[ajames]

Hi all,

This thread is hands down one of the best resources for getting into a locked trunk.
I have a new spin on this -- curious if anyone has any ideas.

2011 328xi -- no key tumbler anywhere to access manually. no pass-through or fold-down seats (ridiculous). Battery is good, and in place.

I had been getting intermittent errors that the inside tail lights, and reverse light were out. Also random messages that the trunk was not closed without having used it, etc. Trunk stopped working one night, along with inner tails, and license plate lights.

I was able to access and pull the bowden cable after removing the trunk release handle (thanks inerwebs). Unfortunately, I got a mess of the outer cable sleeve, and the black rubber that surrounds a length of the cable, and destroyed the cable in the process of popping the trunk (yay).





After rescuing my stuff, I inspected what I could of the wire harness in the usual spot, but couldn't slide the rubber boot far enough in either direction to determine the root case.

In desperation -- and having to get to work this am -- i closed the trunk, but now i'm SOL as the emergency cable is destroyed and won't trigger the lock manually.

So here's the question:

Can i interpolate from the "under the glove box" trick, that I could potentially access the wiring through the rear handle, and energize the actuator via the trunk harness?

My issue isn't lack of battery/power -- it's likely broken wiring in the bundle coming into the lid. From the output wiring diagram, i'm guessing i can follow those wires back, and pull the same Grey/Green wire ...


EDIT:

This worked! I hypothesized (also decided to try to the least involved possible solution first) that the ground (BROWN) wire leading to the trunk actuator was the culprit. Access from both licence plate light openings, and the center handle opening, I pushed in the white piece of plastic, and fished out the wire branch heading down to the actuator. On my car, this branch of wires was visible on the drivers side of the car, visible through the drivers side plate light. Pulled those wires a little bit farther out of the opening, and identified a fatter ground (BROWN) and the GREY/GREEN lead. Exposed some copper on the BROWN wire, and connected it to bare metal (nearest spot i could reach on the inside of the trunk panel). Tried the key fob -- and yatzee. i'm back, baby.

Will post some pictures once at home.

Regardless of whether the ground or 12v (grey/green) wire were broken in the harness, this would work as long as you can access the wires shooting down to the actuator motor from the handle and plate light locations. Definitely fiddly, and need a good skinny pair of pliers to access/pull the wires into view, but one more way to gain access to the trunk in a bind. "I promise officer ... this is my car"

ab

[silverseal99]

Ajames, glad it worked for you. In my case the broken wire in the loom from the chassis to the trunk lid was the ground so neither the under the glove box nor jumpering at the handle would work.

[e36estorM3]

Thanks to the OP, Blorax for great suggestion about how to fix this...admittedly, I am chicken sh_ _ when it comes to Anything electrical. I found something much easier that worked in my case.

2011 335 x drive sedan, with battery removed from trunk, no ski panel access. I also tried removing the trunk release button and found the trunk release cable but could not successfully pull the cable.

1) Connect jumper cables as if jump starting the car - use the positive post under the hood of the BMW (and the ground post) and connect to another car.
2) Plug the key into the "ignition" in the dash.
3) Instantly, the small orange light on the transmission selector illuminated, so I knew there was power.
4) Push the trunk unlatch on the key fob and....trunk is unlocked!

Now to replace the old battery...

[Mikes shade tree]

Originally Posted by Blorax

I have a 2009 e92 and I am one of the misfortunate to discover that when the battery is dead (or not in the car) it is VERY difficult to get the trunk open. If you don't care about the story of how I got into this situation, go straight to my second post where I just explain the solution. I just needed to vent here a little.

This happened to me because I have bad battery (won't hold a charge) that my SA said would almost certainly not be covered under the warranty because diagnostics would likely show it to be the result of "leaving something on", i.e. my fault. My SA also told me that if I took it in they would check it and "if" it was my fault it would then cost me $500 (no joke) to get it replaced. I asked if they could perform the diagnostic alone under warranty and then let me know because I would get the battery elsewhere (my friend has a shop - don't we all have a friend with a shop?). He told me "it doesn't work like that." I could have pushed it but I didn't want to bother. This is all only backstory though.

I needed to replace my battery, so I called my friend and ordered an OEM. I was so "smart" I thought I would take the bad one with me so I wouldn't have to make a second trip to return the core. (I'm sure you see where this is going.) I'm leaving my car in the driveway, so of course I'm not going to leave the trunk wide open - what if it rains? I pulled the battery out and closed the trunk. (There was actually a split second after that when I thought - hey, I don't remember seeing a keyhole back here. I put this thought aside at the time because I thought it would be too absurd to have a design that cannot be opened manually in some way, right? Especially when the power source is in the trunk.)

Obviously, when I returned I quickly realized the problem...

[Mikes shade tree]

Thanks Blorax. Same situation with me. 2011 328i. No freaking key hole! I cut a hole through the rear panel (armrest/ cupholder pull down recess) in between the rear seats. The hole was fine and would have allowed access to the interior trunk release handle...but a bunch of stuff including one of my heavy toolboxes were blocking access to the pull handle. UGH! I also tried jumping with the new battery at the regular jumping locations under the hood. (This didn't work however. I think it was because I had already disconnected an accessory wire from the positive battery terminal harness???).
I also tried (in vain) the method of popping the trunk handle mechanism and tag lights out & fishing for the release cable with multiple screwdrivers and mini pry bars (couldn't see or feel the cable).
After reading your post, I followed your suggestions and located the grey wire under the glove box. Of note, I had also seen a you tube video (one of many) suggesting the same concept as yours, except tapping into that wire in a different location.
I ultimately followed suit with the easier location. I pried up the trim piece along the door jamb of Passenger side rear door. Next, located the grey wire with thin green stripe and cut it, stripping the trailing end to expose a little wire. Then I connected the new battery with std jumping cables and connected the free neg clamp to the striker post, and brushed the positive cable against the exposed grey/green wire. VIOLA! I immediately tied some heavy twine to that trunk release cable and fed it through the (previously drilled) hole in between the back seats, lest I should ever have the same problem. Oh yeah, I cleaned out the trunk too, and soldered in a wire splice to repair the grey/green wire.

[cisco-08@hotmail.com]

Originally Posted by Hey Ant

There is a key hole near the top of the license plate to open your trunk manually. When you find it, insert your key in and twist really hard. It may feel like you're breaking your key, but you're not.

BMW dealership was going to charge me $500!
turns out turning the key really hard was the fix for me.

Thanks,

[smass]

Regarding the pre-lci with the key in the trunk, I recently picked up a 2006 and the cable to the latch was broken. I was at the junk yard getting things this week and figured I would get a used cable. Every single one I looked at was broken. So test your trunk key opener before you need it.

The key and emergency trunk pull cables connect to a plastic piece which attaches to the latch. It is the plastic join piece that breaks. The cheap fix is to remove the broken plastic and wrap some wire between the metal dual cable assembly point and the latch attachment point. Or $25 for a new dual cable assembly.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/51247201607/

[Yobroham]

I am currently dealing with this very issue. I’m trying the fish out method from the light and trunk release button but having trouble locating the metal wire that connects to the emergency release...any advice?

*UPDATED - “Jumped the car” and popped the trunk with the key fob. By FAR the easiest solution!!

[cruisernaz]

Blorax! Thank you sir! My car battery died at a relative's house. Purchased a battery and went back to replace it and realized I was missing a socket extension. It was late and I was tied so I said I'll finish in the morning after disconnecting the terminals. Closed the trunk and thought about the possible mistake. If it weren't for you posting this I would've had it towed. Power from the 12v straight to the gray wire with green stripe did the trick. Popped it open. Thank you again for posting this. You're the man!

[Scubudo]

I thought I would add the following information to help anyone else out. I like many others disconnected the negative terminal and instinctively closed my trunk.

1) Regarding the use of a battery charger under the hood: I have 2 chargers and discovered that neither put out a charge if ia battery is not sensed by the circuitry in the charger. So, not all chargers will work! If the charger fails, try a battery (or jumpers to another vehicle)...because doing so did work for me when a charger would not.

2) IDK whether putting the fob in the dash plays any part in oneÂ’s ability to unlock the trunk...but since it was mentioned I tried that before I realized that my battery chargers were not putting out any power...only to discover that as soon as a battery was hooked up under the hood, the doors automatically locked with my key and fob in the dash!
I was fortunate that I had a second key with me...but otherwise, had the battery not worked to open the trunk, I would have found myself locked out of the vehicle as well as the trunk, which would have preventing access to the wires under the dash.

[HB E90]

Halleluiah! THANK YOU BLORAX!! man was I freaking out! Ask my wife. LOL Had just changed the battery but failed to hook it up properly and shut the trunk. So the car was dead and jumping didn't help and no key hole.
So I found the gray wire and put a wire tap on it with a 8" lead attached in case this happens again which I'm pretty sure it wont god willing. Another thread showed the connecter removed from the back but I couldnt for the life of me figure out how to do that. Anyway after getting the trunk open I found the problem. The big red cable going to the red box was left off! Wow thank God and Blorax for getting me out of this nightmare. Whhheeeewwww
Oh let me add the fact that I had to do this going in from the drivers side. Crawl in turn upside down and slide my head down under the glovebox. (car was parked in the garage) Then tap the elusive gray wire. Couldn't find a good ground in there so had to run a wire from under the hood fed down there. One 9v battery and pop it opened. Halleluiah Haven't had that much fun in a long time. Next up go see a chiropractor.

[Philip12]

Tried attempting in from the back seats, anyone know why there’s 2 sets of green/gray wires?

[Serf27]

I did this the other day and this thread helped. I took a photo of the the wires under the dash to help others later on.
This is the connector towards the back near the firewall when you remove the lower panel(2 t20? Screws I think.)
The green/gray wire is the one hanging to the side almost by itself. The brown wire is the thick brown wire behind most of the wires.

[terwarren]

Here are a couple pictures of how I got the trunk open using the information provided in this thread.

[ldk2]

Originally Posted by Blorax

If you're reading this, you are probably stuck like I was stuck - hopefully not as bad. If you're lucky, you didn't completely remove your battery and close the trunk. If you're lucky, you have one of the features which will allow you to get access to your trunk. If you're not lucky - I feel your pain.

Here are the solutions that I found from searching.

1) 2008 models and before actually have key lock on the trunk - it's hidden above the license frame. This would have been great, but I have a 2009, so I don't have one.

2) Some models have a trunk pass through which would allow access through which you could pull the manual release within the trunk using a coat hangar or something. My doesn't. (I also spent some time trying to remove the seat backs, but I don't think I could have gotten them out without breaking something because the latches held them in place so securely.)

3) You can apply power to the car from the engine area -there's a big red + and a ground point nearby. Once power is on the car just push the trunk release in the driver's footwell. This is almost certain to work for most everyone. I'm not sure why it didn't work for me, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that the battery was completely removed and the cable were lying loose. That was strike three - I felt like I was out.

4) The only solution that worked for me was to run down the wiring diagrams and locate the "central locking drive, trunk lid" that's the solonoid that actually releases the trunk. Most of the effort was getting the information - the job itself was actually pretty easy. Here it is:

a) Take out the two torx screws just below the glovebox on the left and right to remove the panel below the glovebox. Disconnect the power socket and the light which are attached to the panel.

b) Below the fusebox there is a big flat horizontal junction box (Junction Box A4010). You can spot it easily because there are two big connectors going into it facing you. There is a flat wide connector plugging into the BACKSIDE of this same junction box. There are about a dozen small wires going into it and one big brown ground. This is the one you need to get to. (Connector X14270) Ideally, you'd want to disconnect this, but I could not manage to get it out from that position.

c) Identify the small wire which is gray with a stripe of green (it looks mostly gray). If you get the connector out, this is pin 12. It's the only grey/green wire in the bunch though.

d) You need to very briefly apply 12 volts to this lead to pop the trunk. I did it the ugly way - I very carefully razored off some of the insulation to expose it. Then I just attached some leads to my new battery. I stuck the ground lead into brown wire connector for the power socket I had disconnected when I removed the glove box panel. Then I just brushed the positive lead against the exposed pin 12 wire. The trunk popped instantly.


Now that I know what to do, I'll bet I could do this in 10 minutes. It's really just two screws to remove the pane and knowing which wire to power. I hope no one ends up in such a stupid situation, but if they do I hope this helps.

This thread does help people in 2021 too. Blorax, Thanks a lot for putting up the solutions. At first I was skeptical to touch any wiring, but didn't had any choice other than utilizing this info. Its a pretty straight forward one and as mentioned above doesn't take more than 10mins after figuring the appropriate wire.

On other note, ironically there isn't any emergency trunk release latch in Euro/India 320d models

[Reevofev]

My 2011 doesn't have a keyhole and it's insanely frustrating. I've already blown out 2 modules so far trying to charge the battery for the current job I'm doing.

What was the point of even removing them? Makes no sense.

[Nousername]

I know this thread is over a decade old, but I want to thank Blorax and tharptroy if they ever come here still. I signed up just to do so. Hopefully I can add a little more information as I vent about my ordeal

Like an idiot I shut the trunk on my mom's 640i convertible after pulling a severely dead battery to try to charge on a bench. It was one of those things I did out of habit and as soon as I did it I knew I was screwed.

I haven't seen it in this thread but the issue is that, with the battery out the positive cable can make contact with the body - which grounds it and shorts the circuit. With no battery in the car, if the positive is not touching ground you should be good to go using the posts under the hood - but if it hits metal on the body that's no goodness.

I searched the interwebs and got the same standard - use the key, go through the back seat, use the posts in the front answers constantly.

Then I was thinking about it, and thought - it's just an electric release motor, if I can power it by getting to the other end of the wire I should be able to trip it. And then I thought - why has NO ONE online thought about this if this could actually work. Surely I am missing something. Then....this thread.

I bought wiring diagrams for the 640i and they said it was a blue/white wire that you had to jumper, and it was in the 12th position of the connector going into the junction box. I figured Blorax's wire was a different color because it was a different car...and went to work.

I found a blue/white wire but no success. I came back here and found Tharptroy's photos and realized the box I was looking for was buried a little deeper. I can actually access parts of it right through the glove box - but as you know the connector we need here is in the back and even more inaccessible in the 640i. Regardless - these photos were immensely helpful so back to work. I had to remove the glove box which is pretty easy and just involves being patient finding all the screws.

Once there, I removed two bolts on the front of the junction box, just next to the connectors, and this allows the entire plug module to slide forward and out of the junction box - but in the 640i the cramped wires bind and won't let it come out. One screw at the bottom of the junction box and just pry back two "hangers" at the top and the entire box comes out and can be flipped over.

For me, again, it turned out to be Blorax's Green/Grey wire and my wiring diagram was wrong. If he hadn't let me know this color I would have spent hours wondering why this wasn't working.

One more trick - if you go to a pharmacy and get a 1 or 1.5" syringe you can back probe the connector without nicking the wiring and then just use a 9V battery + touched to the syringe and it works without any damage. Just make sure you dull the needle if you don't get a blunt syringe so that you don't stab yourself.

Thanks guys.

[BNBNPNP]

+1 THANK YOU Blorax!!!!!!

[biitts]

For what it's worth at this late date. My 2010 w/o a keyhole or pass-through had its trunk accidentally closed with the battery disconnected. Jumping a good 12v battery to the under hood posts energized the car and allowed the trunk switch to operate (on trunk or in driver's footwell). Note: a lithium ion jumper pack of a smart battery charger will not work. They are too smart and will not apply voltage with the car's battery disconnected. Thanks for all the contributions!

[Apatoallo]

Originally Posted by Hey Ant

There is a key hole near the top of the license plate to open your trunk manually. When you find it, insert your key in and twist really hard. It may feel like you're breaking your key, but you're not.

in sone models like mine for 2011 there is no emergency cable inside the trunk

[ctuna]

Emergency release cable is a required by law in the US.

[balekbros]

Originally Posted by Blorax

If you're reading this, you are probably stuck like I was stuck - hopefully not as bad. If you're lucky, you didn't completely remove your battery and close the trunk. If you're lucky, you have one of the features which will allow you to get access to your trunk. If you're not lucky - I feel your pain.

Here are the solutions that I found from searching.

1) 2008 models and before actually have key lock on the trunk - it's hidden above the license frame. This would have been great, but I have a 2009, so I don't have one.

2) Some models have a trunk pass through which would allow access through which you could pull the manual release within the trunk using a coat hangar or something. My doesn't. (I also spent some time trying to remove the seat backs, but I don't think I could have gotten them out without breaking something because the latches held them in place so securely.)

3) You can apply power to the car from the engine area -there's a big red + and a ground point nearby. Once power is on the car just push the trunk release in the driver's footwell. This is almost certain to work for most everyone. I'm not sure why it didn't work for me, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that the battery was completely removed and the cable were lying loose. That was strike three - I felt like I was out.

4) The only solution that worked for me was to run down the wiring diagrams and locate the "central locking drive, trunk lid" that's the solonoid that actually releases the trunk. Most of the effort was getting the information - the job itself was actually pretty easy. Here it is:

a) Take out the two torx screws just below the glovebox on the left and right to remove the panel below the glovebox. Disconnect the power socket and the light which are attached to the panel.

b) Below the fusebox there is a big flat horizontal junction box (Junction Box A4010). You can spot it easily because there are two big connectors going into it facing you. There is a flat wide connector plugging into the BACKSIDE of this same junction box. There are about a dozen small wires going into it and one big brown ground. This is the one you need to get to. (Connector X14270) Ideally, you'd want to disconnect this, but I could not manage to get it out from that position.

c) Identify the small wire which is gray with a stripe of green (it looks mostly gray). If you get the connector out, this is pin 12. It's the only grey/green wire in the bunch though.

d) You need to very briefly apply 12 volts to this lead to pop the trunk. I did it the ugly way - I very carefully razored off some of the insulation to expose it. Then I just attached some leads to my new battery. I stuck the ground lead into brown wire connector for the power socket I had disconnected when I removed the glove box panel. Then I just brushed the positive lead against the exposed pin 12 wire. The trunk popped instantly.


Now that I know what to do, I'll bet I could do this in 10 minutes. It's really just two screws to remove the pane and knowing which wire to power. I hope no one ends up in such a stupid situation, but if they do I hope this helps.

I made this account just to say THANK YOU BLORAX

THIS THIS THIS THIS- I have a 2011 BMW 128i and could not find JACKSHI to help me, found this post and didn't want to go through the hassle of stripping a wire because I already couldn't pull out the connector from the junction box until it got to the point I had to do what I had to do. Opening up under the glove box I couldn't get out because there was a push retainer screw holding it in place that I didn't notice, pulled out the middle got it open and upside down I took a video and multiple pics to make sure I had the right wire (you can barely see the green line on the gray) and with a razor I peeled back just enough to be exposed. I the got some cheap amp wire I believe with two other coated copper wires inside and took it apart so I had a thin black and red. I stripped both ends of both wires and hooked the black under the black handle and kinda wrapped around the handle of my jumper cable against the copper, did it for both, set them apart on the ground, then I went back upside down and had to shove the end of the black wire into where I saw the brown coming from, once I did that I hooked the other end to my new battery and brushed the positive against the exposed copper and fucking success, I had my girlfriend come out and pull it open as it clicked because it wouldn't swing open but it gave it enough power to click and unlock, thank you saved me a trip to the dealership and a lot of money I thought i'd have to tear out my back speaker💀
Lesson Learned
BACK SEATS DOWN WHEN TAKING OUT THE BATTERY AS WELL AS TOWEL IN THE WAY OF THE LATCH ITS NOT WORTH THE HEADACHE AND THANKS AGAIN