannot even push door pins down

sounds like its door cards off and have a butchers mate.

stevotheevo wrote:sounds like its door cards off and have a butchers mate.

oh bugger ive just put the door cards back on

i recon its just the control unit but want a few other opinions on it

anyone know if you can get a brand new unit from bmw

You can get them new. They come up on eBay for a fraction of the cost quite often tho.

richie_zone wrote:You can get them new. They come up on eBay for a fraction of the cost quite often tho.

i can only find one at the moment and it ends in 2-3 days i need one now

well im bidding on a control unit dips is selling

hopefully that will sort it out

you could probably build a whole new car with the amount of stuff he's selling

stevotheevo wrote:you could probably build a whole new car with the amount of stuff he's selling

yer you could

Just to let you know mate this happened on my convertible, only it was stuck in the locked position, I had to replace the locking unit in the drivers footwell and both door motors as they had both cooked, inc door, boot, and petrol flap. My control unit was full of water.
Andrew

Alex wrote:well im bidding on a control unit dips is selling

hopefully that will sort it out

Can you just disconnect the control unit and lock the doors individually ?

capri_rob wrote:

Alex wrote:well im bidding on a control unit dips is selling

hopefully that will sort it out

Can you just disconnect the control unit and lock the doors individually ?

have't really had a look yet but i dont like leaving the car unlocked over night, hopefully the new unit will sort it out if that does not do the trick then i will have a good look to see if i can find the problem

If there's a fault, or a flooding problem, then your new locking ECU will quickly follow the old one! Locking ECUs don't normally just fail for no reason.
First of all, do the "red/black wire" modification, which should be done on all E30s, regardless of whether they have a locking problem or not.
When this is done, try the locking, which may now work, dig the locking ECU out of its home in the sill, and check it for flood damage. Flooded ECUs have a nasty habit of engaging the deadlocks and then burning out the motors.
If the locking doesn't work, unplug the ECU, and attempt to operate the locks using wire links across the pins of its socket, as I've described in previous posts. Only consider fitting a new ECU when everything works with the wire links.

Where's the post on the "red/black wire" modification? sounds like a worthwhile mod if it stops the sort of problems Alex is having

yea what is the red/black wire mod ???

SEARCH FUNCTION!

I did the red black mod last week

Disconnect Battery !!!!

Pull off Drivers footwell panel Myne is LHD car so im not sure what side yours is on

Remove speaker

Locate the 2 red/black wires that plug into your door pillar connector ( large connector ) Not Red/Brown wire

On drivers door side Pull away rubber sleeve carefully and pull out large connector Goes from door into pillar

Locate 2 Black/red wires,

Cut wires and run them straight through hole in connector inside pillar behind speaker and join to red/black wires you cut earlier use extra Cable if required

Replace connector and rubber cover

Connect Battery and try

Replace speaker

Replace Speaker cover

My connector is rotten and i have to replace the lot i joined these wires last week and it worked
Brianmoooore explained this to me I think the red/black wires just loop inside the door and do not join to anything.

Some cars Myne for 1 has 3 red/black wires door side, 2 large wires 1 smaller wire leave the small one alone it joins to red/brown wire on pillar side of connector

Hope this helps

so whats the point in it tho

bigbird76 wrote:I did the red black mod last week

Disconnect Battery !!!!

Pull off Drivers footwell panel Myne is LHD car so im not sure what side yours is on

Remove speaker

Locate the 2 red/black wires that plug into your door pillar connector ( large connector ) Not Red/Brown wire

On drivers door side Pull away rubber sleeve carefully and pull out large connector Goes from door into pillar

Locate 2 Black/red wires,

Cut wires and run them straight through hole in connector inside pillar behind speaker and join to red/black wires you cut earlier use extra Cable if required

Replace connector and rubber cover

Connect Battery and try

Replace speaker

Replace Speaker cover

My connector is rotten and i have to replace the lot i joined these wires last week and it worked
Brianmoooore explained this to me I think the red/black wires just loop inside the door and do not join to anything.

Some cars Myne for 1 has 3 red/black wires door side, 2 large wires 1 smaller wire leave the small one alone it joins to red/brown wire on pillar side of connector

Hope this helps

Looks like something went wrong with my explanation!
There's no need to unplug the door loom from it's socket.
All you need to do is remove the driver's side loudspeaker, look in through the hole, (possibly with a mirror), identify the two red/black wire that go to the back of the socket, cut both of them, and join the two ends, that DON'T go to the socket, together.
After the mod, the red/black wires shouldn't go anywhere near the door pillar socket.

Getting confused now!, what exactly does this remedy or modify?, and whats the correct procedure?

fitted new unit today worked for 2 mins and dont no more anyone know whats happening

is there anyway to lock the doors manually

Alex wrote:is there anyway to lock the doors manually

I just lock mine with the key
Got to sort my central locking out.

ed325i wrote:

Alex wrote:is there anyway to lock the doors manually

I just lock mine with the key
Got to sort my central locking out.

if your pre facelift because i think facelift are all done electrically so you cannot just turn the key

anyone know of any causes

Alex, Have you had a gander at the technical menu under the articles tab? theres a whole write up about the central locking faults in E30's. There is a thermal cut out in the module itself, have a look if that has broken, if it has you have a problem elsewhere within the system as this thermal cut out acts like a fuse. Im not sure who wrote it but they are a pure legend! BTW thanks Brianmoooore for the red/black wire mod.

HarvyS wrote:Alex, Have you had a gander at the technical menu under the articles tab? theres a whole write up about the central locking faults in E30's. There is a thermal cut out in the module itself, have a look if that has broken, if it has you have a problem elsewhere within the system as this thermal cut out acts like a fuse. Im not sure who wrote it but they are a pure legend! BTW thanks Brianmoooore for the red/black wire mod.

yer ive read that hundreds of times

Alex wrote:

ed325i wrote:

Alex wrote:is there anyway to lock the doors manually

I just lock mine with the key
Got to sort my central locking out.

if your pre facelift because i think facelift are all done electrically so you cannot just turn the key

They are all the same.

ed325i wrote:

Alex wrote:

ed325i wrote: I just lock mine with the key
Got to sort my central locking out.

if your pre facelift because i think facelift are all done electrically so you cannot just turn the key

They are all the same.

umm well there is only electrics connecting the lock to the unlock thing, its got an aftermarket alarm system on so bits may have benn removed when that was installed, and looking at the lock someone has broken into it at some stage of its life so the mechanical bit may have been damaged or removed by that but its the same on both sides


when i turn the key it does nothing but makes the central locking unit buzz

i hope i dont have to do mr bean style and screw a big padlock on the side of the door

Alex wrote:fitted new unit today worked for 2 mins and dont no more anyone know whats happening

Brianmoooore wrote:
If there's a fault, or a flooding problem, then your new locking ECU will quickly follow the old one! Locking ECUs don't normally just fail for no reason.
.

no it was as dry as a bone in there

the unit still clicks so it might have not failed

i will try the red/black wire mod took me loads of searching before i found it, the mod should be added into the central locking article

Im having the same problem, except mine is deadlocked in the locked position i can open drivers door but thats it! if i work the lock it just makes that buzzing noise.
i spoke to one of the master tech's at work (cooper bmw) and when we took the plug apart in the door pillar found all the terminal pins to be GREEN! not good! i have just ordered all new pins and plastic plug bits and should be repairing it next week so fingers crossed. im guessing the red/black wire mod does the same thing only cheaper and not proper? so have a look behind the rubber cover pull the plug out and see whats hiding!
hope it helps.

yer i was trying to get the plug out today but could not get it out so i gave up plus it was dark and cold

L-E-A-V-E T-H-E P-L-U-G A-L-O-N-E A-N-D D-O T-H-E R-E-D/B-L-A-C-K W-I-R-E M-O-D-I-F-IC-A-T-I-O-N!
After that we'll try to sort out any faults you've introduced by playing around with things you shouldn't have!

it has started working again and i can lock my doors