I have a 2001 S4 Avant and the rear door/hatch will not open! I have tried using the button on the driver's door, the button on the key, and actually using the key itself. All three methods produce the same result: the rear door makes an electric motor/mechanical noise as usual, but the door will not release. All other automatic lock are working fine. I cannot find any information about a mechanical override in the owners manual and do not want to have to pay service fees if I don't absolutely have to. Needless to say, the utility of the car is severly hampered with no rear hatch access. Can any of you fine members out there help me out?

Thanks! Scott

 

prybar

 

So you are saying that the handle dose not work right, Well if so i have some good news and some bad news. The good is that i had to do this to a allroad the yesterday. The bad news it that i knew what i was doing and i took allmost 2 hours. I went to the inside of the car and took the rear inside panle off of the tailgate. The you haft look at the handle, there should be rods going to it, also that thing that you hear moving is a little motor that releses the lock on the handle and opens it. Hit it once and see if you can see it working, and see if you can see what is not letting everything relese, on the allroad that i was messing with, it was really hard to get a grip on the rods to relese the latch. But good luck.

 

Ted:

Thanks so much for the advice. There was a day when I knew my way around a BMW 2002 and could say I knew what i was doing, but you can probably guess that was some time ago!! I will investigte cautiously remembering it's always easier to take stuff apart than put it back together (after reassembly phrase--"I wonder where this nut belongs?")

Scott

 

OK, here's how it went. I fixed it. Thanks, Ted for the inspiration!! It took me about two hours, but I think it must be simpler on an S$ than an Allroad. . First, remove the small phillips head bolt directly above the interior door handle. If your rear lid is jammed, this involves climbing in to the rear cargo area via the rear side doors. My camping LED headlamp was a lighting savior. After that, pop off the rear panel. It requires some muscle, but, other than the one bolt you removed, it's all body clips that pop out. Once the cover was off, I could see the way the motor actuated the mechanism. Unfortunately for me, The motor worked fine, but still the lock would not disengage. So I disconnected the two rods attached to the lock mechanism. One rod is attached to the outer door handle and the other is attached to the motor that actually seems to pull the mechanism. With both rods disconnected, I manuall pulled on the mechanism with no result. It was still stuck. So, I had to disconnect the whole mechanism from the rear hatch. This involves removing the two 13mm nuts that hold the mechnis to the rear hatch. Be sure to disconnect the electrical attachment, too (it.s a bit hidden behind stuff. After some cajoling the rear hatch popped up. The mechism was still firmly attached and wouldn't budge. So then I removed the metal skid plate attached to black plastic trim piece that forms the bottom of the door sill. There are two bolts (allen wrench required) on the far sides of that plastic and metal piece. Once I unscrewed those, it took some strength to pop tgat piece off (held by two body clips). Once that piece was off, I wiggled the lock mechanism around and it disengaged. I think a stone/pebble had wedged in there. Once that dropped out (I never found it as there are lots of pebbles on the floors of most Colorado garages in winter--mine included) the mechanism worked perfectly. Reassemble and--presto--good as new. Hope this helps if you have a similar problem.

Scott