[scottn2retro]

Okay - yet another way to get in the trunk. We undid one side of the rear bumper and went in through the battery vent with a coat hanger.

BST cable was blown. We got the battery out of the car and it is reading ZERO volts. I don't know how that's possible when the car had poweyr when we looked at it. Could somebody at the salvage yard do something to trigger the isolation circuit in the battery? If the battery isolates itself, how does one get it to connect back?

[lichtgelb]

Originally Posted by scottn2retro

Okay - yet another way to get in the trunk. We undid one side of the rear bumper and went in through the battery vent with a coat hanger.

BST cable was blown. We got the battery out of the car and it is reading ZERO volts. I don't know how that's possible when the car had poweyr when we looked at it. Could somebody at the salvage yard do something to trigger the isolation circuit in the battery? If the battery isolates itself, how does one get it to connect back?

It's like the spirit drains out of a car while it sits on the salvage auction lot. I looked at my F150 on the lot and it had power and started. When it was dropped off the rollback in my driveway the battery was dead dead dead. Someone probably didn't shut the door all the way and left the dome light on. I'm sure your M4 had a lot of lookers so I'd imagine someone left the light on.

Do you have a build thread on the M4 forum for this car?

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by lichtgelb

It's like the spirit drains out of a car while it sits on the salvage auction lot. I looked at my F150 on the lot and it had power and started. When it was dropped off the rollback in my driveway the battery was dead dead dead. Someone probably didn't shut the door all the way and left the dome light on. I'm sure your M4 had a lot of lookers so I'd imagine someone left the light on.

Do you have a build thread on the M4 forum for this car?

I'm going to try and find the right charger for a Li-ion battery. Have not started a build thread yet, but I will have one.

[Wilt]

Originally Posted by scottn2retro

I'm going to try and find the right charger for a Li-ion battery. Have not started a build thread yet, but I will have one.

Where in the car do you think there is a LITHIUM - ION battery?!

Yes, fob has button cells which are 'lithium' but they are not 'lithium ion'

[scottn2retro]

See bottom of pic

[bengaldan]

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 have read all post entries, and followed option 4 instructions closely, but still received no power to release trunk when applying voltage directly to the green/gray wire. Previously tried option 3 many times, but since I have loose cables and no battery in trunk, this did not work. I have a 2011 335XI, so does anyone know if the wiring instructions may be different for this model year, as some other blogs have suggested? Also, given that I don't have a ski pass or fold down rear seats, are there still plausible options for getting to the emergency trunk lever? Thanks in advance.

[cband]

Originally Posted by JonDiesel@***************

the way you can do this actually (and it requires some time and patience) is to pop out the license plate lights or the rubber handle for the pop button (they all pop out with a thin screwdriver, held in by clips.) insert some kind of hook and grab ahold of the metal cable that connects to the emergency release handle inside the trunk and pull it. it's a little difficult but it CAN be done, I've done it before when a friend was in this situation.

This is the best post ever!

to add to it. the center handle and right light are the most necessary to remove then looking slightly up you see a metal clip on a white piece of plastic and a black cable that has the wire in it. I just hooked the black cable and pulled it hard until it popped, might have damaged the real release a bit though.

this allowed me to access my back seat which doesn't fold down, drilled a small hole into center of back seat. then stuck rod though hard to push arm rest and arm rest backslash away, then I could use long stick to unlock car from center dash!

this started because key was sitting on the driver's seat and car was shut, a few minutes later i heard the damn car lock itself. comfort access didn't let me in! battery might have been low, but after getting into trunk and charging it no luck.

[cband]

Originally Posted by bengaldan

I have read all post entries, and followed option 4 instructions closely, but still received no power to release trunk when applying voltage directly to the green/gray wire. Previously tried option 3 many times, but since I have loose cables and no battery in trunk, this did not work. I have a 2011 335XI, so does anyone know if the wiring instructions may be different for this model year, as some other blogs have suggested? Also, given that I don't have a ski pass or fold down rear seats, are there still plausible options for getting to the emergency trunk lever? Thanks in advance.

do the reverse of what I just did... take armrest down, remove plastic behind it and then you see black plastic , drill a 3/4" hole and fish a rod into trunk to get at emergency release.

I think I am going to make my own pass through now seeing how simple the armrest is and what is behind it.

[derek7467]

Lol. I was installing a bms tuner today and disconnected the battery to be overly cautious. Stupid me was like why is the fing trunk open and I closed it. LOL. Hooked up my portable battery jumper and trunk opened. I love this car but wtf BMW. 2010 328i e90.

[nm3]

Thanks for the post, man.

I disconnected my battery and apparently did not tighten it enough, so when I went to turn on the car, it turned on for a sec then lost all elctrical power.

I thought I was screwed until I read your post. Connected power to the positive terminal on the engine bay and was able to open the trunk and fix the issue.



Thanks a lot

[Thecastle]

I just want to confirm from personal experience, that if you remove the battery from the car, you can't hook up a battery charger, or another battery to the engine bay terminals and open the trunk. It won't work, tried it when replacing my battery.

Now for a quick tip. I spliced into the wiring like blorax suggested above. It works. However I did a slight variation. This will make it easier. I just used a household 9v battery, hooked the negative wire (used Ethernet) to the passenger side cigarette lighter negative terminal. Then just took the positive wrapped it around a safety pin and poked the appropriate wire and trunk popped. Easy, 10 minute job.

Also whom ever said you can fish the release cable from the trunk handle or lights area... show some pics, I've never seen anyone who actually can do this without drilling. Don't waste your time trying this, there is nothing accessible from the back. Unless your seats fold, or you have a trunk pass through

[charlie fairmont]

Ive done the trunk button/emergency release fishing method. I didn't take pics but it definitely works. The thing that is accessible from the back is the battery. If you disconnected the battery and then foolishly closed the trunk like I did, the trunk button method let's you hook the battery back up. I will say that if you don't have a hanger or something similar handy, you probably won't have any luck with this method because you won't be able to fit your fingers in the small space to pull it by hand.

[BennettBucsFan]

I don't have a ski hole but I folded down the rear arm rest and took out the plastic piece behind the arm rest and made a hole big enough to get my arm through and was able to grab the trunk release with a hanger. It's fiberglass so you will probably have to use a hammer to get started and definitely wear something with long sleeves. I patched the carpet in the trunk and you can't tell it was ever done. The plastic covers the hole on the inside.

[echoes112]

Originally Posted by BennettBucsFan

I don't have a ski hole but I folded down the rear arm rest and took out the plastic piece behind the arm rest and made a hole big enough to get my arm through and was able to grab the trunk release with a hanger. It's fiberglass so you will probably have to use a hammer to get started and definitely wear something with long sleeves. I patched the carpet in the trunk and you can't tell it was ever done. The plastic covers the hole on the inside.

I am going to undertake this task in the next few days because I'm out of other options. A hammer sounds extremely destructive; how did you manage to get a clean cut on the fiberglass and carpet and how did you patch the carpet? I'm thinking to rent one of these bad boys: http://www6.homedepot.com/tool-truck...0CT/index.html

Unless most ppl on here my battery is not dead but the trunk release just stopped working. None of the power options work, valet lock is open and the manual key doesn't work either. Anyone else run into this? Getting it open is the first step, then I'm thinking to replace the latch mechanism.

[Flyboy161]

echoes112
In your 335i Coupe, your rear seats don't fold down?

[echoes112]

Originally Posted by Flyboy161

echoes112
In your 335i Coupe, your rear seats don't fold down?

They do fold down, but you have to release them from inside the trunk. I can't get into the trunk. And I need to fold down the rear seats to pull the trunk emergency release. Wtf am I supposed to do?

[Flyboy161]

Yeah, sorry. Senior moment

[echoes112]

Originally Posted by Flyboy161

Yeah, sorry. Senior moment

Haha no problem. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

But it seems like using the drill is the only option.

The dealer in Fort lauderdale quoted me $460 to "start" looking into the issue. I wonder what they would have done.

[solle]

So... I disconnect my battery for winter storage and closed the trunk..... Happy surprise when I was unable to open the trunk cause no power to the system, no emergency lever, no keyhole... the lists goes on!

The the only thing that saved me was the ski pass through! I was able to remove the rear seats and crawled into the trunk to plug the battery in. I thought I share this with you cause I didnt have the guts to put power on a pin in the glove compartment box.. I would not recommend anyone to do that either cause if you are unlucky you can get into more problem then just not getting into your trunk!

Caution, this may only work if you have a ski pass through.

1. Remove the bottom of the seats - Just pull them up from the middle of "each seat", no tools needed.

2. Remove the seat bolsters - Get your fingers from the side in the middle and pull straight out and up. You need to use some force to pop them out. There is a pin holding it inplace in the bottom witch go straight down, so dont apply any pressure on the bottom.

3. There is one hex screw on each side under the bolsters that keeps the backseats in place. Remove this two screws.

4. So far so good, this is the tricky part! Use a screwdriver to push the trunk release latch.
I used this reference video to se how it was done. Its not as easy as it looks

The hole for the trunk release lastch is behind the seats so your are pretty much in the dark here.. After some swearing and giving up I ended up going through the skipass hole with my head and one arm. If your claustrofobic I would not recommend this, but you gotta do what you gotta do! When you are no loger blind its pretty easy to get the latch open.

5. Now crawl in and plug in your existing battery or replaced the old one. I just put the cables on breifly on the battery and was able to open the trunk

Lesson learned... and hope this helps some other dumbass

[TomU]

Ok, this has got to be the dumbest design flaw i've ever come across. So about a month ago, i totaled my 335 m-sport. It was devastating. It was just paid off and only had 35k on the clock. And i am now finding out that once the warranty/maintenance period expires, these things loose value like a brick, regardless of how many miles are on it.

Anywho, i digress. So the accident somehow killed the electrical signal to my trunk release. I could not open it. Battery was still good and the rear was not physically damaged. Since i couldn't immediately get all my stuff out of the trunk, (e.g. laptop, work ID, and a bunch of my kids crap (expensive, but crap none the less)), i had to wait and try to get it out at the impound lot. I ended up removing the rear bottom seat then unbolted the bottom upper seat back bolts. Problem is you need to gain access to the trunk to release the upper seat back connections. Catch-22!

I ended up pushing the seat back up to clear the lower pins on the outer sides and then pulled it out enough from the bottom so i could get a coat hanger in and was able to pull the emergency trunk release.

What a flippin pain! All told, that took almost the entire day between going back and forth getting the right tools.

I hope this jacked up flaw has been fixed in newer models.

[hassmaschine]

LCI E9x FTL..

[nanceman]

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.

THANK YOU!!! I don't mean to revive an old thread but you saved my ass just now. I specifically didn't take my old battery out without a new one to prevent this then when I found out I was given the wrong battery I just instinctively shut the trunk....