BMW door latch problem/question

[RCode04]

I am posting this on behalf of a member of my Mach1 forum. I thought there may be some help available for him here.

 

Hello M1R. This doesn't have anything to do with a mach 1, but thought I'd ask here since you guys are normally a big help.

So, my wife has a 94 bmw 325i. Her door wouldn't close and we found out it was the door latch assembly. Only thing is there are 3 different options, one with no micro switches, with 1 micro switch pigtail, or with 2 micro switch pigtails. I know someone that has a shop that does exhaust and maintenance work on cars, but isn't a full service mechanic shop. Well he did an oil change on the bmw and said he would ask his german shop neighbor which door latch assembly it had. So he disassembled the door, took off the part and took it over to the german car shop and came back with a used door latch assembly (they sell used and rebuilt parts) No other place had the door latch assembly except the dealer for over $400 (I called every place within 25 miles from me). A couple online websites had them, but didn't show which of the 3 options their particular one was. I got the used one for $65. He put it in and the door was able to close again, only thing is when we would put the key in the door to unlock it, not all the doors would unlock, like normal and the driver door would unlock half way. So we could open the door if the key was turned to the unlock position. I figured that's fine as long as the door can close now. A couple days later the door stopped being able to lock and unlock and the next day after finding that out the car wouldn't start. It cranks and seems like it wants to start but won't. I tried jump starting it, but that doesn't even work. It started once during a jump for only like a second and it turned back off. I noticed a humming sound coming from the dash and played with the exterior lock again and the humming went away. It seems that when we try to lock or unlock the car it starts humming. I am no mechanic, but I'm thinking that we got the wrong latch assembly and somehow it is draining the battery? Is that even possible? The german shop gave us the assembly with 1 micro switch pigtail. Maybe we needed one of the other 2? I'm lost and need help. Any ideas?

[Geeto67]

nearly every BMW I have owned, except for my E30, has had lock problems. My E90 right now has a non-functional unlock microswitch on the passenger door. It's common. In fact it is so common that I wouldn't really trust a used part on the car for fear it would fail immediately after install.

 

Regarding the battery draining: BMWs are generally electronically complex cars and they often have electronics that linger on after you shut the car off. The E36 is a less complex car than some of the later ones, but short drives (under 10 minutes) for less than a week can zap a battery dead.

 

Does the car have a central lock button (should be on the center console in the E36 next to the shifter)? I honestly would test that and make sure it didn't go bad as well. It could be stuck and then playing with the outside lock might be fighting against it.

 

as far as a new part: I buy all my bmw parts for either ECS or Bavarin Auto Works:

https://www.bavauto.com/

 

For an E36 Bavauto is probably the best bet because they had everything for my e30. A quick search shows $100 for the actuator that the dealer probably wanted $400 for.

[RCode04]

Thanks. I will forward the suggestions.