Remote Central Locking

Interesting stuff. Did the 400s have electric locks? I know my 365 doesn't. Also on the 365 you can't lock the door when the door is open, if you do you will regret it! I would think your power locks and alarm is after market.

 

My 78 400GT doesn't have electric locks or a central locking system. There must be an aftermarket actuator tucked in the door somewhere. I'd definitely investigate before it craps out on you.

 

Are there electric buttons in the car to operate the locks or just the remote.

 

My '83 400i has electric door locks that are actuated by the driver side outside lock cylinder. The passenger side outside lock only affects the lock in that door. I'm pretty sure the interior lock button on the driver side also locks both doors, but I've never been in the habit of locking my doors while driving so I'm not sure. As far as up-to-date, my parents' '69 Plymouth (an economy brand) had electric door locks, and I recall cars back to the early '60's having them too. Also functional heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems.

 

I'm positive alarms were not supplied in our cars. The electric central locking didn't appear until the Series 2 400i. However, the anti-theft device was available in all cars...
You guessed it, the ignition key

Yes, the driver's side lock/unlock feature electrically operates both doors from inside. But I have to say that I'm unsure of the lock/unlock feature outside the car. I have a battery disconnect switch hidden that I remove the key from every time I leave the vehicle, so it mechanically unlocks without battery power.

Also, be aware of one note in the OM...never operate the lock switch (B) with the door open.
I made the mistake of doing this once but nothing seemed to go wrong, don't know what could go wrong if you do it all of the time but thought I'd mention it here

 

I always wondered about that warning too and thought that it might be similar to the warning not to remove the tag on a mattress.

One thought that occurred to me is that, if you actuate the locks with the door open and then try to shut it, the closed lock latch mechanism might smack up against the striker/latch bar and somehow damage one or the other. At the very least, the door may not close and latch completely.

 

LOL Another good one John! Like pillow tags too.
Now they've added "except by consumer" because of all of the confusion

I did the typical, flip the lock latch with the door open...then shut the door (this was right after I bought it). Went inside & began reading the OM & when I got to page 30, I said "Oh $**T!"...ran out to the garage to check on things. Long story short, everything was fine

 

We do things differently in Australia, we shut the door before locking it - does not seem to make sense to lock an open door!!!
You guys in the northern half of the world crack me up sometimes.

 

If the system is well installed (the solenoids are the hard part) I am sure you could have a modern and widely available control unit put in it to control the system and then you would have a couple remotes. I put one of those in an old c3 corvette I had-it had power locks, controlled by buttons in the interior. Adding the remote control feature worked well and was a nice little upgrade when we are all so used to it from modern daily drivers.

 

Aahhh, sounds like life is laid back in the ole' down under

Kills 2 birds with 1 stone...in a fast pace world, efficiency is the key.
Some manufacturers felt the same way, when you shut the locked door, the lock would pop to the unlocked position (I guess so you didn't accidentally lock yourself out). The work around to that was to hold the exterior door handle up when closing & viola...locked door.

That's a good thing, a little humor never hurts