2007 BMW 328XI: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Dec 18, 2018 · Body · 78,799 miles · MN

The vehicle was stationary in a garage. With vehicle either running or not running, we were unable to exit the vehicle as we were unable to unlock and open both front and the left rear doors, from the inside (using the door levers, central locking system button, and remote) or from the outside (using the door handle, key, and remote). The only ways to exit the vehicle were to climb through a window or over the front seats (difficult) to access the right rear door. To get the doors to unlock, I needed to replace a fuse in the fuse panel and disconnect the battery for at least 30 seconds. This could be a death trap if in an accident, high water, extreme cold, etc.

Filed Mar 31, 2014 · Electrical · 83,000 miles · NJ

The automatic door locking function in my car has gone out twice in the last 8 months. The buttons inside the car and on the key fob did not open or lock the doors. The safety issue is that when this occurred, there was no way to open any of the doors from the inside of the car. The driver's side door is the only one that has a physical key slot. The car can only be unlocked from the outside when the automatic door locks fail. A person cannot open the doors using any of the handles, including the driver's side door handle when the locks fail. There is no way to exit the car from the inside when this fails. I had to pull a back seat passenger out the window to remove him from the car when the automatic locks failed the second time. Both times I was able to fix the problem by replacing first one, then two fuses in the box. Bmw service departments do not consider this an emergency, so I had to do the repairs myself. I did not feel safe at all being unable to open any of the doors, and having to drive with the driver's side door unlocked. It is not easy to replace a fuse when the box is in the back of the glove box on the far side when it is impossible to open the passenger door. Bmw said there may be something in the car that is causing this to fail for me and has quoted almost $200 for an assessment. This issue is a major safety problem. One can easily be stuck in the car as my passenger was with no way to get out besides the window. This car is not large enough to easily jump over consoles or seats. I called bmw and said this has to be a safety recall since you cannot exit the car when the system fails. There was no promise to make any changes to the cars or to assist me in any way.

Filed Mar 10, 2014 · Electrical, Locks · 75,000 miles · MI

The door locking mechanism failed, making all of the passenger doors unusable, even from the inside. If there are people in the vehicle, they cannot get out except through the driver's door, representing a major safety hazard. In the case of fire or other emergency, passengers in my car would have been trapped, unable to escape the vehicle because there is no mechanical lock release on the inside of the car. Bmw has released a service bulletin to replace fuse 57 with a 20 amp fuse instead of a 15 amp fuse, but this does not fix the basic problem of having no escape from the inside of the vehicle. Even after replacing the fuse with a 20a, it blew again and would have trapped passengers again. I feel very unsafe transporting my family in this vehicle knowing that this safety hazard has persisted so long without a recall.

Filed May 21, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 80,000 miles · AZ

My 2007 328xi bmw driver's side door will not unlock or lock. Seems to be a common issue and a recall needs to be done with these...

Filed Mar 27, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 82,000 miles · WI

Door locks do not open, doors not able to open. Fuel door trapped closed.

Filed Oct 9, 2012 · Electrical, Locks · 105,000 miles · MA

I own a 07 bmw 328xi, on 10/03/12 I got out of my car and tried locking it and only two doors locked. The doors would not unlock with the fob or the door switch located in the car. In order to get into car I had to climb over the passengers seat and when it was time to get out the same had to happen. I called my local dealer and they told me that it was a actuator problem, so asked if there was anything I could do to get the doors unlocked till my appt. I made. He proceeded to tell me no and upon reading some forums he could have said use the key hidden in the fob to unlock the door or check the #57 fuse which controls the locks. Unfortunately, I pretty disappointed with my dealer because he could have potently put me in a dangerous situation, he could have told me these things but he choice to say nothing to get me in there. This is a know problem with bmw's and could be a dangerous problem if the car was to run off the road in a body of water and the person has to over seats to get because of the drivers door not being able to open.

Filed Sep 12, 2012 · Electrical, Locks · 38,000 miles · NJ

91 year old person could not get out of the car, fuse 57 failed and all doors were locked and also door handles and key fob were inoperative. Bmw should have a mandatory recall for this dangerous safety issue. If an accident occurs, people could be trapped in the car. What a disgrace bmw!

Filed Dec 28, 2011 · Electrical, Locks · CO

Car locks but then will not unlock, I have to manually unlock the driver door. Passenger doors will not unlock at all. This has happened to me twice, the fuse keeps blowing out. I have changed the fuse twice in 3 months. I have looked this problem up online and this seems to be a major problem for the 2007 bmw 328xi. This is obviously a huge safety problem and needs to be addressed. I have two children and the thought of something happening where we are unable to get out of the car frightens me.

Filed Oct 11, 2011 · Electrical, Locks · 30,122 miles · NY

Doors remained in locked position and would not respond to remote on fob or central door control internally. Driver, passenger, and rear doors would not open manually once door latch depressed. Driver door only opened through window to allow passengers in front and rear seats to exit. Obviously, very difficult to exit. After initial incident, no passengers could ride in car until issue was resolved.

Filed Jul 3, 2011 · Locks · 40,000 miles · WI

Sib 51 19 07, car door locks failed and was forced to exit through window.

Filed Mar 28, 2011 · Locks · 83,000 miles · NJ

2007 bmw 328xi. The doors will not open utilizing remote nor open/close lock button in the car. This is a safety issue because only the driver side door can open even from the inside.

Filed Jan 13, 2011 · Locks · 52,660 miles · NV

This is a safety issue that the federal safety agency has learned of through several complaints. Why hasn't anything been done? My 2007 bmw 328xi door lock actuators have failed at 52,660 miles: the key fob will not unlock the doors (the door handles will light up). I have to use the valet key to unlock the door, but only the driver and rear passenger doors will unlock. Each of these doors (driver and rear passenger) can only be unlocked from the inside by pulling on the handle. The other two doors cannot be unlocked at all. This issue is obviously a safety concern: suppose I were in an accident and the only way out of the car was one of the two doors which are not unlockable?