[delmarco]

Originally Posted by AlexKoast

Not reading through every single post but the sedans have the latches to release rear seats beside the rear window. Can pull the rear seats down and awkwardly crawl through when no one is looking

Nope!

My 2011 335i Sedan has the latch for seat release INSIDE THE TRUNK!


The only way to get into a lock trunk is to break open the ski pass thru hatch and stick your arm in there and either pull the emergency trunk release or reach the fold down seat latches and release the seat.

[whitessx]

Hello to all of you.

I was unfortunate enough to take out the battery to charge it and close the trunk. I thought "what the hell ?", since I did the same thing to my 2005 Mercedes w211.

So forget about connecting a battery or a charger. Forget about fishing out a release cord (especially on European models), drilling holes or removing the back seats.

Just follow Blorax' guide (page 1), with the help of tharptroy's photos (page 3) and the quick tip from thecastle (page 4) and you're set.

I connected two cables to the battery I had charged (i set it up on the floor by the car's door). The Negative (just the tip of the exposed wire) (-) went to the lighter hole with the lighter in. The positive (+) I wrapped around a safety needle. I couldn't manage to get out the wide plastic connector, so I sifted carefully through the wires with my head upside down below the glovebox, until I found the grey and green one. It's indeed a smaller one. I pinched it and the trunk popped open.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it: you need T20 screwdriver.

I can't thank you guys enough. This thread is golden.

[silverseal99]

Great summary by withesxx. Detailed photos of wiring loom are provided on page 5 by Ben159.

I successfully used 9v household battery method augmented by a couple of alligator clip extensions and a t-shaped push pin to pierce the insulation in lieu of nicking it.

The brown wire in the connector to the cigar-lighter-outlet-you-can't-see (the one in the below-dash panel in the passenger's footwell) provides a handy ground.

Jumper cables under the hood will only work only if the cable encircled in yellow remains connected to the red power distribution block when the trunk lid was closed. If left disconnected, the path to the latch is interrupted and jumpers under the hood won't work.

[matissk]

Also feeling kinda hopeless🤷*♂️😅
-'06 e91
-car has no battery power at all
-car is locked
-car has not keyhole in trunk
-drivers door keyhole somehow doesnt work(tried with both keys)
🤷*♂️
I have already tried to pull driver doors handle from inside with long hard wire, but no success-doors wont open😬
Any ideas? If only i could get plus from somewhere, but it seems impossible. Thinking about destroying driver doors keyhole🤷*♂️

[Seanjohn004]

Easiest way i know is. jumper cables to the battery connectors under the hood. Will give you power 100%

[matissk]

I know, but how could i get there.
Now going to try pull hood opening lever with hard wire

[gamesfrager]

Originally Posted by matissk

I know, but how could i get there.
Now going to try pull hood opening lever with hard wire

Your driver door handle has a key hole. Use the key to get in.
Pull the hood release; that should pop open the hood.

That's it

[matissk]

That keyhole doesnt work with both keys.
Now i got hood opened with hard wire, got in car!👍
Now somehow need to know if just my batterie has died or there is some power leak

[Liquid_Arthur]

Knowing that my slot key is not currently cut, and that I am certainly spaced enough to make this mistake, I am going to run an extra wire from the positive lead under the hood to somewhere around the skid plate / wheel well. My hood will very likely be closed and doors locked when this happens to me. The wire will be accessible, only I will know it's there, no worries, it will be protected. Then when this happens I'll get it some +12V and move along.

[ctuna]

In an e91 you could just put the back seats down and crawl back
to the trunk area.
Not sure if it has an emergency release being a wagon.Also people have used as little as a 6 volt battery on the trunk release trick from the cabin
fuse box area.

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by ctuna

In an e91 you could just put the back seats down and crawl back to the trunk area.
Not sure if it has an emergency release being a wagon...

E91 wagon has an Emergency release "Pull-ring", accessed by removing carpeted trim pad below tailgate window,
prying up lower edge at the three catches, as shown in the attached screenprint
from Bentley, 515-18, pdf p.729.

OP, did you figure out WHY your mechanical key did NOT work in driver door? Did key fit into lock plungers?
Did key rotate ~ 90 degrees clockwise AND counter-clockwise? Did the lock pin/ plunger on the top-rear
of the doorpad NOT go up/down when the key was rotated?

You either have a mechanical or electrical issue in that door or the lock cylinder if mechanical key did NOT unlock
the driver door.

George

[chaichang]

2012 135i m sport n55
i did exactly just like you....now i tried almost everything you posted here...the trunk wont open.... just the grey/green wire left i dont know if it apply to 2012 135i?

[chaichang]

Originally Posted by chaichang

2012 135i m sport n55
i did exactly just like you....now i tried almost everything you posted here...the trunk wont open.... just the grey/green wire left i dont know if it apply to 2012 135i?

its done i called my cousin and my nephew to help me bent the seat a bit and fish it from there and we opened the emergency lever with a couple tries
but the thing is my bent backseat isnt going to be like before....
i didnt see any replies to help me but thank you anyways.

[kolhozbrothers]

There is a wire you apply power to on the passenger side rear to energize the trunk lock.

[dcay]

Originally Posted by silverseal99

Great summary by withesxx. Detailed photos of wiring loom are provided on page 5 by Ben159.

I successfully used 9v household battery method augmented by a couple of alligator clip extensions and a t-shaped push pin to pierce the insulation in lieu of nicking it.

The brown wire in the connector to the cigar-lighter-outlet-you-can't-see (the one in the below-dash panel in the passenger's footwell) provides a handy ground.

Jumper cables under the hood will only work only if the cable encircled in yellow remains connected to the red power distribution block when the trunk lid was closed. If left disconnected, the path to the latch is interrupted and jumpers under the hood won't work.

THANK YOU SILVERSEAL. I had disconnected the battery ground to remove and repair the driver seat in my daughter’s 2009 328i. She went to wash the car while it was disconnected and I closed the trunk so it would not get wet. I did not know there was NO trunk lock. From the early posts I went to try fishing the pull cable through the trunk latch and plate lights to no avail. Found your post and in 5 minutes with battery charger had the trunk open. THANK YOU AGAIN.

[silverseal99]

Dcay - A belated "you're welcome, glad I could help."

This weekend's adventure was a trunk lockout when the ground wire from the trunk lid to the chassis had broken. The gray/green wire/9 volt battery "Vulcan secret handshake" fix wouldn't work--had to access the emergency trunk release from the back seat when I don't have folding back seats or a ski pass-through. I will submit a "how to" post shortly--doesn't take long if you know how.

[N55Tiger]

This thread is a lifesaver. Popped the trunk with a 9V battery. Took me less than 5 minutes. I feel incredible right now.

[silverseal99]

Your trunk won’t open with either trunk handle, key fob or trunk release button but you are able to unlock the car doors with the fob or the hard key in the fob.

Neither Jumping the car’s battery from under the hood nor flashing the gray/green wire under the dash worked. You don’t have a key hole in the trunk lid or folding rear seats or a ski pass-through so you can’t access the trunk in those ways. What to do?

Your issue is likely a broken wire in the cable loom from the trunk lid to the chassis and you will have to access the emergency trunk release from inside the car.

Attached procedure will get you back into your trunk pretty quickly without tearing anything apart.

[aznmafiazzz]

Had this issue too and followed Borax's instructions via shorting the wire. Here's a couple of additional notes that hopefully helps out anyone in the future.

2013 E92 335i

1. The panel is not IN the glovebox, but below it. I don't read instructions too carefully, but took me a while to figure this out.

2. There's a crap ton of wires back there. I recommend manually FEEL for the bundle that connects to the back of the harness.

3. The color of the wire is described as "mostly grey with green stripe". The grey is a very lighter grey, and the green is a lighter green as well. If you're not sure - find all the wires that have green on them and go by process of elimination. The other green ones don't have anything that could pass off as grey.

4. Wire is pretty damn thing, so be careful exposing it. I took a safety pin and poked it repeatedly until a thin strip was exposed.

5. Contrary to what others said, a 6V may not be enough. I took a pretty used up 9V battery that was measuring 6V and nothing happened. Maybe not enough current? a new 9V worked just fine

6. Cigarrette lighter was too far away, so I connected the negative to a bolt on passenger side door. worked just fine.

[nevan]

Hello,

I typically browse on this forum only. But this time, I wanted to drop a few lines to say how grateful I am to Blorax and everyone who contributed to this thread.

Thanks to you guys, I was able to get myself out of trouble. Basically, the tunk slid and shut while the battery was disconnected for ps pump replacement.

So thanks so much again, everyone!!

[Cfitz]

Originally Posted by lichtgelb

Still works with the battery disconnected. I've done this more than once.

Following an accident, charging via the engine bay terminal posts unfortunately does not work for me. I have an LCI -- not sure if it makes any difference. I even tried jumping it with a car, revving the non-dead car while trying anything electrical on the dead BMW (e.g., trunk release button on remote, button inside car, handle on trunk, etc) and still no luck.

Next, I dremel'd a hole in the black plastic behind the rear seat armrest but I was surprised to find a nice thick sheet of metal behind that (seems to be LCI specific), so I stopped at that point. Didn't want to cut through metal with sparks flying.

After that, I tried popping out the license plate lights and the trunk handle and couldn't find the cable despite a lot of flashlights and fiddling. Not sure if they made it impossible to open that way with the LCI (as another member mentioned, that'd be quite an easy way to gain access to someone's trunk).

Going to have to take a look at the wires behind the glovebox as unfortunately it's the only option left for me!

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by delmarco

Nope!

My 2011 335i Sedan has the latch for seat release INSIDE THE TRUNK!


The only way to get into a lock trunk is to break open the ski pass thru hatch and stick your arm in there and either pull the emergency trunk release or reach the fold down seat latches and release the seat.

incorrect. pop hood, attach jumper cables. then do whatever you want.