has anyone ever fixed their central locking on an e30?

[ringmeister81]

I've been following this thread, and I was in a similar situation as Mwishlist. The previous owner had removed all of the actuators except for the one in the trunk, so I had no central locking. I bought two used actuators for the driver and passenger door (I own an iX coupe), installed them, and central locking now works (for the most part).

My only issue seems to be that the drivers side will not UNLOCK the entire car (either with key or by pulling up the lock tab by hand). However, locking works as it should. Both the passenger side and trunk allow me to lock/unlock all doors with key. And the passenger lock tab allows lock/unlock from the interior.

I have checked the fitment of the drivers actuator and made sure there was no "wiggle" room, but the issue persists. I should mention that the drivers side lock has been replaced by PO and I have a separate key for that door alone. He did not key the lock to the master (ignition) key. This is a pain, and I've thought about replacing the lock or having a locksmith key it to the master key, but I'm planning on keyless entry in the near future so I don't know if this is a necessity.

My question: could the fact that the PO changed the drivers side lock be the cause of that side not unlocking the rest of the car? Or do I have a potentially bad actuator?

Thanks in advance!

[Mwishlist]

My only issue seems to be that the drivers side will not UNLOCK the entire car (either with key or by pulling up the lock tab by hand). However, locking works as it should. Both the passenger side and trunk allow me to lock/unlock all doors with key. And the passenger lock tab allows lock/unlock from the interior.

Thanks in advance!

Sound's like that is your issue. Here's how you can test that: With the door card off of the drivers door, physically pull up on the lock mechanism (or even the actuator itself). If you pull up the actuator on the drivers side and it unlocks everything else, then I believe you have a physical problem with the drivers side lock. If you are looking at the assembly in the door you can turn the key or have someone and see if it is physically moving the assembly. Like in my case it would move it one way but not the other because it was wore out. Let us know what happens!

[ringmeister81]

Mwishlist, thanks for the response.. I'll definitely check that out!

I think I failed to make clear that the drivers side DOES unlock with the key and the lock tab, but it will only unlock the DRIVERS side.. Very weird. It does lock all the other doors though whether I push the tab down or lock it from outside with the key. Its a minor annoyance, but I'm quite baffled as to why it's occurring. I've only just got central locking working this week, so I was surprised that I couldn't control all of the locks when I opened the locked car from the drivers side. I'll check it all out again tomorrow. Until then, thanks for the advice.

[Mwishlist]

Yeah, that's not what I thought. Have you checked the wiring in the door plug? I have to run back through the threads but I think the white/black wire is the unlock signal. Maybe that connection has gone bad at the plug in the door pillar, or any place for that matter between the door and the CLCU. That's totally off the top of my head though. since I didn't have to trace down an electrical issue I'm not that familiar with that side of it.

Find out what wire sends the unlock signal, then if you have a multimeter or test bulb test that while someone unlocks the drivers door. If everything works but that, I would say there is a problem getting the unlock signal from the wiring. Since unlock works from other doors, check the same wire as someone unlocks one of those and see if you are getting the same signal from the drivers door.

[ringmeister81]

That makes more sense than I bad actuator. I'll definitely check it out. But, would this still be the problem if the drivers door is unlocking when I use the key from trunk/passenger door? That's what's confusing. The actuator on the drivers side will lock and unlock with the rest. It just won't unlock all the others if I try from drivers side. Eventually, I'm sure I can get to the bottom of this. Thanks.

[Mwishlist]

From my limited understanding, there are two different wires; one that tells the central locking unit to lock and one to unlock from each lock. Every time you lock or unlock a door or trunk this signal triggers the CLCU to lock or unlock the rest of the doors. So I would guess that the signal from the drivers door to the CLCU has been interrupted. Looking at a wiring diagram I think now that wire is the Green / Blue one from the drivers door to the CLCU. Check that one.

Like I said still learning this car, but if that wire was cut I think it would perform exactly what you are describing.

[IS300E30]

I have an issue that just started. I lock my car with the driver side door, then I go to unlock my car with the driver door and only the driver door unlocks, not the passenger door.

When this happens the driver door feels and sounds the same as if I was unlocking the door with the battery disconnected, as in no power is going through the system. If I wait an hour or two, then the motorized feel and sound happens, and both doors unlock (it is a vert by the way). Then I try it again and I lock the car and try to unlock both doors to test the system and again only the driver door unlocks with the feel and the sound as if the battery was disconnected again. This keeps on happening.