How do you open the trunk?...without using key?

Ok

My girlfriend owns a 2002 325i, that she bought used. I searched and noticed that she doesnt have a trunk release on the inside of her car. I researched online and it seems this is common.

So how the hell are you supposed to open the trunk?

The only way we are able to open it is using the the key fob button.

And to use the key fob button i have to release it from the ignition for it to work.

I tried tapping the unlock button on the center column, but that doesnt work.

Is something wrong?
As if it wasnt annoying enough that there is no trunk release button, but to turn off the car just to open the damn trunk!! huh?

Can the trunk release button be added?

Thanks!

There is a trunk release button on the lower left side of the driver's footwell, just above the hood release handle.

Is the key lock turned 90 degrees on the trunk (don't remember which direction). One of them disables the microswitch where you lift the trunk lid.

Actually there isnt one,just a blank space.

as i said i knew about that button, and how some cars didnt get it.

Does anyone know if i can add this switch?

Is it pre-wired still...even if you dont have the switch

now the problem is (and this is actually common)

what if my GF drives up, has something in the trunk, wants to pop the trunk lid...without having to turn the car off or get out and use the key? Seems simple enough. right?

My very first car a 1981 Datsun hatchback even had a trunk release..why the fuss on a Bimmer? And whats up with the random placement of who gets and who doesnt get the trunk release button?

Originally posted by sltahoe
Actually there isnt one,just a blank space.

as i said i knew about that button, and how some cars didnt get it.

Does anyone know if i can add this switch?

Is it pre-wired still...even if you dont have the switch

now the problem is (and this is actually common)

what if my GF drives up, has something in the trunk, wants to pop the trunk lid...without having to turn the car off or get out and use the key? Seems simple enough. right?

My very first car a 1981 Datsun hatchback even had a trunk release..why the fuss on a Bimmer? And whats up with the random placement of who gets and who doesnt get the trunk release button?

Everyone is talking about the switch on the rear trunk. Directly below the BMW roundel on the rear trunklid, on the underside of the black trim strip, is a release. Apply pressure to it and the trunk will open, unless the trunk lid is locked out with the key.

Originally posted by RKT BMR
There is a trunk release button on the lower left side of the driver's footwell, just above the hood release handle.

Not on 325 sedans. I believe all other bodies and 330 sedans have it (do 325 PP have it?). My stripper 325 wagon has it.

sltahoe is right; it's lame for certain models to not have it, but it's typical BMW deconten. And MY 81 Datsun sedan had a trunk AND gas release.

no such thing in the Mystery Machine either...

to answer the question...hit the central locking button(that should unlock the doors/trunk/gas cap cover). hit the 'microswitch' above the license plate..whatever u call that thing and voila trunk opens. ya..so it's not automatic but it gets the job done without having to use the key.

Originally posted by RKT BMR
There is a trunk release button on the lower left side of the driver's footwell, just above the hood release handle.

Learn something new every day...

Frankly, I'm shocked. Shocked, I say! This has got to be the most weenie "leave-out" I've heard yet by the designers/marketers at BMW. Must have been swilling some major brew at Octoberfest when they came up with this idiotic idea.

My preferred method is to place my hand under the trunk handle and lift in an upward motion, thus opening the trunk. How do the rest of you do it?

Or am I missing something here?

Originally posted by sltahoe
what if my GF drives up, has something in the trunk, wants to pop the trunk lid...without having to turn the car off or get out and use the key? Seems simple enough. right?

2 years with my car and I never used that button.
In your scenario above, what's wrong with just pushing the trunk release button in the key while the engine is on?

My '02 325Xi has a trunk release button in the left side of the driver footwell. I don't think I have ever used it though, either I press the trunk release on the key fob (which can be done when the key is in the ignition) which has the effect of actually opening the trunk, or, I press the master lock/unlock switch on the centre console which unlocks all doors and the trunk and then press on the "strip" on top of the license plate on the trunk and it opens.

Ok ok ok I have a 2002 325i and THERE IS A trunk release button in the footwell on the left side.Use it all the time

Trunk release mysteries...

The only car to NOT have the trunk release button is the SEDAN 323/325 without premium package. Coupes, 328/330s, and wagons all have it.

Having said that, when the lock on the trunk is turned to horizontal, the remove release button will not open the trunk. Also the key fob does not work when the engine is running. If you unlock the trunk (key hole verticle), you can unlock the door by pressing the central lock button then it'll allow you to use the trunk release button underneath the trunk handle itself to open the trunk.

Or you can just insert the key in the lock cylinder on the trunk to open it.

ahhh thank you

but i think im going to investigate and see if that little panel where the trunk release button should be....is just covering the wire harness....

if so i'll see if i can add that stupid button.


Anyone try this before?

Originally posted by The HACK
Trunk release mysteries...

The only car to NOT have the trunk release button is the SEDAN 323/325 without premium package. Coupes, 328/330s, and wagons all have it.

Having said that, when the lock on the trunk is turned to horizontal, the remove release button will not open the trunk. Also the key fob does not work when the engine is running. If you unlock the trunk (key hole verticle), you can unlock the door by pressing the central lock button then it'll allow you to use the trunk release button underneath the trunk handle itself to open the trunk.

Or you can just insert the key in the lock cylinder on the trunk to open it.

Again it continues....My 325i is NON Premium Package...and it still has a trunk release button.

Originally posted by sltahoe


ahhh thank you

but i think im going to investigate and see if that little panel where the trunk release button should be....is just covering the wire harness....

if so i'll see if i can add that stupid button.


Anyone try this before?

I wouldn't be surprised if you found an unused wire there.
It's actually cheaper than to have different part numbers and all the complexities of keeping track of during assembly.
I also wouldn't be surprised to learn that the function is disabled through some computer setting. After all, BMW engineers can't be that stupid. If you could add a $1 button in there, why would they increase complexity to save $0.20 (that's what a button would cost them) but loose one item in the standard feature list?

I was actually GLAD not to have the trunk release. I had a car broken into and had a GPS unit, Digital Camera and some files stolen because the thieves broke into the car, popped open the trunk and we came back to an empty car.

(It was actually kind of funny, as it was on a business trip to Marseille, and my colleague was convinced I had pulled some kind of practical joke on him. He climbed into the trunk, looking around for where I might have hidden the stuff on him. Looking back on it now, it's funny....)

The lack of trunk release, and lack of foldable seats, and turning the lock gives me some sense of security that stuff I put in the truck will be there when I get back.

...when the lock on the trunk is turned to horizontal, the remove release button will not open the trunk.

Hmm... okay.... here's what I know about my particular case:

- trunk release button in the footwell (works all the time)
- trunk release button on the key (works all the time)
- trunk release button on the trunk lid (makes me confused )

Here's what I can't figure out....

I've been able to open the trunk from the trunk lid button before... but there seems to be certain conditions that will not work... as if there is a timeout for that button or something. My trunk key slot is always in the vertical position... and after I pop the trunk, if I lift the trunk lid and hit the button while lifing, I can hear it working to release the trunk latch (useless at this point because I've already popped the trunk )

Sometimes I'll get out of the car, and the trunk will open by lifting the trunklid while hitting that switch. Other times it won't and I have to fumble for my key and hit the trunk release on that....

Anyone know when the button is active and when it's not? Maybe I just happen to miss a timing window when the button is active before it times out?

Originally posted by doeboy
[B]Hmm... okay.... here's what I know about my particular case:

- trunk release button in the footwell (works all the time)
- trunk release button on the key (works all the time)
- trunk release button on the trunk lid (makes me confused )

Here's what I can't figure out....

I've been able to open the trunk from the trunk lid button before...

the doors have to be unlocked for the trunk release on the trunklid to work.

Originally posted by doeboy
Anyone know when the button is active and when it's not? Maybe I just happen to miss a timing window when the button is active before it times out?

I think if the car is on and doors are locked, so is that button. Wouldn't want anyone crawling in your trunk at a stoplight, you know.

As for the "works when the car is on" crowd vs the "doesn't work when the car is on" crowd, programmable? Does it have something to do with the parking brake? I assume both types of transmissions are on each side of the debate, but Park vs. no Park?

Originally posted by brewthunda
My preferred method is to place my hand under the trunk handle and lift in an upward motion, thus opening the trunk.

This seems like the easiest solution, but it might be too easy.

Originally posted by ronrich
the doors have to be unlocked for the trunk release on the trunklid to work.

yeah, think of it this way... treat it just like a door. central lock controls whether you can open it or not, just like the gas filler door.

i've never really found it to be inconvenient or given it any thought.

Originally posted by JetBlack330i

"remove" --> "remote"

I think he's saying that if you've locked the trunk via the key, pressing the remote release button isn't going to unlock the trunk and open it.

At least that's the way I read it, not having one to try.

by using the valet key to lock your trunk from the outside this disables both the inside trunk release button in the car AND the pad outside....seperateing it from the central locking system.....IT ALL WORKS like it is supposed to for every scenerio