bmwrt

My driver's door is acting up on me. Sometimes it takes three to four times before they stayed completly shut. Its almost like when you are closing the door and the seatbelt is hangging outside. Could my door lock be worn? Is this a common problem?
Thanks,

finiki

It has been reported here several times. My 1993 90S had the same issue. A spray lubricant may help (it did mine). Option B is a new latch, which being German, is not cheap.

neverfollow410

bmwrt,I am having the same problem. It occurs maybe four to five times a week, however thats only because I've aquired the touch that can avoid it 90% of the time. It can happen just about everytime if you slam the door hard. If I close the door lightly it rarely happens. Its just an annoying flaw for me right now because when it first started, i went in walmart and ito didn't lock. The end result was a stolen 120 gb ipod classic with alot of man hours put into it. I didnt care so much about the ipod, what got me was all the hard work and frustration I put into it, it had dam near 75 gigs of audio on it.

I will check it out when i get a free moment and keep you posted if I find a solution. good luck!

bmwrt

Thanks,

MikeNov

I think the issue is happening because sometimes the door flies open in the wind, and it is moving the door slightly. Having the door reset would fix it.
See if the gaps on driver and passenger sides are the same.

Kneale Brownson

Check alignment of the adjustable post on the door jamb with the latch opening in the door. I've had that assembly move slightly, causing the door to not latch.

kevin13shaw

I was having the same problem. Repeated use of WD40 and worked the latch with a screw driver until movement became smooth. It seems that "Gunk" accumulate within the mechanism, and the WD40 will flush it out.
Then put 3 & 1 Oil on the moving parts. This fix has stood up since Sept. (5 Months)

djtnut

I wish I had seen this thread exactly 4 days ago. I have had this nuisance problem for at least two winters. I say winters, because the latch seems fine in warmer weather. But when it's cold, the latch doesn't always work and the door is open a crack. Like the original poster, over time, I have learned how to close it with just the right touch. Very few other people were able to close the door.

This summer, I purchased a used latch from an online salvage company. I think I paid $75 for the used latch. But I hadn't gotten around to bringing it to a shop to put it in for me, until this past Thursday. The shop put the latch in on Thursday and I picked it up on Thursday night. I parked the car, got out, hit the key FOB to lock the car and the windows all went down. Ugh. I put my key in the door and turned the key and held it to lock the car and put the windows up, nothing happened. It didn't even lock. Since I was running late to meet some coworkers for a team dinner, I got in the car, turned on the ignition and went to close the windows from the driver's seat. When I pulled up on the two switches for the drivers and shotgun windows, the whole switch assembly came out in my hand. Ugh again. I was able to hold the switch assembly with one hand while pulling up each of the window control switches to close the windows. Unfortunately, I have an unrelated issue with the window regulator on the passenger side rear door, so that window requires manual intervention to go back up. So I got out, went around and closed that one.

Ever since this shop replaced my latch on Thursday, the windows go down at random times and I have to repeat the process above. I brought the car back to that shop this morning. They just called me and informed me that the lock cylinder is also broken. This also reminded me that when I start driving, the feature that locks all my doors has been acting up for a while too. When I'm in traffic or stop at a red light and then start going again, the car often thumps the door locks as if they're not all locked.

Maybe this is also somehow related, but the drivers side rear door lock has not worked with the central locking system in a few years. I have to lock it by pushing down on the button and unlock it by opening the rear door.

Fingers crossed these guys are able to figure most of it out.

Does anyone know if there's anything mechanical that makes all the windows go down?

2003 Allroad 2.7T 6 speed

PaperToast

ahh the joys of german over-engineering
the windows going up and down with the fob is a vagcom coding deal

the other issues sound like microswitches failing and maybe the circuit board in the latch assembly going out too. each latch has its own little computer board, moisture gets in and corrodes it over time
theres several threads across the various audi forums showing the latch, how to swap, ect.