Car Locked Itself !

[Gatsoburner]

Just been out washing the car. Drying off i thought I'd lift the boot lid and let water run away from the 3rd brake light after drying.

Left it up, car running for some 4-5 minutes.

Went and closed the boot as you do..the sound of the tripple locking going off, 2 doors and boot, wad like "Ehh"...

Lucky I'm home so went and got the spares. Is this a spurious thing, anyone else been locked out ?

Small wallet key now on house keys which I carry separately to bike/car keys, not having that happen away from home !!

 

[ChrisD]

Just been out washing the car. Drying off i thought I'd lift the boot lid and let water run away from the 3rd brake light after drying.

Left it up, car running for some 4-5 minutes.

Went and closed the boot as you do..the sound of the tripple locking going off, 2 doors and boot, wad like "Ehh"...

Lucky I'm home so went and got the spares. Is this a spurious thing, anyone else been locked out ?

Small wallet key now on house keys which I carry separately to bike/car keys, not having that happen away from home !!

That sounds suspiciously like the 'loom of doom' trunk lid wiring issue. There are kits available for repairs as its a common issue.

 

[Gatsoburner]

That sounds suspiciously like the 'loom of doom' trunk lid wiring issue. There are kits available for repairs as its a common issue.

What's the issue?..

 

[ChrisD]

The repeated strain on the trunk wiring loom that comes from opening and closing the trunk fractures some of the wires in the loom. If you search 'Loom of Doom' on this forum you'll find plenty of info. Issues with the central locking appear to be one of the common symptoms. I don't have any direct experience of it myself so can't really add much else.

 

[AntStark]

The wires that run from the boot lid to the car body degrade/bend/rub with use and ultimately short themselves out. There are replacement kits that use silicon wire which is better for these applications. To be fair the wires have lasted a long time ..seen this issue on fiat 500s after 3 years. Common problem.

 

[Stevo7682]

There could be an alternative answer.
If your key position for boot was in lock position the act of closing the boot may have just tripped the central locking ( if this is the case you should be able to recreate the conditions) but as others have said the wiring loom at left hand boot hinge prone to failure causing amongst other things central locking issues
If thats the issue when you shut the boot wires touched inside the loom shorting the locking.

This is all assuming you have standard bmw alarm system and not an aftermarket add on which can do stuff
2018 Scottish run one of the guys with an aftermarket alarm ended up with his car i carpark running with a full tank locked after a few break in attempts with what we had to hand ended up couple of the guys ended up finding a hardware store open and got a plastic curtain rail used to open electric windows.
I had to break into a zed in a depot a couple of years ago guy unplugged obd under bonnet locked doors put up windows got it open with a length of copper brake pipe and a bit of cleverness.

Long and short of all that is you need to try find out why it happened so it doesn't repeat somewhere you don't want it to.


Stephen

 

[Gatsoburner]

Cheers for the replies.

Went looking and nearly dropped a heart beat after finding the loom was cut, can't understand how ive never seen it before !!. I think it's been hidden behind the hinge when open so not in line of sight.

Anyway, cut the wires and repaired, soldered Sleeved and retaped. Im guessing the boot hinge is the culprit as it was 'inline' with the damage as the boots opened and closed.

Added a bit of foam to soften the contact between the two, see how it goes

.

 

[Mint]

You now have personal experience of the Z3 'Loom of Doom'. Great job fixing it

 

[Gatsoburner]

You now have personal experience of the Z3 'Loom of Doom'. Great job fixing it

Cheers.
Never had a car with so many issues, but ones that so far are sortable

 

[DrWong]

I didn't refit the plastic clip when I repaired my loom, because most of the breaks in the wires were around the area the clip grabs onto.

 

[Gatsoburner]

Funny you should say that.
I was looking back over my pics about an hr ago and thought..' that looks tight '.
Only refitted it ti keep away from the boot rubber seal, as I close thr boot it's very very close to being trapped.
Definitely needs to be unclipped and something else done .
Cheers for the heads up though

 

[DrWong]

Had the same thought looking at your picture haha.

It'll be fine, the loom doesn't get caught in the hinge/seal or anything like that

 

[Gatsoburner]

Cheers pal, all advice most welcome

 

[Pond]

When I re-routed my 'loom of doom', I unclipped the cables from the boot and pulled any excess through into the open. Then sort of formed a double hinge of the excess cables to hopefully help. I made sure nothing in the open was clipped so it can all bend freely.