Everyone prepare to laugh at me... :D

[CrimsonBrian]

OK, so some of you probably saw my post about my 5er being turned into a boat. Well, this morning it had dried out some and so I called AAA to get them to come jump it. They showed up and I let it idle for the requisite 30 minutes. As soon as I turned off the car, however, the hazards and headlights started blinking, as if the alarm was going off. I got back in the car and tried to start it and nothing happened. Dash lit up but the engine wouldnt turn.

Well, it was at this time that I noticed, to my horror, that the locks closed down. And then I heard the servos double locking. And now I was trapped in my car. I couldnt unlock with the remote fob, and the little sticks wouldnt stay up so I couldnt get out that way. After sitting for 20 min or so, I called my wife and she came out and tried to jump start the car. Lucky for me, she was had never done this before and was trying to learn in the rain. This of course put her in a great mood! So we try and jump the car and that didnt work. Wife then proceeded back upstairs while I sat in the car.

I called the dealer and of course was put on hold and when I finally explained my situation, they were very helpful. Unfortunately, all the fixes they had required tools. ("Just take your no. 6 Torx and ...") Finally, they told me to bust out the rear quarter window and hand my wife the key and explain to her how to do the manual unlocking dance. Thankfully, just then my indy mechanic called and said he would drive over to my house and help me. Two hours later, he showed up and he was able to pry back the door enough for me to hand him the key. I was out in 10 seconds after that.

I spent a total of nearly 4 hours sitting in my car. My first act was to run into the house and pee. Now I'm just waiting for AAA to come and tow my car to Mighty Motors and they are going to fix it all. There is still some standing water in the electronics bay in the rear, so hopefully there isnt too much wrong with it. I wonder if it might be time to start looking at new cars. My wife's Corolla is kind of plain but bulletproof and fairly comfortable. Feel free to laugh at my misery, because I was! :)

Brian

[SC David]

How is it raining so much out there??! It's supposed to be summer!

That sounds like a fun situation that you got yourself in. Hopefully the car will survive all this.

[azale]

ROFL. That is hilarious.

Locked inside a car thanks to an electrical glitch, what are the chances?


My first act was to run into the house and pee.
Second act: get another key.

[SharkmanBMW]

I would have peed in the car, in my pants, 4 hours of waiting, in the rain.... ouch!

Good luck with the repair... hopefully it will dry itself out!

[NY535iManual]

That's Rough!! Question Though -And I ask out of concern for my own safety, and not to poke fun...

Would the manual sunroof handle open the sunroof when the car is "hard" locked, as in this situation?

[CrimsonBrian]

:) I'm glad everyone was able to appreciate my situation. I just got back from having the car towed to the shop. The tow truck was able to get it jumped and he just followed me but the hazards flashed the entire way. My mechanic says the alarm and central locking computers are cooked so hopefully these wont end up costing me a billion dollars. As far as the sunroof goes, I would imagine the crank would work, but I never even thought of that. Isnt the crank part in the toolbox in the trunk though? I couldnt get to anything! :D

[SharkmanBMW]

maybe everyone should keep an allen key for the sunroof/window in the glove box!

I belive you can also crank down the windows can't you? (there is a hole for the key in the doorpanel?)
or was that in my e28?!

[mikell]

You get points for patience - I think I would have kicked out a window way before you finally got relief. I guess the moral to the story is to lower a window before working on a car with electrical problems.

[SchnellE34]

Holy crap does that suck! I would also have sat in the car for a while and exhausted all options before breaking a window to escape. Was there any damage to the door due to the prying?

[CrimsonBrian]

There was no damage to the car due to the prying, my mechanic is awesome and he was very gentle. Of course, the instant he shows up, it starts to pour. Qucik plug for him, Haj at Mighty Motors, anyone within a country mile of Cambridge or Boston should use them! I'll let every one know what happens. Its supposed to be done early next week. In the meantime, I will be driving the wifes Corolla which has manual locks so there is officially no chance that I will be spending my weekend trapped inside the car. Plus, she has Sirius in there, so I could always listen to Howard! My brother's suggestion to my wife was to take my picture and then leave me to sit for a few. She was probably glad to have the morning to herself. I certainly wasnt going to cause any trouble from inside my leather jail... :)

[SchnellE34]

She should have wheeled out a tv under an umbrella, haha. Then you could have reclined back and acted like you were in your living room.

edit: wait... nevermind, no remote

[azale]

I want to hear more about the manual crank option on the sunroof. Any pics?

What about manual cranking for the windows? Any pictures?

Unfortunately, it was pouring out so the sunroof may have made an even wetter interior.

[winfred]

pop down the square panel by the dome light and theres the sunroof motor, it has a hole in it for a 5 or 6 mm allen i can't remember which, the older cars had provisions for manually cranking the windows but they did away with that


I want to hear more about the manual crank option on the sunroof. Any pics?

What about manual cranking for the windows? Any pictures?

Unfortunately, it was pouring out so the sunroof may have made an even wetter interior.

[winfred]

when the locking system freaks and double locks (my vote for one of the most ****ing dumb features ever) usually you can get control back by killing power by dissconnecting the battery or unplugging the modules under the back seat, usually this lets you unlock them when you power it back up, being wet it's hard to say if that would work

[joshua43214]

When I was at the dealer, we had an Asian lady with extremely poor engrish lock herself in her car right in the middle of the concourse. Took me over 1/2 hour to gether out since we where having to yell at each other through the glass.

The service concourse was just outside new car sales and the entire wall is made of glass. So I made quite a spectacle with my big prybar infront of God,man and all the rich customers wanting a new car.

I never did figure out how she managed to do it, I know she was digging about in her back seat and I think she double clicked her remote while she wasnt making any pressure on the seat.

[CrimsonBrian]

When I was at the dealer, we had an Asian lady with extremely poor engrish lock herself in her car right in the middle of the concourse. Took me over 1/2 hour to gether out since we where having to yell at each other through the glass.

The service concourse was just outside new car sales and the entire wall is made of glass. So I made quite a spectacle with my big prybar infront of God,man and all the rich customers wanting a new car.

I never did figure out how she managed to do it, I know she was digging about in her back seat and I think she double clicked her remote while she wasnt making any pressure on the seat.

Haha, at least she had something to look at. I was just staring at a bush at the end of the street. The radio didnt even work! I basically sat in relative silence until I was rescued. I really hope that the electronics arent baked. Anyone know how much those things cost?