Remote Central Locking Woes

[wartex11]

Hi all,

I have a 1989 318i E30 Coupe, and am just having trouble with the central locking, in point form to summarise;

- Central locking was playing up when I first got the vehicle including locks kicking back and hard to turn key,
- Installed power windows and at the same time installed a new CLCU as it was attached to loom and thought I'd give it a go,

1. (--All became well--)

- Central locking fixed itself up,

2. (--Several months later--)

- I saw a remote central locking kit on ebay and purchased it (was a nice set, modern key and remote in 1), installed it (wrongly), researched more and installed it correctly (it is wired into the boot),

3. (--Central locking began to play up again (lock not coming up all the way or going down all the way), it seems to have settled down now to the following;--)
Manual locking with key:
- If boot is unlocked, if I try to lock from passenger and drivers the locks will kick back up which I have read is normal
- If boot is locked, if I try to lock from passenger and drivers the locks will lock properly

Remote central locking with remote:
- If boot is unlocked, if I try to remote lock nothing will happen,
- If boot is locked, if I try to remote lock the locks will lock and then kick back up,

Before Point 3 the drivers door lock became very hard to turn to a point the key was flexing, and not lock when turned CCW 45 degrees, and only locking when CCW 90 degrees (double locking)

I have rebuilt the drivers lock cylinder (one part was cracked and fell apart when I was dismantling the lock), but it is still very hard to turn, when I lock and unlock from passenger side the key is smooth and feels like the electronics are doing the work, but with the drivers side it feels like I have to turn and turn before the electronics grab

I should note it is quite hard to pull the lock up and down from inside the car,

I had the door trim apart and had my hand around the door lock actuator and playing with the remote, I could not feel any movement in the rods (actuator trying to move) when the boot was locked and I was trying to remote lock the car.

Basically I would like the remote central locking to, when locking, not have the locks kick back up.

Remote central locking unlocks perfectly fine,

Can anyone help?

Things I have replaced;
- Drivers door lock cylinder, (installed spring that returns the key back to 0 degree position incorrectly but will fix this weekend),
- Central Locking Control Unit near speaker (tested previous one, opened both up to check the fuse, seems okay unless I checked the wrong side of the fuse, all connectors are good (both units are second hand))
- Tried the drivers door loop, no change so connected it back the factory way,
- Car battery and voltage regulator, car just died the other day and would not start, jump started 10 min later and all good.. so far so good, voltage in battery is 12.5v when off and on cold start, after driving a bit the battery jumps to

13.6v (alternator kicking into high gear?) and when the car is off the battery is 13.6v,

Things I have not replaced;
- Unsure if it was passenger or drivers plug that goes from door to main loom but was the new loom with power window connectors had some green mouldy stuff, i cleaned that off and all pins should be good
- Central locking microswitch?? Drivers door?
- Drivers door ?? Actuator??
- Not sure what else,

Any help would be much appreciated,

I have read many articles but nothing that seems to have pin pointed the cause of my issue,

[uturn]

Is it a BMW alarm unit? I installed a aftermarket one in the trunk and had issues a few months later. Went with a more upscale unit, installed where BMW installs it(taps into wires in the loom on the passenger side) and has had no problems for the past two years.

[jlevie]

It could be that one of the lock switches is stuck in the unlock position.

[wartex11]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, the central locking is working as it should now (seems to have settled down), but I am just finding the lock cylinder (that I have just rebuilt) is very stiff to turn the key,

I have deduced that the actuators are okay because they are working fine from the boot,

I have the plan to adjust the actuator to grip earlier??

Also, remote central locking is still not working as it should...it is the same unit as the write up here for e30 which many have had success with!

Regards,

jlevie: do you mean the microswitch that the lock barrel taps to open/close the locks?

[jlevie]

jlevie: do you mean the microswitch that the lock barrel taps to open/close the locks?

Yes.