Tgriffithjr
It's working correctly - if you lock the car with the remote, there's NO way out from inside.
Apparently, this is common on several euro makes. I understand it's something to do with leaving a car locked with the windows down so that nobody can reach inside and unlock it.
To my knowledge, there are at least two instances of people dying because of this. I think it's a lethal feature but there's no (known) way of changing it.
Leaving a second remote in the car is one remedy or it should be possible to put a hidden push-button somewhere inaccessible from the outside.
I may be wrong, but I think the door buttons are useless - even if you could grip them, they either won't move or don't do anything if they did.
If anybody knows differently, I'd love to hear about it.

 

Wowser this is good to know. My wife likes to have the door locked when sitting in a parking lot. She would freak if no way out.

I usually leave the key but good to know it's mandatory.

 

Can't the passenger toggle the doors locked from the inside while they're just sitting there?

 

Would the later style buttons work?



Even if the door lock pin has a graspable head, would it manually unlock by pulling up,
or would the robot autolock override it?

 

If you were truly 'trapped' in the car you pull the manual release under the rear seat and pop the hatch open in the hatch back.

In a convertible I would think you could basically do the same thing but would have to climb through the folded down rear seats and out the boot.

Agreed none are fun but you are not going to die, and you might like like a crazy person at the CVS doing this.

 

 

The story I read somewhere, maybe on a BMW forum?
Brother & sister drove to school. His class started early; sister's class started later so she decided to sleep in the car. He went into school, locking the car with the remote.
There are several possible scenarios including attracting attention, smashing a window, calling 911 or exiting through the trunk. Sadly, I imagine she didn't wake up.

There appear to be only 3 wires to the receiver. It seems to me that connecting 2 might send a signal to the Body Control Module. I'm thinking of a micro push-button switch in the little grille in the roof - on the early cars I think the receiver is behind it. However, if the BCM is inactivated by the remote locking, that won't work.
It might be possible to do something with the door lock wiring where there are 6 wires into the BCM - my Haynes manual is not very explicit.
On later cars, the receiver is in the mirror.

Lifting the button? I think, but I'm not certain, that electricty is needed to operate the locks.

I, too, am surprised this is all 'legal' & there have been lawsuits, but apparently MB, Volvo &/or VW have the same feature.

 

Search for "BMW locked in".
A couple of links here:

https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/...am-i-gonna-die

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...locked-n100881

https://www.mamamia.com.au/bmw-x5-re...cking-failure/

 

Apparently you're correct,
found this:



I'd say it's definitely a design flaw, quite dangerous, and unthoughtfully negligent engineering on BMW's part.

 

 

Found quite a few stories of children being locked in BMW's...


...after a brief google it seems that the locked-in incident percentage rate is a fairly high number with this "deadlock" design.

Link to the pdf article that I quote earlier:
http://www.lockmasters.com/site/pdfs...%20article.pdf

Yet another example of invasive tech being a liability instead of an aid.

 

 

You're talking about an R53, right? To open from the inside, just pull on the open door handle twice (the first pull will unlock). For the driver's door, your wife would have needed to reach over to the other side.

 

Sorry, but no.
If the doors have been locked with the remote, they cannot be opened from the inside.

By the way, the two-pull opening is, I believe, programmable to only one pull.

 

 

I would not call this a design flaw or un-thoughtful, but rather think about it being designed for a different market segment. Just like the NAS feature in the programming of the BCM or red flashing turn signal instead of amber. When I first moved to the States, the flashing brake light drove me insane as I was expecting amber, not to mention if you loose one bulb, you loose both brakes and turn signals (Some cars have more brake lights than turn signals, but not all). And on a side note, I usually leave the key with the occupant if I want them to be safely locked inside.

 

Perhaps a poor choice of words on my part as it is indeed an intentional design which has been thoughtfully evolved over a few generations now, it just boils my blood that in the name of security they sacrifice safety in the process, to me that's simply a stupid move.

But I'm an old curmudgeon who resents all the techno gadgetry applied to vehicles these days, I much prefer manual controls for almost everything as it's usually much simpler and easier to fix as well as cheaper for the DIY owner.

For instance,
I always converted my mid 80's Saabs from electric to manual windows LOL
I still have a good clutch of window winders!



I'm with you on the red turn signals --- not good and I wonder how they became so prevalent over here.
I got myself some Euro MINI amber brake lights but I need to joey mod them before install.
I much prefer amber turn signals.

 

 

Interesting thread....I'm gonna have to see what happens when I lock the cars by the key in the door......neither of my cars has the "remote" locking feature.....my '04 R53 does not have the button fob, I didn't want to pay $300 for a key......and my '06 R52 remote button fob doesn't work, or maybe the receiver in the mirror is bad.....

Bryan

 

So how would you describe an iron? Poorly thought out idea? Seeing that there is a label on it warning people not to iron clothes while wearing it? Hot piece of metal with no protection around it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is a great idea, unless maybe for a convertible while the top is down.
There are multiple items on the market that has its own inherent risk and could cause safety issues if not fully understood or used as intended.

 

I am almost with you! I really don't like all these cars making driving easier to be distracted. But I do like my heated seats!

 

Unlocking from inside without key - deadlocking.

I should point out that there may be variations in how this 'deadlocking' works, depending on the year, model & options.
Consider early cars with 2-button fobs, later cars with 3-button fobs, proximity 'keys' & fobs or options such as automatic locking, Comfort Access or Convenience Locking.
Couple this with dead fob batteries, receivers that don't work, recut or un-synchronised keys & the combinations are pretty endless.

I'd suggest you find out exactly how YOUR car works.