Ignition locked - HELP! 318ti

[Hawaai-Guy]

BMW Please Help..

I have a 1996 318ti and I can't get the ignition to turn on, or even move. The ignition is frozen in place and the keys will not turn it. The steering wheel moves freely back and forth. The computer thinks the engine in "on" as the indicator lights are on.

Before the ignition became locked, I noticed the steering range was moving a lot further than usual. As I attempted to shut off the car, the ignition locked in place. I then had to "kill" the car by placing it in gear. I've attempted to remove the lock cylinder, but have had no luck since I can't orient the key hole in the correct positoin for removal.

yI had to disconnect the battery as I played around with it, since the indicator lights are constantly on.

Has anyone had this problem.??

I'd appreciate any advice.

Hawaii Guy

 

[skandalous]

That's odd. Usually when my key wont turn I just jiggle the wheel alittle and itturns, but this sounds a little more complicated.

 

[CTBMW]

Sorry I can't help you with the mess you are in.
I bet you drove with a ton of keys on your key ring!
Good luck!!
-Mel

 

[Kenny2g]

i'll just go and get a different key from the dealership and then try that one. A part of your key could have chipped off. Just my thought. Or maybe not.
Good luck though.

 

[CTBMW]

I'm afraid mine is going to. I know not to keep any weight in ignition with tons of keys and such, but sometimes it's easier to turn if I take key out and try again.
Not much help to H. guy, just rambling.
Let us know how you make out!
Mel

 

[jimmyk]

BMW Ignition Lock problem

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I saw your post regarding: I have a 1996 318ti and I can't get the ignition to turn on.

I have a 1990 535i and I now have the same problem.

Please tell me how you solved your problem.

Thanks,
Jim
Dallas, TX

 

[flyinH]

if you can put the key in all the way, but it won't turn at all, try this:with the key in all the way,try turning the key(like you're starting the car) and turn the steering wheel at the same time-turning the steering wheel might take some muscle,so give it a firm grab, and turn that sucker to the left or right. once the steering wheel turns about and inch, the key should unlock and turn all the way to start the car.

 

[Lorenzo]

I had this problem one month ago. The key came out of the ignition while in position 2. I too had to disconnect the battery to kill the instruments and electronics that are on in position 2.

Bad news solution...mechanics had to order a new lock cylinder from Germany matched to my key/VIN and install. Total cost was over $500 US. It about made me swear to sell the POS BMW and never buy another (I was upset in the extreme). Unbelievable that the key would come out and the anti-theft system would disable my key forcing me to fork over serious coin for something so stupid.

There is another post in here with about the same story...

Best of luck.

 

[CTBMW]

YIKES!!!!!
Mine gets stiff-hard to turn at times-worried.
Good luck Hawaii !!
Let us know how you make out.
My brother had problems with his Benz awhile ago-too many keys -too much weight !!! Lose the keys!

 

[Stupenal]

Man...you are in for some bad stuff-

Okay here's the lowdown on possible things that have gone wrong.

1. your tumbler is messed up. The thing you need to do is remove the underdash and you'll see this round looking orange thing. Look UNDER the round orange plastic thing and you'll see two "ears" covered with some colored glue. Scrape it off and with a small screwdriver loosen the two screws underneath the glue under each ear. Then you'll be able to see the end of your ignition and the plastic piece that its supposed to connect to. You can manually start and restart the engine with a screwdriver in the plastic orange piece by turning it. If you are lucky, you only messed up either the plastic orange cap piece, or just the ignition tumbler. Orange piece is $50-100 i think, the tumbler is $80 from what I recall.

My car's symptons- I couldnt remove the key and finally when I did, I realized that when I tried to turn it, the car wouldnt start. The ignition tumbler was broken along with the steering lock mechanism. Steering lock mechanism was $180 or something, tumbler $80, plus $130 for labor. Something like that. Total was around $370 plus $450 to tow it.

 

[Stupenal]

oh yeah, one more thing. THIS IS A COMMON BMW problem. The stupid plastic orange caps and the tumblers are VERY common problems and are known to fail. Its been said that having heavy keys are a culprit. Many owners experience a "spinning" of the key freely. THat is the orange cap having a broken plastic piece.

 

[aaronhoy]

similar problem

I have a similar problem. When I put my key in it wont turn at all. I tried all the move the steering wheel while turning stuff but it wont work. I've never had anything like this happen. The bad thing though is this. In order to remove the ignition swtich to check out what is wrong with it, you have ot take off the covers. In order to take off the covers you have to take off the steering wheel. And low and behold as part of the antitheft mechanism when the steering wheel is locked it wont come off until you TURN THE KEY. After doing alot of engine work on my car earlier I know that BMW has lots of horrible cycles of impossibility like this. Most of them there is some way around but I haven't found a way around this one yet.