2003 BMW 3 Series: key fob or push-button start problems

Filed Jul 20, 2014 · Electrical, Locks · 153,231 miles · TX

Passenger doors would not unlock. All passengers could not get out of the car. Pulling on the door handles did not open or unlock the doors. Interior unlock buttons did not work. Unlock button on the key fob did not work. This is very common issue and can be very dangerous. 4 passengers had to crawl out the driver door.

Filed May 1, 2014 · Body · 51,000 miles · PA

I arrived home with my son who was sitting in the front passenger seat. When he tried to get out of the car, the door would not open. The lock button stayed down and would not open with two pulls on the handle as it should, with use of the interior locking/unlocking button , or with the remote control key fob. It has now remained non-functional. In the event of a crash on the driver's side, there would be no way to leave the car or received help without breaking a window and trying to slither out through broken glass. In addition, someone who was infirm (e.g., back trouble) and could not climb over the console and driver's seat would be stuck in the car. This is a safety and health hazard and from what I have seen on line, is not unique to me. Bmw should be required to make modifications that would eliminate this safety and health hazard.

Filed Jul 31, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · FL

The general module 5 (gm5) is electronic hardware that amongst other functions primarily controls the locking and unlocking of the bmw e46's. This module has decided to stop working in my vehicle making it impossible to unlock the vehicle from any of the possible options (key fob button, central locking button, or door double locking handle). This is an extreme safety hazard because in the case of an accident the passengers will not be able to quickly escape the vehicle due to inability of the doors to unlock. After thorough research I have found that this is a very widespread problem with this make and model vehicle, yet nothing has been done by the manufacturer to address this extremely hazardous flaw. There is no way to manually override the gm5 to unlock the doors so without it passengers are essentially trapped in the vehicle. The module also controls the windshield wipers, power windows, and trunk release. Having these features inoperable on top of the inability to unlock for any given amount of time is unacceptable and should be addressed by the manufacturer as a recall and replacement.

Filed Jan 29, 2013 · Electrical · 63,000 miles · IL

I was locked in my car for 1 hour. My key fob would not unlock my doors, so I manually opened the door, started the car, closed the door, and tried to warm up the car (it is winter in chicago and my windows were also frozen shut). I then pressed the door lock button twice in an attempt to unlock the doors and at that point I learned I was locked in my car. I tried driving the car a block to see if the locks would reset and nothing worked (neither the door levers, key fob or lock button). I called a dealer and they suggested I drive it to the service center. When I arrived at the service center an hour later, my window was no longer frozen so I handed the key to the agent and although the manual door handles and unlock button would not work, the key fob was able to unlock the doors. The agent agreed that there was a problem that needed to be inspected. I drove the car home. Two days later I tried to start the car and the battery was dead. We jumped it and I drove the car to a dealer. The dealer replaced and programmed the general module behind the glove box. They said that it had caused the problem with the doors and drained the battery. The bmw representatives do not seem surprised by the problem, but I was quite frightened by the fact that I had to drive my car while locked inside the vehicle.

Filed Apr 28, 2012 · Electrical · 100,000 miles · CA

Doors fail to unlock, either using the keyfob, the inside button or manually by pulling the door handle. This is a very dangerous situation as occupants are trapped inside. No method of opening the door work. This appears to be intermittent and eventually the doors unlock mechanism starts working again. The gm5 module seems at fault. This could be very dangerous in an emergency situation.