DRIVERS DOOR NOT UNLOCKING??? - HELP AND ADVICE NEEDED

[shy7g]

HI ALL
My drivers door lock has stopped working, At the moment I'm assuming that it's a lazy actuator, but what ever it is I need to strip the panel etc etc off to investigate. Does anyone know a way to get the door unlock when it's like this? Does anyone know if it is possible to get the door panel off whilst the door is closed/locked shut?
At the moment I have to recline the drivers seat and make my entry/exit through the rear door, which does get a few raised eye brows when attempting to get in 
All help greatly appreciated

[Sanj]

Have you tried the key in the lock - assuming you have?

[shy7g]

yes several times, but no luck

[Sanj]

All the other locks work? Not a sure fire solution but leave it to go to sleep and then try again. Failing that disconnect the battery. If you get luck it may come back to life and you can open the door. Once opened strip the lock down - with the door closed getting the door card off is said to be a pig and can be damaged. 

[shy7g]

[quote="Sanj"]
All the other locks work? Not a sure fire solution but leave it to go to sleep and then try again. Failing that disconnect the battery. If you get luck it may come back to life and you can open the door. Once opened strip the lock down - with the door closed getting the door card off is said to be a pig and can be damaged. 
[/quote]
Balls I'll have to lift the LPG tank, AGAIN  :blink:
do you know of anyway of getting the door unlocked as it is at the moment??

[Sanj]

Sent you a PM about the fuses. No idea how to get the card off with the door shut.

[Smeeagain]

Stupid question - have you tried going on through the passenger door (or holding down the remote to pen the window) then opening the door from the inside perhaps. When my door handle carrier thingy failed I had to do that for a few weeks - if you can go through the passenger side you could then try the central locking button
Im guessing you've tried all this but thought Id mention it

When I was locked out of my car before the AA guy (not all of them do it) had lock picking kit - so maybe it could be opened that way - again im guessing not if the key itself doesn't work but there must be a way.

[shy7g]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
Stupid question - have you tried going on through the passenger door (or holding down the remote to pen the window) then opening the door from the inside perhaps. When my door handle carrier thingy failed I had to do that for a few weeks - if you can go through the passenger side you could then try the central locking button
Im guessing you've tried all this but thought Id mention it

When I was locked out of my car before the AA guy (not all of them do it) had lock picking kit - so maybe it could be opened that way - again im guessing not if the key itself doesn't work but there must be a way.
[/quote]

Unfortunately tried all of these, door will not open or either handle nor interior central locking button.
Just need to find a way of opening it once.
Does anyone know the most likely candidate (item) that has failed? so I can get one in hoping it's that alone, fingers crossed
thanks all

[shy7g]

QUESTION: If it is the actuator unit that is U/S, will any other of the BMW series locking mechanism's fit the E53?

[shy7g]

OK it's gone from bad to worse  :blink:
Yesterday whilst on a road trip for some reason the battery light came on first, then whilst travelling a few miles further down the road the dash lit up like a Christmas tree, a fail safe message came up on the panel and the car slowed down and died totally  :'(.
I got recovered and saved a load of fuel on the homeward journey, but I now can't get into the car at all cause of the broken/seized drivers side handle/lock and I can't pop the locks cause the car's battery is totally dead 
Can anyone explain to me a way of getting the bonnet open from outside so I can connect up a power pack to at least get the doors open to get to the battery???
I did manage to get the based cover off and it was the AC drive belt that had gone. Why would this cause the battery light to come on and drain the battery?

HELP PLEASE :help2:

[X5Sport]

The only reason I can think of is either the tensioner got whacked as the belt snapped causing the v-belt to go slack, or a belt was dislodged somehow and went slack.  I would have expected the temp to rise though as the water pump is on the same loop as the alternator isn't it?

If you can get underneath, you could try clipping a +ve lead onto the alternator output and that might give you power on the car to at least get in again?  Don't use the starter motor connection though in case it spins up.

Richard