Steering lock stuck on, any tips?

[hyperaudible]

Hi Guys,

My steering lock (the one in the ignition barrel that locks the steering wheel in place) has jammed on. I've tried plenty of wiggling and banging but it won't budge.
Any ideas before I bust out the hammer and chisel?

It's sitting in a 7 Eleven carpark so it's mildly urgent...

Cheers!

[hyperaudible]

Sooo, this is where I ended up after 48 hrs of cold chisel and hammering in the 7 Eleven carpark.



Good news is that I live in AUS so a used ignition lock, key and column is only $200 and the tow was only $100 for 1.8km.

Post much easier solutions that I should have thought of below. Thanks.

[iansane]

My ignition cylinder froze sometime last year. With two different keys I couldn't turn the switch. Sucked because I was at a bar when it happened. I pulled the lower cover off the steering column so I could unhook the ignition switch from the lock cylinder and start the car.

To unlock the steering wheel I loosened the shaft nut (21 or 22mm?) a couple of threads and that let me pry the entire wheel outward just enough that I could fit a flat head screw driver between the wheel and plastic column cover on the top, dead center. With a couple taps downward I could force the steering wheel lock tab out of the steering wheel and pull the entire wheel off. I ended up having to break that locking tab off of the column because it was a few days for my buddy at BMW to order me a new lock cylinder coded to the factory key. Then it was just a matter of drilling out the lock cylinder which only took a few minutes.

[nickmcc92]

It's pretty easy. Same thing happened to me but in my driveway luckily:)
Removed steering wheel, steering column covers. Then you will see a metal rectangular box tab that goes up and down. It's on top of the column. I used a screwdriver to push it up while I hacksawed it in half. No more problem.

[hyperaudible]

Thanks guys, I finally got it all back together today.

I couldn't get the steering wheel free while it was in the car so I ended up pulling the whole column out, removing the covers, indicators and wiper controls etc and cutting a section out of the back of the steering wheel so I could remove it. Then I used a dremel to cut the locking pin out. See pic.




I damaged the ignition barrel housing while I was desperately trying to get it fixed at the 7 eleven (went to town on it with a cold chisel) The damage made it impossible to properly locate the piece of wire in the little hole usually used to free the barrel from the housing because the key/barrel was stuck past the accessory position, so I had to cut the barrel out with the dremel too.




After all that, it seems like my original lock barrel when installed in the new housing won't turn the ignition switch far enough to crank the starter, so I'm stuck with my old key for the doors and a new key for ignition.

[Dave003]

Thanks guys, I finally got it all back together today.

I couldn't get the steering wheel free while it was in the car so I ended up pulling the whole column out, removing the covers, indicators and wiper controls etc and cutting a section out of the back of the steering wheel so I could remove it. Then I used a dremel to cut the locking pin out. See pic.




I damaged the ignition barrel housing while I was desperately trying to get it fixed at the 7 eleven (went to town on it with a cold chisel) The damage made it impossible to properly locate the piece of wire in the little hole usually used to free the barrel from the housing because the key/barrel was stuck past the accessory position, so I had to cut the barrel out with the dremel too.




After all that, it seems like my original lock barrel when installed in the new housing won't turn the ignition switch far enough to crank the starter, so I'm stuck with my old key for the doors and a new key for ignition.

can you reupload the pics?