328 doorlocks malfunctioning - Help!

Mine do the same thing intermittently. It is mechanical. not electrical. One or the other is misaligned inside the door which triggers both to unlock. the culprit is usually the driver's side. I had my mechanic fix it when I first got the car and it was fine for about a year, now it's doing it again.

On occasion, closing the door with "some authority" helps. sometimes it doesn't. Don't panic, you're not alone.

tom

 

Sounds like you're door catch machanisim is out of adjustment. Very simple fix. first loosen the 4 5mm allen head screws on the latch on the door jam and move it inwards slightly and tighten. close the door and try to lock it. If it does not lock adjust a bit more. This is quite common with these cars.

If this does not do the trick then further study of the problem will be needed obviously.

 

I had the same EXACT problem on my 328. Here's what was done on mine: The door lock "motor" (referred to as "solenoid" on the T. Rutlands receipt) was found to be faulty on the passenger side, hence, was replaced (by a trusted mechanic). It fixed the problem temporarily. I say temporarily bec. I noticed during warm days the door lock worked well; on very cold winter days, the same problem you described came back. So then I removed the upholstery panel (on both doors) to expose the door lock mechanism and sprayed all the joints/connections with WD-40 and "exercised" them (you know, moved them back and forth so the lubricant works its way inside the joints). BINGO! The problem went away COMPLETELY. I guess the extreme cold kind of stiffened or froze the
joints impeding their movement. If you have a problem on one side, you cannot lock both sides.

Hope the aforementioned will help as your problem description is exactly what I had before.

Ron

 

...so I'm not alone! I purchased an '88 328 GTS about 6 weeks ago and have exactly the same door locking problem. I assumed it was an electrical problem and planned on getting my local installer to take a look the alarm/remote locking etc. These posts are really helpful and clearly I need to take a different approach. Another job for next weekend! I'll let you know what the outcome is.

Thanks!

Paul

 

Just to be sure, if it is the driver's doorlock that needs adjusting, should that adjustment fix the passenger side doorlock too?

Thanks again.[/QUOTE]

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Yes, only if you don't have a problem on the passenger side.
Again, even though the problem was found on my passenger side, I also sprayed the driver side (w/ WD-40) anyway.

 

On my 328, a misalignment on either side will unlock both doors.

It's the passenger side that causes mine to do this once in a while. The "quick fix" is to push on the door, just at the latch (yes, it means putting your hands (or a clean rag) against the paintwork). Even with the door fully latched, sometimes the sensor doesn't twig to it without that extra push.

A little graphite lube (I found some at Ace Hardware) helps the latches work better. It's messy to apply (have lots of kleenex available -- you don't want to clean a shop towel with this on it), but it gets a lot of gunk out of the latch mechanism without having to take the door panel off.

Central locking may have been a big wow at the '86 auto show, but 15-20 years later, it's more annoying than useful.

 

328s have electric locks?

Hmmmm, guess there's something new to fix on my car

 

Yeah, the circuit runs through the cigarette lighter!

 

....well that was an easy fix. I made the minor adjustments recommended and lo and behold the locks work fine (touch wood).....a 10 minute fix. I wish all repairs were this easy. Many thanks all!

Paul.