My central door locking system does not work, resulting in none of the passenger doors will not open when locked. So all passengers are trapped in the back seat and front passenger seat. The driver door can be opened from the inside and with a key from the outside. I have reached out to bmw and they wrote a report but said the 1999 year model would probably not be covered. In no way should passengers not be able to exit an automobile during an emergency. I can not drive the car with passengers. To repair this problem is estimated at $550.00. This happens when it is parked and motor on or off
BMW 323I door locks problems
15 of the 563 owner complaints about the BMW 323I describe doors won't lock, open or latch, most of them for the 1999 model year.
- owner complaints
- 15
- worst model year
- 1999
- typical mileage
- 104,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
All passenger doors fail to open (even manually) due to a faulty gm5 (computer) or door lock actuator resulting in a hazard if there were to be a fire or accident.
The door locks of my car are electronically controlled via remote and a button on my center console. The gm5 door locking module has intermittent issues, one of which will not allow you to lock or unlock the doors while you are in the vehicle. In an emergency or accident one would not be able to exit the vehicle using the unlock button or remote.
1999 bmw 323i doors will not unlock with keyless entry remote or unlock button inside the car. Passengers (90% of the time) and sometimes drivers side door (10%) will not unlock trapping occupants inside. Problem usually occurs when temperatures are above 75 degrees. After researching the problem I will be replacing the general module 5. If problem is not recognized by car owners, occupants of the car may be trapped inside during an accident resulting in possible injury or death.
Sometimes the doors on my 2000 bmw 323i will not unlock and when I use the key to unlock the door it will only open the driver side door. When this occurs the unlock button doesn't work and pulling the door handle does not work either. Passengers have to climb through the driver side door and in case of an emergency with there being only one escape route this could cause serious injury or death.
My bmw 323i door locks don't open. Once we are inside the car, doors don't open using the door handle.
The door locks on my car fail in the middle of the day, now almost every day. It is impossible to open the doors, except the drivers' door, from the inside of the car. This would be very dangerous in an emergency / accident, passengers would be unable to exit the vehicle. This appears to be a common bmw defect, I know many other owners who have suffered this problem. Why haven't these cars been recalled?
The front passenger door on my bmw 323 cic (model year 2000) regularly fails to unlock preventing passengers entry or exit through this door. I replaced the actuator on the passenger door and the door still fails to unlock regularly using all possible means available, I.e. Key fob, interior unlock button, or pulling repeatedly on the door handle to attempt to open the door. They all fail leaving the passenger (front & back since I own a two door) trapped in the car and forced to climb out the driver's door after all other passengers have left the car. This is a safety issue for passengers in my car who are handicapped, recovering from surgery, not in good physical shape to climb over the middle console to exit the vehicle or if there is an accident. This also is a common issue on this model which bmw has not acknowledged and initiated a voluntary recall to fix. Given the safety issues that this type of common problem presents, I would like the federal safety agency to investigate and determine if bmw needs to be forced to do a recall to address this.
We have a safety issue with our bmw 323i year 2000. The electric door locks will actuate and then you cannot get out of the car through 3 or 4 doors. The electric locks will not disengage and you cannot release them with the handle from the inside of the vehicle. Passengers are basically trapped inside the car and have to climb over the front seat to exit the vehicle. Problem has been recurring frequently. After an extended period of time, we are usually able to get the locks to work. I found 10 complaints filed on this same issue with one death and 3 injuries resulting from this malfunction. There are probably more complaints but I just looked at 3 vehicle years.
Auto accident results in death of a passenger due to the inability to unlock car doors in an attempt to exit auto which caught fire short after an intersection accident, the passengers were unable to open door latch, unable to pull on door lock knobs that are flush to door panels and unable to press on main door lock switch which would otherwise have allowed them to exit vehicle quickly and safely. Three passengers exited through a broken window but unfortunately one was not so lucky. Bmw chose to ignore all requests for a recall on a "general module 5 - door relays" for 1999 bmw 323i's due to unwanted costs to the auto maker, unfortunately this time the cost was paid by a family who had to endure the loss of a loved one. Many complaints have been filed in regards to this door lock module yet no action has been taken to correct this default. Hopefully a police report, a death certificate, and letters from the victims family members will be enough to shed light to this deadly issue.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the BMW 323I door locks
Which BMW 323I years have doors won't lock, open or latch problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1999 (8 complaints) and 2000 (7 complaints).
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