2001 BMW 325I: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Jul 31, 2014 · Electrical, Locks · 69,000 miles · AZ

My doors won't unlock. I have actually been locked in the car, and had to climb out my window/sunroof. This seems to be a common problem mentioned on many bmw enthusiast forums. I wish more of those who experience this problem with submit a complaint. I am worried about being in an accident and not being able to get out of my car. Sometimes my doors unlock, sometimes they don't. This is associated with the gm5 module, and a person online even specializes in fixing it since it is such a common problem (http://www.bmwgm5.com).

Filed Apr 13, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · NY

Purchased the car used, in january 2011, with approximately 110,000 miles. Vehicle had several stored engine codes, po0300,171,174,1345,1351,1353; mostly relating to oxygen sensors and the maf. All engine hoses, the maf, all 4 oxygen sensors and the ignition coil packs were replaced by a certified mechanic. Within 2 months of normal driving, all codes had returned. Mechanic is unable to determine the points of failure for these issues and bmw denies any existing problem the passenger side airbag light, turns on and off, randomly, whether someone is sitting there, or not. Failure of the sensor could cause the ab not to deploy during an accident, causing serious, if not fatal, injury. Bmw is aware of the issue, does not replace/repair. Door lock/window/windshield wiper control module, known as gm5, fails randomly and often. It has failed several times, while I was in the car. Since it disables the door locks and windows, I was trapped in my car for several minutes. Thankfully, I had the window rolled down far enough to pass my keys to someone on the outside, so they could unlock the door. In an accident, passengers could be stuck, keeping emergency workers from giving them medical attention, in a timely fashion. Bmw is fully aware of the problem, but denies it's existence. I also receive random exterior light out warnings, on the dash. Usually, it's both taillights, but more frequently, it is the driver side light sensor, that fails, though the light is actually working, just fine.

Filed Jun 11, 2011 · Electrical · 156,111 miles · WA

Car is a bmw 325i. Model year 2001. The electrical door unlock mechanism does not always unlock the doors. In particular, the button to unlock all doors works intermittently. This problem has existed for a number of months now. I suspect that it is related to a faulty general module 5 unit in the car. On rare occasions unlocking the door will not work when pulling the door latch when the all door lock button is not working, leading to driver/passengers trapped in the car.

Filed Sep 15, 2010 · Locks · VA

Bmw 325i e46 model has door locking issues. The doors will lock and not unlock trapping passengers inside the car. The only way to get out of the car is to crawl out the window and disconnect the battery which fixes the issue but only temporarily. This is a known problem and bmw should fix the issue through a recall. It is a huge safety issue that people cannot get out of the car, what if they were in an accident and could not escape the vehicle?

Filed Jun 18, 2010 · Locks · 127,000 miles · NY

I have a 2001 bmw 325i sedan (production date 10/2000) and I'm having a issue with my door locks. Today when going to pick up my child from school, I was unable to exit my vehicle. I always lock my doors once I begin driving for my own comfort and safety. So after parking my car and removing my key, normally I would be able to pull the interior handle to the drivers door and the door would unlock, it didn't. I don't have an alarm on the car so I didn't understand what was going on. I pushed the lock/unlock button inside the car to attempt to unlock the door with no success. I pressed the button on my key to attempt to unlock the doors with again, no success. The only was I was able to exit my vehicle was to put the key back in the ignition, open the drivers window, take the key back out and use the key to unlock the door from the outside. This is not the first time this issue has happened, but is the first time it happened where I was locked inside my car. It happened once in the winter and I was unable to get into my car for over 30minutes. This is a very big safety issue because I was trapped in my car. I could have been involved in a accident and can't get out the car through the doors because of this issue. The most scary part is that I don't know when it's going to happen. Something has got to be done about this. I took the car to be looked at by a mechanic and was told that it would cost me almost $800 to repair this issue. They informed me that this is a common issue with my car. I searched to see if there was a recall or something for this issue offered by bmw and could not find anything but more people complaining of the same expensive issue. This issue is a serious safety issue. If I was involved in a accident where the car caught fire and all doors were locked but the drivers door, how would my passengers get out??? Very serious and dangerous safety issue!!!!!

Filed Sep 28, 2009 · Electrical · 130,000 miles · GA

I have a 2001 bmw 325i - 4 door. The problem I am having is: intermittently (usually when hot) the door locks will not open with the button on the key - all four. When that happens, I can unlock the driver's side door with the key but I can not open the other three doors with the button on the key, the button on the dash or by pulling the handles. The gas lid does not unlock either. Sometimes just the drivers side door will open with the button on the key and then - usually - I can unlock the other doors with the handles. Sometimes everything works fine. The trunk does not have problems unlocking. I have been told the gm5 module has a common failure that causes these issues.

Filed Aug 18, 2009 · Locks · 101,800 miles · NM

The automatic power door locks on a bmw 3-series (e46) are known to randomly fail, resulting in it becoming impossible for any occupants to get out of a vehicle. This is apparently due to a faulty gm5 relay (general module #5) supplied as an oem component in the vehicle by bmw (see http://http://www.bmwgm5.com/). Failure occurs about 1 out of 3 attempts to unlock the automatic door locks. It is known that replacement of the gm5 relay solves the problem. Someone eventually will be burned alive due to this faulty component.

Filed Jan 24, 2002 · Body · NC

Driver's side door will not close during cold weather. Dealer notified. Feel free to provide any further information.