| Any BMW owners on here... 11:53 - Dec 12 with 512 views | Bent_double |
who've had problems with a door not opening?
My son bought a used 1 series a couple of months ago - from Aspire Cars in Ipswich, now the passenger side door won't open at all.
Apparently its a common problem on BMWs - quality German engineering ,eh! But the warranty doesn't cover it, and if it's the actuator (the device that locks/unlocks the door) it could cost £300-£400 in a BMW garage with their parts.
He's not a happy bunny.... |  |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 11:59 - Dec 12 with 480 views | BloomBlue |
Buy Chinese, they're cheaper and quality is better than German.
According to my mad BMW mate, its a well-known problem on BMW series 1 cars, 'failing electronic door lock actuators' |  | | |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:01 - Dec 12 with 462 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
I wish none of their doors opened, and then none of their drivers would be on the roads terrorising the rest of us! |  |
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| Yeah, had the same problem.... on 12:05 - Dec 12 with 454 views | Bloots |
....on the wife's Mini (it's the same part).
Cost about £175 for the part and £120 to fit at my local independent garage.
You can add at least £100 to that if you use a BMW garage |  |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:07 - Dec 12 with 444 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 11:59 - Dec 12 by BloomBlue |
Buy Chinese, they're cheaper and quality is better than German.
According to my mad BMW mate, its a well-known problem on BMW series 1 cars, 'failing electronic door lock actuators' |
Yes, so I've read. You'd think they should replace them for free as it's a know problem....hahaha | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:09 - Dec 12 with 435 views | Keno |
My mate had a BMW on which the indicators worked
he took it back to get it fixed |  |
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| Yeah, had the same problem.... on 12:09 - Dec 12 with 434 views | Bent_double |
| Yeah, had the same problem.... on 12:05 - Dec 12 by Bloots |
....on the wife's Mini (it's the same part).
Cost about £175 for the part and £120 to fit at my local independent garage.
You can add at least £100 to that if you use a BMW garage |
That's what I thought, £300+
No point going to a BMW garage I guess, their parts are the problem, might as well replace it with a cheaper 3rd party part. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:12 - Dec 12 with 406 views | TNBlue |
If the car is still under warranty, it should he covered. Otherwise what is the point of a warranty! |  | | |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:14 - Dec 12 with 381 views | NewcyBlue |
It’s a fiddly job.
Tell him to pull on the door handle from inside quickly repeatedly, it should open. Usually works.
If he’s a decent diyer he should be able to replace it himself. |  |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:21 - Dec 12 with 363 views | OldFart71 |
I had a 1 series a little over a year ago. The only problem I had was when I bought it the steering was a bit vague. I had the wheels balanced and found that the tyres were different makes on the front. So I bought a really decent set of new tyres and it solved the problem.
I may be wide of the mark but a couple of things I would try presumably as the doors lock and unlock on a key fob is to open and close a few times. You could try squirting some WD40 into the lock and finally if you have one of those hand held fault finders that you plug into the ECU you could try a reset. If all else fails and you need a new actuator try a scrapyard, or Ebay. | | | |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:30 - Dec 12 with 322 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:12 - Dec 12 by TNBlue |
If the car is still under warranty, it should he covered. Otherwise what is the point of a warranty! |
Well, exactly! They told him it isn't though. I've told him to get in contact with Aspire Cars, see what they say | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:32 - Dec 12 with 310 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:14 - Dec 12 by NewcyBlue |
It’s a fiddly job.
Tell him to pull on the door handle from inside quickly repeatedly, it should open. Usually works.
If he’s a decent diyer he should be able to replace it himself. |
Yeah,watched a youtube video, not sure he wants to try himself.
Told him to try the rapid pulling on the handle though, see if that opens it, cheers. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:34 - Dec 12 with 295 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:21 - Dec 12 by OldFart71 |
I had a 1 series a little over a year ago. The only problem I had was when I bought it the steering was a bit vague. I had the wheels balanced and found that the tyres were different makes on the front. So I bought a really decent set of new tyres and it solved the problem.
I may be wide of the mark but a couple of things I would try presumably as the doors lock and unlock on a key fob is to open and close a few times. You could try squirting some WD40 into the lock and finally if you have one of those hand held fault finders that you plug into the ECU you could try a reset. If all else fails and you need a new actuator try a scrapyard, or Ebay. |
Found used actuators on ebay for about 15 quid, as long as its the right part, new 3rd party ones are about 30 quid.
He can't open the door to even get to the lock, so can't do the wd40.
Switch it off and on again? Might work if there's a way to 'reboot' from the dash I suppose. Cheers | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:40 - Dec 12 with 272 views | OldFart71 |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:34 - Dec 12 by Bent_double |
Found used actuators on ebay for about 15 quid, as long as its the right part, new 3rd party ones are about 30 quid.
He can't open the door to even get to the lock, so can't do the wd40.
Switch it off and on again? Might work if there's a way to 'reboot' from the dash I suppose. Cheers |
Does it open on the key ? | | | |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:44 - Dec 12 with 244 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:40 - Dec 12 by OldFart71 |
Does it open on the key ? |
Passenger side doesn't have a keyhole, only on the drivers side. Crazy. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:06 - Dec 12 with 185 views | NewcyBlue |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:34 - Dec 12 by Bent_double |
Found used actuators on ebay for about 15 quid, as long as its the right part, new 3rd party ones are about 30 quid.
He can't open the door to even get to the lock, so can't do the wd40.
Switch it off and on again? Might work if there's a way to 'reboot' from the dash I suppose. Cheers |
Disconnect the battery and hold the terminals together. This will discharge all capacitors in the ECUs.
Modern cars generally need time for modules to shut down, on our XFS it was a case of leaving the key away from the car for 40 minutes after opening the boot before it was safe to disconnect the battery. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:08 - Dec 12 with 181 views | Churchman |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:09 - Dec 12 by Keno |
My mate had a BMW on which the indicators worked
he took it back to get it fixed |
Never owned a BMW but I borrowed one through work for six months. Lovely car, but the slightly offset pedals made it literally a pain.
They used to make good looking, stylish cars but now they seem to only make ugly, aggressive, unfriendly looking ones.
As for German engineering, it is historically good. But is it that good? I have an Audi A3 which I absolutely love. Fast, fuel efficient, cracking looking and all the toys. An absolute joy to be in and drive. But is it as mechanically robust as Mrs C’s Toyota Yaris? Tbh it doesn’t feel like it. 6.5 years with the current Yaris and not a hint of a problem. Same with its two predecessors and other Toyotas owned over the years. |  | | |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:14 - Dec 12 with 164 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:06 - Dec 12 by NewcyBlue |
Disconnect the battery and hold the terminals together. This will discharge all capacitors in the ECUs.
Modern cars generally need time for modules to shut down, on our XFS it was a case of leaving the key away from the car for 40 minutes after opening the boot before it was safe to disconnect the battery. |
Touch the positive and negative cables together?
So unlock the car, leave it for 30-40 mins, come back without the key and try that? I'll pass it on. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:39 - Dec 12 with 116 views | OldFart71 |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 12:44 - Dec 12 by Bent_double |
Passenger side doesn't have a keyhole, only on the drivers side. Crazy. |
Having googled it there's also a couple of other things it could be beside the actuator. A cable broken or a broken clip on the actuator. Which I'm not sure whether that necessitates changing the actuator. Obviously the only way to get at it is to remove the door card and if it's like most cars they are just plastic snap in things which can be easily broken.
I know not everyone wants the hassle of doing things themselves and I personally won't touch anything to do with wiring, steering or brakes. But most other things I'll have a go at. An Audi cabriolet I had about three cars ago had an engine management light come on and I plugged in my hand held fault finder into the ECU and because they don't nail down exactly what was wrong it gave several codes. So I purchased a few bits, bought a can of compressed air or whatever it was for the mass flow meter blow through and eventually fixed it. The trouble with anything from new to 15 years ago has all these sensors feeding the onboard computer that it's often hit and miss to solve problems. Not like when you had things you could change and sort easily yourself. With EV's I doubt it will be possible for a DIY mechanic to do mush at all. | | | |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:58 - Dec 12 with 83 views | NewcyBlue |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:14 - Dec 12 by Bent_double |
Touch the positive and negative cables together?
So unlock the car, leave it for 30-40 mins, come back without the key and try that? I'll pass it on. |
Yes, it will discharge the capacitors.
Actuators are pretty standard to go on them, you can buy a trim tool off amazon which should enable the door card to come off without breaking too many clips.
I’ve done a few of them on Jaguars. Usually end up with shredded hands, but it just requires a bit of patience when manoeuvring it in and out of the door.
I think on the 1 series, the door card is obscured with the door closed? On some cars you can do it in situ.
If you end up having a go at it, feel free to message me if you run into any issues. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 14:18 - Dec 12 with 58 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:39 - Dec 12 by OldFart71 |
Having googled it there's also a couple of other things it could be beside the actuator. A cable broken or a broken clip on the actuator. Which I'm not sure whether that necessitates changing the actuator. Obviously the only way to get at it is to remove the door card and if it's like most cars they are just plastic snap in things which can be easily broken.
I know not everyone wants the hassle of doing things themselves and I personally won't touch anything to do with wiring, steering or brakes. But most other things I'll have a go at. An Audi cabriolet I had about three cars ago had an engine management light come on and I plugged in my hand held fault finder into the ECU and because they don't nail down exactly what was wrong it gave several codes. So I purchased a few bits, bought a can of compressed air or whatever it was for the mass flow meter blow through and eventually fixed it. The trouble with anything from new to 15 years ago has all these sensors feeding the onboard computer that it's often hit and miss to solve problems. Not like when you had things you could change and sort easily yourself. With EV's I doubt it will be possible for a DIY mechanic to do mush at all. |
Yes, he seems to think - or hope - that it's just the cable come loose from the actuator, but as you say, need to take the door card off first...and how do you do that when you can't open the door!!
It's such a new car for him, I think he's going to just have to bite the bullet and pay a local garage to do it. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 14:20 - Dec 12 with 51 views | Bent_double |
| Any BMW owners on here... on 13:58 - Dec 12 by NewcyBlue |
Yes, it will discharge the capacitors.
Actuators are pretty standard to go on them, you can buy a trim tool off amazon which should enable the door card to come off without breaking too many clips.
I’ve done a few of them on Jaguars. Usually end up with shredded hands, but it just requires a bit of patience when manoeuvring it in and out of the door.
I think on the 1 series, the door card is obscured with the door closed? On some cars you can do it in situ.
If you end up having a go at it, feel free to message me if you run into any issues. |
OK thanks, have passed that on.
Don't think he can remove the door card with the door closed, that's the first problem!
I'm in Yarmouth, he's in Lossiemouth, so nothing I can physically do to help atm, just pass on these tips. | |
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| Any BMW owners on here... on 14:25 - Dec 12 with 35 views | WestSussexBlue |
If it’s less than 3 months since purchase I’d be dropping in to Aspire and asking them what they will do firstly. | | | |
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