glovebox problems

[Jordan325iC]

So today at lunch I got something out of my glove box and left my keys in there. My passenger closed the glove box and lo-and-behold, it was locked. I don't understand how this happened, as the glove box was unlocked and can only be locked from the outside by a key... I didn't think it was locked (because you know it's impossible), I assumed it was jammed, and I had to get back to class, so my passenger tried to force it open, and broke the handle. I ended up walking several blocks and leaving my car unattended with the windows rolled down for two hours, and was late to class.

Anyhow, my parent brought me a spare key after school and I unlocked my glove box but it won't open. I've got two questions:

How do you get into a broken (locked) glove box?

What does it take to get that fixed (seeing as how every lock is different)? Would any lock shop do it or what? Can you buy glove boxes w/o a lock?

[M3 Ryan]

You need to pull down on the front of the glovebox to get access to the phillips screws that hold the latch mechanism in place. Then remove the screws so you can pull down the latch.
It is not locked, it broke a finger off.
If you guys want to avoid this huge headache, lube the latch every year and you will not run into this problem nearly as often.

[erik325i]

Here a couple more writeups for opening the glovebox with a broken latch, just for referance.

http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=articles&report=view&ID=00033&Section=00

http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=articles&report=view&ID=00034&Section=00

And to answer your question, I think you can have a locksmith rekey your new lock to match the rest of your keys.
If you are like me, and never lock the glovebox anyways, you could just use the new latch without having it re-keyed.

if you need a new latch, i can send you one for $12 shipped. Send me a PM.

[M3 Ryan]

Also on that note of not locking your glovebox, you can buy the new latch without a lock in it, and its cheaper (about half the cost of a keyed lock)...