Door locks failing / cannot unlock on '03 E85 ?

[SamuelL421]

After some odd door lock behavior over the past year or so with my 2003 E85, I now have a major problem where I can only (manually) unlock the driver door and the passenger door and gas cap can't unlock at all.

Some background: I didn't think much of it last year when I had to press "lock" and then "unlock" to get the doors to actually unlock for me a few times. I had thought it was a weak battery either in the key fob or the car and didn't think much of it. Last year I drove less because of work from home and the Z4 stayed parked. At some point last year I noticed the door issue again, but this time the passenger door would not unlock, even cycling presses of "lock" and "unlock" on the key fob. At the time, the driver door would unlock with the key fob but the passenger door would not. This happened a couple times but I wasn't driving much so again did not think much about it. In those cases, I came back a week later and the entire car unlocked without issue.

This year I started driving more again and the car has been fine for months. This past week the issue has appeared again except no doors unlock: the passenger door does not unlock at all, the gas cap does not unlock at all, and the driver door can only be unlocked manually with a key.

Does anyone know what the root cause could be? I have a local independent BMW mechanic who does decent work, but I'm reluctant to try them out as I can't add any fuel and the car may not have enough in the tank to make the trip...

Open to any suggestions or advice, ideally do not want to break the gas cover off of the car but I have yet to find a way to unlock the passenger door or gas tank manually.


Edit: center console button makes the lights flash / attempt to unlock but the door locks do not cycle locked/unlocked. Pressing lock/unlock on the key fob has the same behavior.

[KevinC]

Sounds like the GM5 module...

https://www.bmwgm5.com/GM5_Repair_Service.htm

[racerbruce]

Are GM5 modules still available for purchase?

[kaybat]

https://www.bmwgm5.com/GM3_Repair_Service.htm

or
https://www.ebay.com/itm/28377742622...8AAOSwunNeQJb5

[SamuelL421]

Dug into that GM5 page a bit and that certainly sounds like the root issue. I just ordered two of the V23084-C2001-A303 relays, I'll give it a shot when they show up next week and see what happens.

Thank you all for the help folks!

[WRCWIA]

Originally Posted by SamuelL421

Dug into that GM5 page a bit and that certainly sounds like the root issue. I just ordered two of the V23084-C2001-A303 relays, I'll give it a shot when they show up next week and see what happens.

Thank you all for the help folks!

This is what I did, but I paid a local electrical shop to swap the relays...$30 later, and works perfect!

save yourself money and go this route if you can't complete on your own

[unluky]

If you don't have any luck - another vote for Scott at https://www.bmwgm5.com. He was super fast and it fixed my issues 100%. Quick and easy removal and install.

Well worth it to me. Good luck!

[SamuelL421]

A quick update on this, the GM5 was at fault with bad relays. After purchasing two new relays and having them sit on my desk for two months without getting around to it, I threw in the towel on the DIY idea (low on the priorities in the midst of moving house this Summer...). I called Scott at BMW GM5 repair and he had it fixed and back to me in about 48 hours! (express shipping). Everything works great now, no more locking/unlocking issues.

I would absolutely recommend going through Scott for this for anyone else in need.