2007 BMW 335I: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Jun 29, 2015 · Electrical · 64,390 miles · NV

First occurrence drivers side door will not open, door handle does not disengage lock mechanism to allow egress. Unlocking vehicile renders nothing as the door lock is interment and will not allow door to unlock either inside or outside of vehicle. Second occurrence roughly one year later, front passenger and drivers side rear door will not unlock displaying same chacteristics as first occurrence with drivers side door.

Filed Jun 24, 2013 · Electrical · 128,760 miles · VA

Arrived destination, exited car, locked doors via key fob. Returned four hours later, unable to unlock doors. Lights went on, so I knew key fob was working. Had to use valet key to open driver's door, no locks on other doors. Once in car tried to use door open button on dash, would not work, tried to unlock door from inside, could not unlock any of the doors. My wife had to crawl through open window on passenger side, and my two guests had to go through windows to sit in back seat. Once reaching our next destination attempted to used the door release again, nothing, then tried the door handles (front and back) would not work, back seat passengers had to exit through windows, and once we reached home my wife had to slide over console go out the drivers door, the only door that could be opened from the inside. Fyi both my wife and I are senior citizens, and not very happy with this current event. As a result all passengers were trapped inside car as all door locks, except drivers fail and no way to open car, this could have result into a serious problem if we were in an accident of fire with 3 of the 4 doors not being able to open from the inside. Brought to bmw dealer next day, they wanted between $800 and $1,000. To repair door lock actuators, unable to pay this now, car is sitting home in garage. Bmw never offered to pay this under the current conditions of so many complaints, this should be a recall. It is a safety hazard.

Filed Mar 9, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 26,000 miles · CA

The mechanism to unlock the door on the driver's side of my bmw 335i failed, making it impossible to open the door. Previously, the passenger's side door lock failed and was reported to the federal safety agency (odi #: 10378269). Bmw agreed to replace the passenger's side door lock (the car was out of warranty), but at the time did not replace the driver's side door lock which has now failed too. Being trapped in the car due to a failed door lock mechanism is an inconvenience at best and a major hazard at worst.

Filed Feb 23, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · 60,000 miles · CA

All doors except driver door are locked and cannot be open by passenger from inside using door handle; cannot be opened using the door lock switch on the dash board; cannot be opened using the key fob; cannot be opened from the outside door handle. Therefore all passengers have to exit through the driver door. Once being locked from the outside, the drive has to use the backup key in the key fob to unlock the door. This is a serious safety issue regarding exiting the car in emergency situation.

Filed Feb 22, 2013 · Electrical, Lights · CA · crash

On 20 feb 2013, we were driving on a highway in san francisco. Traffic in front of us slowed to a stop and we also stopped. We were then struck hard from behind by another car that hit the right-rear part of our bumper. Immediately after the impact, all interior and exterior lights in our car flickered and became very dim. We discovered later that the impact had damaged the car's battery, evidenced by electrolyte leaking out of the underneath, rear of the car. After the collision, traffic began moving again and the other driver moved his car off the roadway, leaving us sitting in the middle of a busy, 5-lane freeway after dark with no lights of any kind in or on our car. The emergency flasher flickered dimly, but was not working. All the head and tail lights were dark. Police eventually arrived and pushed our car to the shoulder. I waited inside our car while the driver spoke with the police. As I waited, the door locks suddenly latched and the alarm started. It was impossible to unlock the car from the inside. The door handles were completely non-functional. The windows would not open. I was trapped inside the car. People outside the car were unable to help me escape. A tow-truck driver asked me to release the hood latch. He attached a battery pack to some terminals in the engine compartment and when the interior lights came on, I was able to unlock the door and leave the car. Then he disconnected the battery pack and the car went dark. If there had been a fire or an injury, this would have been a very serious situation. As an engineer I see two, no-cost solutions to this problem. (1) surround the battery with a strong barrier and move it farther away from the rear of the car. (2) include a mechanical link to the door latches so that the doors can be opened from the interior of the car when the battery is disconnected.

Filed Feb 6, 2013 · Electrical, Locks · CA

2007 bmw 335i. Consumer writes in regards to actuator failure which caused the circuit breaker to permanently lock vehicle doors. *smd the consumer stated after he arrived at his destination, he attempted to open the door, but it failed to open. Then, he attempted to use the door handle to exit from the vehicle, but that failed to open the door as well. After applying all practical options to exit the vehicle, such as using the manual door release, internal and external door handle, and using the central locking mechanism, all the doors failed to open. He had to roll down the window and climb out of the vehicle.

Filed Nov 4, 2012 · Body, Electrical · 49,000 miles · CA

I was unable to unlock the driver's side door. I had to slide over to the passenger side door. There is a bmw sib#: 51-19-07. I cannot believe there has not been a recall given the fact of the possibility of the driver or a passenger being trapped inside the car. I have saved both door locks that malfunctioned.

Filed Sep 24, 2012 · Electrical · 60,000 miles · IL

Key fob will not unlock doors. Valet key gets you into the drivers door, but the other doors will not unlock by any means, either by pulling the handle or by operating the interior unlock switch. In an accident that might disable the door unlock function, 3 of the 4 could not be opened for exit purposes.

Filed Mar 7, 2012 · Locks · 69,000 miles · AZ

Driver side door lock actuator failed. Cannot unlock driver side door from inside the car with central unlock, key fob, or door lever.

Filed Nov 18, 2011 · Body, Locks · CA

When the power door lock fuse is blown, passenger cannot exit or enter the car manually. You can't open the door using the inside or outside door handle. The car would lock you in. Only the driver side door can be open using the inside door handle. I have to let the passengers in my car climb over the driver seat to get out. This is a serious problem because if the driver door is jam or block for any reason then you cannot open any other door to get out. It gets worse since bmw put an under power fuse for the door lock which cause the fuse to blown often.

Filed Nov 5, 2011 · Electrical, Locks · 48,500 miles · CA

The automatic door locks on my car have quick working and the only way to enter or exit the car is through the driver door using the manual key fob. Passenger doors are inoperable from both interior and exterior. This presents a serious safety concern in the event of an accident or fire.

Filed Jun 27, 2011 · Electrical · 72,584 miles · CA

Component: locking system driver-side door lock failed to unlock when using the remote on the key. Replaced blown fuse. A day later same problem surfaced, only this time all 4 doors are not unlocking (first push of the button on the remote should unlock driver door only; second push of button unlocks the other 3 passenger doors. Replaced two blown fuses (#56 and #57). Problem is resolved, but only for a day or two. Long-term fix is to replace door lock actuators on all four doors according to bmw's own service bulletin. The safety issue is that the doors are supposed to open manually from the inside when the electrical system is unable to unlock them. In my case, I was only able to manually open the driver-side door by pulling the handle once to unlock, and a second time to open. This procedure did not work on any other door. I have purchased an emergency hammer to break the window from the inside in case this happens after an accident. Additional info: the gas door also fails to open as a result of this issue. One has to release the gas door manually from inside the trunk.