Door locking question

[switchman]

Can you guys lock your F15 using the inside door lock button before exiting vehicle ?
Using key fob after exit and door shut works but I believe it wasn't this way before. Maybe its always been like this but getting too old and can't remember what it was before.

[Qsilver7]

Yes, if the doors are closed….you should be able to lock the doors from the inside using the central locking button(s).

But if the driver’s door is open…no, you can not lock the vehicle because BMW has an anti-lock out feature…which prevents the driver’s door from locking if it is open.

I’ve been aware of this feature since 1983…when a friend of mine had a 320i….and another had a 525e.

[Tomcat_F15_STL]

There have been hot weather fatalities in BMWs related to their locking schemes.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Tomcat_F15_STL

There have been hot weather fatalities in BMWs related to their locking schemes.

Yeah, back before the 2000 model year…the double locked feature (when you lock the door from the outside with the remote or lock manually using the exterior driver’s door lock cylinder…the car was truly double locked. Meaning the interior AND exterior door handles were deactivated….so if the driver exited the vehicle and locked the car leaving passengers inside…they could not get out of the vehicle until the driver (or someone with a key) returned to the car.

This is great for protecting the car from a thief that would break a window to gain access…because the only way to get into the car would be to crawl through the broken glass due to the interior door handles being deactivated.

When BMW started using interior motion sensors (IMS), this compounded the issue because approx 30 seconds after the driver locking the door from the outside…if passengers (or pets) were left in the car…when they made any movements…the alarm would go off…plus they couldn’t get out of the car.

The 2000 model year brought the first change where there was a procedure for anyone caught in this situation to get out of the car. And in the recent years…BMW has even changed the double pull feature to open the car. See 3rd paragraph in info below where it mentions the change starting with the 2000 model year:

The owners manual STILL warns to never lock people or pets inside the car…but if you do…let the people left in the car use the interior central locking button to secure themselves….or they can manually press the door lock pins on each door. And if leaving a pet in the car, there’s a procedure to deactivate the IMS.

But the issue still remains that many owners don’t read their owners manual or forget these warnings and still end up locking passengers and pets inside the car and not deactivating the IMS.

[switchman]

I asked because I get annoyed sometimes reaching down in my pocket for the key fob to lock the car after exiting. I do remember hitting the inside lock button and doors would lock and get a beep if activated to sound after shutting door.
But now nothing happens when you hit the inside lock button before getting closing door.

[Qsilver7]

Based on your last post…we have to assume you don’t have CA (comfort access)?

If you have CA…there are ridges on your door handle that allows you to LOCK the vehicle by touching the door handle in a specific location (see #2 in the illustration below) as long as you have the remote fob on your person.

And you can UNLOCK the door(s) if you place your hand in the door handle near the capacitive sensor (#4 in the illustration below).