Complicated Position, Trunk/Shocks

[Xstyle]

Hello, My name is Adam. I am 23.

I have some questions that elude answering.

I own a 325I 1994 4 door, I'd like to say, Not buying from the dealership "&"or not becoming more informed put me in the situation. And the aggressiveness I drive with.

Right now my trunk will not unlock. My primary key does not turn in it, "It does make a clicking sound, but does not move far clockwise, Maybe 1/2-2/3 inch.

My Primary key works on both doors, and the glove box. I am still uncertain if I have the Master Key, Or. If it was a copy of the master. "idea is, copy might not be recognized by the trunk."

My shocks have wore down to clattering, pothole dodging problematic handling concerns.

I saw a posting about the wiring going into the trunk becoming frayed and touching, I am having tail light failure, and other small electrical oddity's. I also am unsure how the double locking feature works. Could this be applied and I am failing to turn it off?

I can not replace the shocks without opening the trunk. I am horribly low on cash, But my Grandfather said he would assist me. "the dealer ship is a bit of rape with class"
The bulk of this repair is not my cash, So i will use the value of all information about this.

I have contemplated destroying the trunk lock. "Grandpa suggested he help, That destroying the lock is not the answer." Today I'm going to talk to my dude at the Stewart Rd, Bmw store. If he is able to talk.

I have thought of contacting a lock smith and seeing if he can open the trunk, Maybe disable the lock.

Getting to the shocks, and fixing them is priority 1.

Any information is "Right now, Thank you"

-Adam

[All2kool]

If you possess a key that opens the Glove Box, it should work on the Trunk. If it does not, someone has likely tried breaking into the trunk. The 'Master' key you speak of has a groove in it, the 'Valet' key does not. The noise you believe to be the Shocks is likely the Rear Shock Mounts; $25 in parts to replace, a hour of your time, a few basic tools. And yes, I realize you need to get into the trunk to remove the Shocks; do you have fold down rear seats? I don't know if BMW designed in a way to open the trunk from inside the trunk or not...

[Xstyle]

Seats do not fold down. I did remove the back seat, There is tempered metal behind the seats. No kick plate.

I'm thinking your correct about the trunk being tampered with, The question now is how to i disarm/disable a locked trunk, Lock.

[Xstyle]

I made an appointment for the Bmw store tomorrow at 3 pm. I will post on here the result of my solution to this problem.
Hopefully I can save someone else the cash I'm about to burn.

[jasonf860]

Unscrew the lights over the rear plate, pop out the lights. Fish a coat hanger down in there and unlock the trunk lid. Simple.

[Xstyle]

Can you give me a feel around, Of what I'm trying to snag on to with the coat hanger.
I'm going to try this as soon as I wake up tomorrow.

[All2kool]

I saw a posting about the wiring going into the trunk becoming frayed and touching, I am having tail light failure, and other small electrical oddity's. I also am unsure how the double locking feature works. Could this be applied and I am failing to turn it off?

Your Tail Light failure is likely bulb related. Once you're in the Trunk, access to and changing of bulbs is quite simple (A+ for German engineering here). And I've never been completely clear myself on the 'unique' locking properties of the E36. I wish the Trunk Lock was Locked/Unlocked when the Doors are Locked/Unlocked, but I can't figure out how to make that happen. Seems the Trunk locks with the key or you can leave your Trunk unlocked, even if you lock the doors.

[Xstyle]

"Current Progress" "Dealers Info synchronized"
I did not know, the trunk button is supposed to be pushed out always.
I am removing the hand grip plate about the license, Using some Bp I'm going to try and Unsiege the Tumbler. "If this is the problem that will be the solution"
If this fails me, I will drill the locking system with the tumbler as point of entry.

I was told the trunk is weighted. A bit. So I will test the drivablity of the trunk unsecure. "I just want to know"
Then I'm going to use the DIY I found on these forums. Links in the next posting.

-"Thank You" to everyone helpin
-Adam

[Xstyle]

I drilled the lock, Looking for good pricing on shocks/Labor. I really want to get this done before 3pm tomorrow. (best of luck to me)
p.s. How do i post pictures?

[All2kool]

Replacing the Rear Shocks or Rear Shock Mounts really is a DIY job. It actually will take longer to remove the trunk panels than it will to remove and reinstall the Shocks. Don't pay anyone to do this rather easy job that you can do yourself. It's a 90 minute job, tops.

[Xstyle]

http://www.bavauto.com/shop.asp
Shocks.
This shock looks smaller than my factory shock.

http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_techtip/techtips/rear_shock_mounts.htm
Mounting Bracket I found.

So.. Is this all I need. Will this combination of parts work together?

[Xstyle]

http://home.earthlink.net/~frankie66/cars/diy/E36_rearshockmounts.html

This DIY shocks some nice close up's.
The only thing Im uncertain about, If the parts im purchasing is all I need,

[All2kool]

http://home.earthlink.net/~frankie66/cars/diy/E36_rearshockmounts.html

This DIY shocks some nice close up's.
The only thing Im uncertain about, If the parts im purchasing is all I need,

The parts shown in the link is what you need to replace the RSM's. Of course, doing so requires removal of the Shock itself so replacing the Shocks at this time will add but a few minutes to the job.