[Bimmerroad]

Because I often find answers here, I will share my experience for this particular models.

Without getting into the specifics why I got myself into this predicament, I will share only the solution. If happened to you, it does not matter if how stupid it might sound how you found yourself in this situation, you need a solution.

As you may know this model does not have a trunk key, nor any obvious way of popping the trunk open manually.

USA model don't have a fold down arm rest for skis like the Europeans.

Failed attempt

I had left the Negative cable hooked and attempted to make a positive connection under the hood. Unknown to me water had gotten in the trunk and my attempt to failed miserably, the wires overheated and started smoking.


Successful attempt: (in the future I will add photos, scroll down at future date)

Lowered the rear seat middle armrest, removed the plastic cover. Behind the plastic cover there was another white plastic, this one can't be removed.

I used a 2" bore drill. If you attempt this, do not use drill bits, A jig saw may work but I recommend a a bore drill, use 3 to 5", 2" is too small. The depth at least 3" to successfully drill the Styrofoam behind it. I made the hole very close to the center, no too high or you might have to drill another hole.

Behind the white plastic there is a very thick Styrofoam insulation, a bore drill works perfectly as it also remove the insulation. It is hard to make a hole through the styrofoam with other methods and it is more likely to damage more than you need.

A bore drill will also make a very neat hole and if you are very anal you can easily plug it back in place with caulk, no need though as it will stay hidden.

Behind the styrofoam there is a sort of carpet lining , it is hard to cut it , in hindsight now I know a very long screw driver or something similar poking the edges on top will force remove the clips and it will drop giving you a view of the trunk.


Even shining a strong flash light is hard to see via 2" hole

The last part for me was the hardest, coming up with a crude device to fish the trunk's emergency release. The release will grow in the dark after you shine the flash light on it for a few minutes.

5" broom stick will do the trick.
Using clothe hanger did not work for me, several failed attempt later I used a much harder wire, bent to make a hook and taped it to the broom stick. do not make the hood to wide open and long , up to 2" better

shining the flashlight through the whole and maneuvering the fishing device ain't very doable. So I taped a very small flash light to the tip of the stick and it did the trick. If your hook is strong enough it will do the trick.


There is damage to the car, but minimum, nothing that you will need to spend money fixing it, unless you want it.

If you are stranded somewhere, it might not be such good solution if you do not have access to tools. but if there is a homedepot near by, it will be cheaper to buy a battery drill and a 3 inches bore + broom stick + duct tape than paying to have it done for you and you can always use the tools, resell or return.


Other potential solution:

Apparently there is a way to send an electrical impulse to the solenoid and pop it open.
Since this info is not widely available and I would spend more time to find and make sense of it, presuming I would had the right tools I did not pay much attention to it.

If you have time go for it and share with the forum.

Good luck

[philipm785]

Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry to hear about the trouble you had.

[wcr3d]

Did you have the winter package? I'm sure that is how you get the pass through armrest.

[Bimmerroad]

Originally Posted by wcr3d

Did you have the winter package? I'm sure that is how you get the pass through armrest.

I presume the winter package allows access to the trunk via armrest.

Mine does not have such thing, it is very obvious once the plastic cover is removed, by the way if you are having the same problem, if you have the same model and year the plastic cover is not attached in anyway, no screws just pull it off. You can remove the armrest, but it is unnecessary, it gets in the way, but just a matter of more comfort to maneuver than an obstacle.

[Qsilver7]

Just to be sure I read the story correctly...did you hook up a power source to the positive and negative jump start terminals ...or just to the positive jump start terminal (because you kept the negative cable attached to the battery)?

I wonder if your positive battery cable was touching something metal? If it was...that could have caused the shortage when you applied power to the engine bay location? And I would have disconnected the negative cable from the battery, too. With the battery safety terminal (BST) still attached to the positive battery cable...connecting to the negative and positive engine bay dedicated terminals...still would have powered the car even without the battery being attached. You would have had true ground (from the engine bay)...and the BST would have still sent power to the car's fuses and power modules (again, using the dedicted terminals in the engine bay. The thing to be careful with is to protect the battery cables with an old sock or rag etc to protect them from contacting a metal surface.

You can see in the diagram below of the e53 X5's positive battery cable run from the engine bay back to the battery beneath the cargo floor...that even when disconnected from the battery, the BST facilitates power still getting to the vehicle's electrical components by-way of the engine bay's positive jump start battery terminal:

[BlackWidow]

Or someone could just lift the bottom bench seat (held by two metal clips) remove the 2 T50 Torx bits securing the top of the rear bench seat and tug with some force to undo the 2 clips, move the seatbelts out the way, and have access to the whole trunk area. Would be a whole lot quicker and no damage done.

[starlights]

Would connecting a jump starter to the car via the terminals or phone charger port activate the electronics to enable opening trunk? I have always wondered about it....

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by starlights

Would connecting a jump starter to the car via the terminals or phone charger port activate the electronics to enable opening trunk? I have always wondered about it....

To the terminals in the engin bay, yes...but BMW recommends NOT to use the cig/lighter sockets for powering the car due to the IBS (intelligent battery sensor). See the 2nd NOTE at the top of the info below:

[Bimmerroad]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Just to be sure I read the story correctly...did you hook up a power source to the positive and negative jump start terminals ...or just to the positive jump start terminal (because you kept the negative cable attached to the battery)?

I wonder if your positive battery cable was touching something metal? If it was...that could have caused the shortage when you applied power to the engine bay location? And I would have disconnected the negative cable from the battery, too. With the battery safety terminal (BST) still attached to the positive battery cable...connecting to the negative and positive engine bay dedicated terminals...still would have powered the car even without the battery being attached. You would have had true ground (from the engine bay)...and the BST would have still sent power to the car's fuses and power modules (again, using the dedicted terminals in the engine bay. The thing to be careful with is to protect the battery cables with an old sock or rag etc to protect them from contacting a metal surface.

You can see in the diagram below of the e53 X5's positive battery cable run from the engine bay back to the battery beneath the cargo floor...that even when disconnected from the battery, the BST facilitates power still getting to the vehicle's electrical components by-way of the engine bay's positive jump start battery terminal:

Thank you for your input.

You raise a good point, which I should had considered it, but blanked. There is no evidence that the negative was touching anything, but it is possible, also noticed little water in the trunk which could had caused problems.

Although if I had disconnected the battery to its entirety....it seems to me that the battery distribute the charges everywhere and the cable in the engine bay only runs single to the battery point A to B no splice, am I wrong? I am under the impression that direct charge from the cable in the engine bay to elsewhere would not be properly regulated if it were also to feed other components(????)

I have not gotten to the part of tracing the short yet, I can't connect the battery now because it shorts badly to the point of melting the terminal.

I am just wondering what kind of damage shortening the battery when attempting to connect it could have caused elsewhere, any wild guess anyone?

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Bimmerroad

I am under the impression that direct charge from the cable in the engine bay to elsewhere would not be properly regulated if it were also to feed other components(????)

This is the reason for the BST (battery safety terminal). In the event of an accident...there is an explosive charge in the BST that will disconnect the positive cable from the battery all the way up to the engine bay...but the fuses and important control modules remain powered so that the interior lights come on and door locks are powered to help passengers to be able to evacuate or be rescued from the interior.

So if the BST is intact...even if it is removed from the battery's positive post...the positive jump start terminal in the engine bay is still connected to everything that the positive battery cable is connected to.

[Bimmerroad]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

This is the reason for the BST (battery safety terminal). In the event of an accident...there is an explosive charge in the BST that will disconnect the positive cable from the battery all the way up to the engine bay...but the fuses and important control modules remain powered so that the interior lights come on and door locks are powered to help passengers to be able to evacuate or be rescued from the interior.

So if the BST is intact...even if it is removed from the battery's positive post...the positive jump start terminal in the engine bay is still connected to everything that the positive battery cable is connected to.

Nice!

Very little experience and knowledge of vehicle's electrical system. It may sound basic to many, yet I was clueless.

Thanks for taking the time to educate others.

[Qsilver7]

[starlights]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

To the terminals in the engin bay, yes...but BMW recommends NOT to use the cig/lighter sockets for powering the car due to the IBS (intelligent battery sensor). See the 2nd NOTE at the top of the info below:

Not even to momentarily pop open the trunk? I thought thats what he wanted to do as an emergency measure. By your response I am assuming cig socket "could" work but shouldn't be utilized...

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by starlights

Not even to momentarily pop open the trunk? I thought thats what he wanted to do as an emergency measure. By your response I am assuming cig socket "could" work but shouldn't be utilized...

I've learned (by trial & error) over the decades...when desiminating information...try to post it so that those with the least amount of skill, ability, or understanding...will NOT do something that can cause further issues or damage.

From the wording in your quote above...it appears that you picked up on a nuance that could work for someone that is using reasonable intelligence in discerning what the warning BMW is giving about using the engine bay jump start terminals and 12 volt sockets.

Trust me, if we just blurted out that you can go ahead and use the 12 volt socket ...someone is going to totally miss that you wrote "momentarily" and will use their jump-pack battery charger that only has a 12 volt charging socket (and nothing with alligator clips that would attach to the engine bay terminals)...will end up trying to charge their BMW using the 12 volt terminals and either end up with a battery still dead (because the 12 volt sockets shut down due to their time limit of being powered)...or would charge the battery...and the IBS tracking of the battery's voltage would be skipped...then when the car is powered the IBS freaks out and starts sending check control messages. Then the owner freaks out and comes back to the forum trying to figure out what happened...never revealing (unless pressed with lots of questions) that they used one of the 12 volt sockets or hooked directly to the battery while it was still hooked up to the IBS.

[starlights]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

I've learned (by trial & error) over the decades...when desiminating information...try to post it so that those with the least amount of skill, ability, or understanding...will NOT do something that can cause further issues or damage.

Gotcha! Makes total sense

[Poochie]

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