Car locked itself. Just took possession of a 2003 4.2 and it came with only one key (remote). Car in my home garage yesterday with key in my pocket. Entered garage and saw the red button lights flashing. Figured I must have accidently locked the car. Unlocked with remote then left key in ignition (habit when car is in locked garage, been doing it with my 2001 A6 Avant for years). Went to garage this am and red lights now flashing and car is locked tight with only key in ignition. New car does have On Star but not activated. Now what?
Manual says external electronics can affect the remote system. Apparently there is a gremlin in my neighborhood.

 

AAA... Then leave the window down on the car when it is in the garage with the key in the ignition.

 

Bend a coat hanger, snake it in and hit the unlock button on the door. Or, call a tow truck who has a kit who will do the same thing with a $100 set of tools.

Then, get a valet key made and store that in your tool box.

And don't lose that one key or it will be $300 for a new one!!!

Good luck,

Bob

 

I have a theory.... if you unlock your car via the remote and do not open any door withing 30s-1m it will assume you accidentally unlocked the car and re-lock the car. Which in my opinion is a nice feature, I've accidentally unlocked my work sienna walking into a store only to find I left the van unlocked for hours. Anyways, back to my theory. If you had a bad or flaky drivers door latch senor (very common), when you unlocked the car with the remote, opened the door (the car didn't know you opened the door) and placed the keys in the ignition, 30s-1m later it locked itself.

So I think you might have a bad door latch sensor, or one going bad. You might be able to take your title to the dealer and have them make you a valet key. We've done that on many of our 3 series as Tony loves locking his only key in the car.

Good luck.

 

Thanks Jeffla, I think you hit the nail.
I have only had the car for 2 days and realized yesterday that the door sensor is faulty. Interior lights do not come on when I open door. When I open door with engine running or key in ignition I do not get the warning bell as with my 2001 Avant. Also, when I close the door and drive off I get no light/bell telling me to fasten seat belt (frankly I like that!).
Now, to replace the sensor which I understand is a bear of a job (after I get in the car, locksmith coming later today and calling the dealer now).

 

Problem solved for now. Locksmith came to house and opened door ($80).
I am certain I need to replace the sensor mechanism in driver door. I tested as follows: locked with remote, unlocked, opened driver door, closed it, waited about a minute and car locked itself. Repeated same test using passenger door and it remained unlocked.
I have seen various fixes posted but I want to replace the mechanism. I can do the labor but am uncertain exactly what part I need to buy. What component contains the door open/close sensor?

 

check out this writeup, it's what I followed. It's pretty easy, we just bought a used door latch and replaced it instead of tearing it apart and fixing it.

Good luck

 

What write up? Don't see a a link. Can I find a latch new or used online?
Thanks again.

 

Guess I should include the link huh...http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=15013077


I bought a used one for $75.00 I think, it's been 5 years or so and my memory is not the greatest. I think the dealer wanted 150.00 but again, my memory is pathetic.

A foot of snow is predicted for MPLS today...yay quattro fun.