Parking Lamp Malfunction; Battery Died, Now Locked Out

[Chris in Laguna Beach]

My 1991 535i had an electrical malfunction: left turn signal stopped working. Then left parking lamp came on, and right turn signal would flash once, then not work. Left Parking lamp would not shut off, even with car off, key out, switches off, etc.

Battery was drained overnight by the parking lamp, now I'm locked out of the car. When I insert the key, the locks dont get any electrical implulse to open.

What now?

[swenpro]

Bentley Manual, page 515-2:

Emergency locking and unlocking doors

In the event of a power failure (discharged battery), the vehicle can be manually locked and unlocked at the front right (passenger) door.

To manually unlock the passenger's door, place the iginition key in the lock cylinder and lift door handle while turning the key fully in the clockwise direction. To lock the door manually, turn the key fully in the counterclockwise direction See Fig. 2.

Note-- On cars built before July 1990, the driver's door can also be manually unlocked using the above method.

Synchronizing central locking system

After manually locking or unlocking the system, the door locks may become unsynchronized. To synchronize the locks, close all doors, trunk lid, and tailgate. Lock the passenger door by turning the key clockwise into the emergency locking posiiton (approximately 110 degrees from position 0). Unlock the driver's door. If any of the locks do not operate, repeat the locking procedure until the locking system is synchronized.



Hope this helps,

Greg

[ghost_ryder35]

open the trunk, push the arm rest down and get a ski pole or something and pop the lock on one of the rear doors so you can get in. Happened to me too on my 525i

[ghost_ryder35]

Emergency locking and unlocking doors

In the event of a power failure (discharged battery), the vehicle can be manually locked and unlocked at the front right (passenger) door.

To manually unlock the passenger's door, place the iginition key in the lock cylinder and lift door handle while turning the key fully in the clockwise direction. To lock the door manually, turn the key fully in the counterclockwise direction See Fig. 2.

Note-- On cars built before July 1990, the driver's door can also be manually unlocked using the above method.

Synchronizing central locking system

After manually locking or unlocking the system, the door locks may become unsynchronized. To synchronize the locks, close all doors, trunk lid, and tailgate. Lock the passenger door by turning the key clockwise into the emergency locking posiiton (approximately 110 degrees from position 0). Unlock the driver's door. If any of the locks do not operate, repeat the locking procedure until the locking system is synchronized.


Wholly crap. I never knew that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!