2006 BMW 325I: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Dec 20, 2017 · 100,000 miles · CA

Front passenger side door lock malfunction. Will not unlock and unable to open the door. Rear driver side door lock malfunction will not unlock and unable to open the door. We have three children under 7 years old and this is very concerning. Our children will not be able to exit the car in case of an emergency through the rear driver side door. The malfunction was not a result of any damage done to the car and it happened while the vehicle was stationary.

Filed Jul 15, 2017 · WA

"takata recall " I was trying to get off my car and my doors wouldn't unlock even when I put pull the door handle all four of them wouldn't open my kids were in the car with me so I had to get out to the windows.

Filed Jan 10, 2017 · Electrical · 125,000 miles · MD

The fuses for the door locks blew for some reason which made the passenger front and rear doors inoperatible basically trapping passengers in the car. The doors would not unlock using the main door lock or pulling the door handle once to unlock and twice too open and exit the car.

Filed Nov 9, 2015 · Electrical · TX

Driver side door lock does not unlock from inside the car using door handle or lock/unlock button in dash or fob unlock button. Inability to open doors in the case of fire, accident, or emergency can cause injuries or death to driver. Bmw discontinue the part numbers for driver and passenger side and suggest in the service manual in case of front doors locks failure (either one or both doors) to replace driver and passenger side door lock laches with new part numbers. Old part numbers 51217202143 and 51217202146; new part numbers 51217229458 and 51217229455.

Filed May 17, 2014 · Locks · CA

Door locks stopped working, couldn't get in or out of car or open the gas door. Replaced fuse #57 and now 3 of 4 locks are working. After doing online research I've found this is a very common problem on these cars and it is unsafe as I would not have been able to get out of the car if there was an emergency. It seems that this problem is so common that it would warrant a recall.

Filed Nov 25, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 83,274 miles · CA

Doors will not unlock from remote key or unlock button inside car or from doors handle inside or outside car and will trap passengers inside. Only driver side door opens with door key. Doors can not be locked from remote key except driver side door. Totally unsafe to drive for chance getting trapped inside car. No manual door open feature exists.

Filed Oct 21, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 104,000 miles · TX

The rear door lock is not working - the handles do not open the door from the inside - the lock actuator is faulty and needs to be replaced again. So far I have had the front door lock actuators and the rear driver side actuators replaced. Bmw will not fix the actuators even though the part has been changed out before, is a known issue, and the actuators have been superseded two times by bmw.

Filed Jul 7, 2013 · Body, Electrical · 56,000 miles · WA

My door lock actuator failed in the garage and I have not been able to open the doors either from outside or inside. It would have been dangerous if this had happened when the vehicle was occupied and there was an accident.

Filed Jul 3, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 86,000 miles · CA

The door locks would not unlock from inside the vehicle using the central door unlock/lock button, key or manual door handle. Had this been an emergency would not have been able to escape quickly. Had to open window, reach outside and use the manual key to open door lock. There should be a recall on this known safety defect.

Filed Apr 30, 2012 · Body, Electrical · WA

Number of deaths? None yet, but tbd for the future of this extremely unsafe condition. 2006 bmw 325i doors locks fail to open, and all interior door latches are inoperative. All doors are inoperative if one fuse (#57) fails or if the battery fails. This is a serious concern about safety. If there is a crash or fire, people can die inside the vehicle if the doors cannot be opened. When this fuse fails, interior and exterior door handles don't function. The only way to get people out of the vehicle is to remove the hidden key from the fob, open the driver's window and unlock the driver's door. That will allow the driver's door to open but none of the other doors will open. Is this allowable under the federal safety agency safety regulations? I can't imagine that it is. This is not an obscure occurrence either. It has happened to my car a few times and has been reported by many other people on bmw owner's forums and on the federal safety agency complaint forms. Links below: http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2006/bmw/3_series/latches_locks_linkages/problem.aspx http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-342620.html

Filed Sep 14, 2011 · Electrical, Locks · 60,000 miles · CA

My passengers and I were trying to get back into my parked car, but when I used my key fob to unlock the doors only the passenger doors unlocked while the driver's door didn't. I tried to unlock the driver's door by using the lock/ unlock button located in the car. This did not work, and it locked the passenger doors again. I then tried to unlock the doors simultaneously by trying the key fob and the manual lock/ unlock button inside of the car a few more times, but none of the doors unlocked this time. We all heard the car attempting to lock and unlock, but the locks were not moving. I wasn't able to unlock any of the doors with the key fob or with the door lock/ unlock button inside the car, (the passengers were already in the car) so I used the emergency cut-out key located inside of the key fob to manually open the driver's door to get in. When I stopped to get gas on the same night, I found out that the gas cap was also locked, so we left. When we arrived back at my residence, everyone climbed out of the driver's seat. Finally, this morning after I manually unlocked the car with the emergency key, I noticed that the seat memory was also unresponsive. With less than 1/8 of a tank left, I will have to tow the car to the dealership because it will not make it on the gas left in the tank. This is a serious issue because if we were to have gotten in any type of accident or were in some unforeseen trouble while in the car with only seconds to react and get out of the car, it would have most likely ended up in multiple fatalities because of the inability to get out of the vehicle in a hasty manner. Please investigate and recall this issue before something like this does happen during and/ or after a car accident and people die because they are trapped in a car due to the electrical/ lock malfunction. Thank you.

Filed Sep 2, 2011 · Locks · 90,000 miles · SC

There is a well known issue with bmw model years 2006 and 2007 3 series models. There seems to be some problem with the door lock actuators and/or the fuses for the door locks. When they fail you are only able to escape the car through the drivers side door. None of the other doors on the car will open from the inside or outside. In order to fix the issue you have to replace the door lock actuators and the fuses. It really seems like there should be a recall on this issue as it is such a huge safety problem. What happens when I have a car full of people and heaven forbid it catches on fire or there is an accident and the drivers side door is damaged? We all die?