Driver door unlocking issues.

[allenc]

When I go to unlock my car the driver side door lock refuses to "pop up" all of the way. It moves a good 3/4ths of the way up, but remains down enough to prevent me from being able to unlock the door. In the meantime i have to reach in from the other side or the rear door to pull the lock all the way up. Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance
Chris Allen
'89 535ia. 164K

[uberhahn]

I'm having a similar issue on my '94 530. Happens more freqeuntly when cold. I will pop the door panel off, and lube the mechanism when I get my garage warm enough.

When I go to unlock my car the driver side door lock refuses to "pop up" all of the way. It moves a good 3/4ths of the way up, but remains down enough to prevent me from being able to unlock the door. In the meantime i have to reach in from the other side or the rear door to pull the lock all the way up. Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance
Chris Allen
'89 535ia. 164K

[pong]

I'm having a similar issue on my '94 530. Happens more freqeuntly when cold. I will pop the door panel off, and lube the mechanism when I get my garage warm enough.

anyone with info to fix this problem?

[Arxon]

It happened to me also, I put some wd40 to the "pop up" and it worked. Of course it is not permanent, but at least I avoid to taking out the door's cover.

[Kalevera]

This happens to my driver's side lock when it's cold (ie - <30 deg f outside). I can unlock/lock the car completely from the pass lock cylinder, but not the drivers - everything BUT the driver's will unlock from that point. All of this is done with a key.

I'm not sure yet if it's the microswitch or the mechanical part itself. I'm considering the microswitch because, accompanying/under the same conditions as the stuck driver's lock, sometimes the car will re-lock itself when the key is returned to the insert position. I've found that if I run the lock cylinder heater, it sometimes starts to work. Also, it gets worse when it rains a lot. So, I'm thinking that rain water is getting into the lock cylinder and freezing when it gets cold, thereby causing the irratic behavior.

Yours may be a purely mechanical problem, and I'd start by pulling the door panel and having a look to make sure that everything is lubed up. Also, and this is a long shot, but your ds actuator may have loosened over time. If it's too close to the doorjamb, you won't be able to unlock the car; if it's too far away, it won't lock (there's a sweet spot).

best, whit