Sounds like the neutral safety switch might be going bad....

Regards,
Bob

 

Thanks Fast Bob,

Excuse my ignorance - but what does the neutral safety switch do? And, is this going to be an expensive fix?

I have a pretty good indy mechanic I use, so I'll probably take the car in in the next day or so.

 

The switch was originally designed as a safety feature to prevent starting the car in gear.... now it`s one component in a system with multiple interlocks (yet another byproduct of our litigation-prone society). The switch itself could be faulty, or possibly the linkage is out of adjustment, causing the gear selector to not fully engage the PARK position, as stated by another poster.

Regards,
Bob

 

Well.. I don't know if this is the same problem or not, but when I had my 2001 325xi it wouldn't let me take the key out sometimes. However, my problem was that I wouldn't put it into park all the way (automatic obviously). Is the 'park' light illuminating when you put it in?

 

hi, i had the same problem not too long ago! with mine it was not engaging park properly. when i investigated i found a coin had fallen through the ashtray ( the actual ashtray bit is missing ) and was causing this! it had also damaged a small clip/plug type thing which was causing a light (like a small amber cog) where it says P,R,N,D..i removed the coin and replaced the plug and all is fine! hope this helps. p.s. remove the gear gaiter and you have enough acess to see if this is the problem!

 

hi, i had the same problem not too long ago! with mine it was not engaging park properly. when i investigated i found a coin had fallen through the ashtray ( the actual ashtray bit is missing ) and was causing this! it had also damaged a small clip/plug type thing which was causing a light (like a small amber cog) where it says P,R,N,D..i removed the coin and replaced the plug and all is fine! hope this helps. p.s. remove the gear gaiter and you have enough access to see if this is the problem!

I had the same problem and I couldnt take the key out so I decided to push hard to get "P"engaged and it did! the problem is that now I have the GEAR LIGHT ON!!!

The gears swift fine and everything seems to be ok, you mentioned "it had also damaged a small clip/plug type thing which was causing a light (like a small amber cog) where it says P,R,N,D..i" where can I buy that clip??? Is it an easy to do repair?

THANK YOU SO MUCH, I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE MY CAR because I dont want to damage the transmision.

 

Key Ignition Stock

Hello BMW team

I had the same problem with the key stock in the ignition and the problem was a penny coin stock between the shifter(Parking) and cable switch under the center console below the ashtrey hole. I remove the coin and problem resolve.

See you later my BMW People

 

I had this problem Saturday! I eventually though pressed hard on the brake and turned the key and it unlocked. Didn't have any coins causing any trouble like others. Sure had me worried.

 

I think the park interlock cable is out of adjustment. Try giving the lever a good shove forward after it's already in P. Then try to turn the key the rest of the way back and pull it out of the slot.

Post back and let us know what happens.

 

I think the park interlock cable is out of adjustment. Try giving the lever a good shove forward after it's already in P. Then try to turn the key the rest of the way back and pull it out of the slot.

Post back and let us know what happens.

Not sure anyone will return to this old thread but...
My key has been stuck in the ignition (2003 330xi a/t). I read all the suggestions here, hoping I would find a coin stuck inside. Instead, I found that the lever at the base of the shifter (after lifting the gear shift casing), the "Park Interlock Cable (?)," when pushed down would release the key. The problem is that this happens every time and I have to remove the shift casing and push down the lever every time I leave the car. Is there an easy way to resolve this problem? Does the lever need to be replaced or does the entire shift area need to be replaced? Or is there an easy way to keep the lever down? Thanks!

 

Another reason for Key stuck in ignition

Just got it fixed under new car warranty. The plastic rectangular key has a small metallic BMW emblem glued on to it. Every one knows that plastic metal glued stuff will come off eventually. The metallic piece fell off into the big rectangular hole where the big plastic key goes. Then the key will not come out. Such problems do not occur in ordinary metallic keys in regular small key holes. This is a design flaw.

 

Just got it fixed under new car warranty. The plastic rectangular key has a small metallic BMW emblem glued on to it. Every one knows that plastic metal glued stuff will come off eventually. The metallic piece fell off into the big rectangular hole where the big plastic key goes. Then the key will not come out. Such problems do not occur in ordinary metallic keys in regular small key holes. This is a design flaw.

Sounds like you must have an E90 or other recent BMW vehicle. The E46s had conventional cut ignition keys.

 

Key Stuck

OMG, I want to thank you all for your information. I was looking for any information I could find on how to get the key out of the ignition on my BMW 330 CI. My key would not come out of the ignition. I would have to put the car in park, turn off the key and then push the knob more into the Park position. I thought the coin blog would be to easy. I went outside, removed the ashtray and low and behold, there is a quarter in there. I was so excited. The key now comes out without and issues. Thanks again for your information.

 

OMG, I want to thank you all for your information. I was looking for any information I could find on how to get the key out of the ignition on my BMW 330 CI. My key would not come out of the ignition. I would have to put the car in park, turn off the key and then push the knob more into the Park position. I thought the coin blog would be to easy. I went outside, removed the ashtray and low and behold, there is a quarter in there. I was so excited. The key now comes out without and issues. Thanks again for your information.

LOL....this happed to my daughter yesterday in her 2000 328i. Key would not come out. She came home and told me so I went right to the site and did a search. Sure enough...it was a nickel that had fallen in there through the ashtray and we keeping the car from properly going into park and releasing the key! Thanks to the info on this forum, I knew exactly what to look for.

I love this site!

 

I tried pulling out the coin but i think i got it stuck somewhere underneath the shift console, any suggestions???

 

Where specifically was the coin lodged before you tried to dislodge it. Also what type of coin (quarter, dime, etc) was it. Does your inital problem still exist?

 

HI, i'm from Peru and have the same trouble, key stuck at ignition, all in the car works fine, but something strange..... when i make a shift (R or D) both lights turns on, yes! both of them, and the car goes in reverse or forward as usual. I'll try to search a coin or something under the shift.

 

When this happened to me it was a much simpler problem; the key blade was physically bent, so it took a lot of force to get out of the ignition. I took a pair of pliers, bent it back, and it's been working fine for almost 2 years now. I do have a manual transmission though, so I knew there's no key lock.

 

HI Guys, I have been looking around for 2 weeks trying to find the NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH, or the SMALL CLIP PLUG so I can replace it and I can find the part! PLEASE HELP! The grears are fine but the GEAR WARNING LIGHT DOES NOT TURN OFF.

THANKS A LOT.

 

I recently had the same problem. Searching the World wide web, I chance by this forum. True enough, when i removed the gear shift casing, there was a coin stuck there.

Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to davehayes2204 and Huguin for penning the solution. U guys have been a big help.

Cheers

 

This is truly one of those immortal threads. And as I've said more than once, after seeing it reappear every so often, I have inspected, pored over and meditated on the Bimmer's console and have yet to figure how you guys manage to get a coin in there. Unless mine came with a special deluxe coinproof console OR all your shifter boots are very completely and seriously fukked up, I have yet to find a way how the damn coin finds ITS way into the shifter..... :dunno:

Edit: of course, not having rugrats loose in the car, not ever and not in the forseeable future, may explain the cause and effect....

 

It happened to me. I discovered the culprit this morning. A nickel was preventing the shifter from going fully into park, thus not allowing the key to be released from the ignition. If you pull out the little compartment immediately in front of the shifter, theres a hole below the part that comes out. I guess coins somehow find their way between the part that comes out and the actual place where it sits, and falls inside the hole into the shifter compartment. The nickel was in an obvious spot for this to have happened.

 

Gear selector cable

Hi guys, I couldn't find the clip so I bought the whole gear selector but I don't know how to remove the gear selector cable from the transmission or even where is it located? I found on the transmission swap post how to remove the whole think from inside of the cabin but not the cable.

Thanks for your advise guys

 

Hi guys, I couldn't find the clip so I bought the whole gear selector but I don't know how to remove the gear selector cable from the transmission or even where is it located? I found on the transmission swap post how to remove the whole think from inside of the cabin but not the cable.

Thanks for your advise guys

I'm not exactly sure what's going on with your situation, but have you gotten the code read(OBDII scanner at least, BMW specific if possible)? I have three pedals so I'm not exactly sure what else could trigger it. Get the code read so you have a better idea of the cause of the issue. As for the part, check out www.realoem.com and see what you can find there.

 

Key stuck in position between start and off

I took the center console apart and checked everything but discovered nothing out of order except the flimsy ash tray being what it is. Checking the fuses proved to be futile. I decided to pull the negative battery terminal for a few minutes and that worked. The ignition released and I cleaned the lock & key with electrical cleaner just to be on the safe side. I discovered that the steering column does not lock reliably 100% of the time and has to be assisted by pressing the key hole. That may be the problem but not for sure. Hope this helps someone. :dunno:

 

I want to thank you for posting, I had a coin stuck as well, and was able to get the key un-stuck. I never would have figured this out without your posts.

 

thanks MMC2100 & VAVET5308. After a short drive the key for my 2001 BMW z3 became stuck in the ignition. after reading the post by these two fellows, I tried shifting through P, R, N, D...(I did not turn on the car) the gears and pushing a bit hard into the park position. It worked! the key came out.

 

The issue continues

Thanks to all for posting possible causes and fixes. This morning, my key stuck for the first time while pulling in to work parking lot. Fortunately, it is a small town, low traffic area, so I was ok with parking and leaving key in ignition until I could get over to my mechanic. But just doing some research on this great forum, I found this thread. I went back down to the car and pushed a little extra on the brake pedal and pushed the gear a little harder into Park, and problem solved. Key slid right out. Thank you for the tips. Saved me some $$ and I picked up some knowledge. Love this forum and love my bimmer. 2000 740il, black on black, 150k and going strong.

 

Had my spare phone battery lodged against the gear lever, although the P light was engaged, the key would not release.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

Key stuck issue solved for free!!!

This thread was EXTREMELY helpful. I had same issue key wasnt coming out I heard something shift when I put it in park and could tell it wasnt registering as parked. It did it again over and over but it wasnt working out so well so I popped off the shifter top plate to look for potential stuck coins and BEHOLD a wire harness was nestled in a peculiar place. It was getting in the way so I gently moved it to the side out of the shifter gear area and BOOM problem SOLVED the key came right out. Really appreciate this forum. Just got my first BMW 330I yesterday 2004 with 119k miles it looks new was certainly cared for and garaged etc. Really happy with it. The style, feel and way it drives (especially on turns) is most definitely something to appreciate. Hope everyone is having a great day!