E30 steering locked and key won't move help!!

[E30NS]

Today I drove to my friends house turned my car off. Went to leave and the key wouldn't move out of the off position. Steering is locked. Got it towed home. Tried a spare key. wd-40 in the lock and still won't move. I've tried wiggling the steering wheel and holding it to one side still nothing. Can't get the wheel off due to the steering lock. I don't really want to cut the steering lock. Anything else I could try before I do?


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[E30NS]

Nothing?

[forwardlookguy]

Hopefully you don't still have this problem but here's my experience:

I had an '85 parts car that had a similar issue. Key would slide in the ignition but it wouldn't turn occasionally. Is your key worn out? Are the edges worn out to where they are no longer sharp but kind of rounded off?

When that happens, the key won't lift the pins so the cylinder won't turn. I was able to sometimes slightly slide the key in and out while turning and it would work. The last time I tried that I had to actually tap on the end of the key with a hammer while turning and it finally worked. From then on, I just left the key in it (it was a parts car).

You can get replacement keys made from a dealership I believe.

Hope that helps!

[agent]

I had this happen to me once in Lola. The key simply would not turn in the ignition without feeling like I was going to break it off in there. I don't know what happened, but I futzed around with it for a good 20 or 30 minutes until I finally got the key to turn and it hasn't been an issue since.

FWIW this was with a relatively new VIN cut steel key (< 2 years old).