# HELP!Transmission locked



## LisaJune1230 (Jan 30, 2021)

I was driving my 2009 BMW 650i on the highway & suddenly it made a kind of clicking & popping noise, shifted into neutral, motor turned off & displayed a transmission malfunction message. ((I’ve had no issues with the trans except one time a couple of months ago I was driving & it went into neutral & displayed a message that trans malfunction, safe to cont driving at 55mph or less & go to bmw svc ctr. (I pulled over & turned the car off & got out & locked & unlocked it & got back in & it cranked right up, no messages or codes at all) Thing is this time it didn’t say it was ok to drive, it said it had malfunctioned)) i coasted to side & tried to power it off & back on & it won’t crank. I called tow truck & I asked them if they knew how to get to transmission lock, (he pulled up a you tube video & took the trim from around shifter & used a screw driver to unlock it). I didn’t watch what he was doing so it’s locked again. How to unlock? I’m trying to get it to the mechanic, although I’m leery to drop it off before checking a couple of other things it could possibly be that I’ve read online. By the way, It cranked yesterday & I just went forward & reverse a few times & it shifted fine, cranked right back up after turning off & on a few times (which is why I feel compelled to check that the trans has problem & not throwing false code), but today, when I was going to take it to be checked out, same thing. Triangle with ! In middle & won’t crank. How can I unlock it again? Also, any insight would be GREAT! Thanks!!


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## wcr3d (Jul 17, 2012)

Well to start with, your no issues is an issue.
It has already warned you once, it needs to be professionally checked.
As far as the unlocking of the trans you can do the same as he did and look it up on YouTube for visual confirmation.
You take that trim off and on the side of it is a safety pin like device to pull out. Then using a or the screwdriver in your toolkit insert into the slot and pull back to put into neutral. Pulling the screwdriver back out engages the gears.


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## LisaJune1230 (Jan 30, 2021)

wcr3d said:


> Well to start with, your no issues is an issue.
> It has already warned you once, it needs to be professionally checked.
> As far as the unlocking of the trans you can do the same as he did and look it up on YouTube for visual confirmation.
> You take that trim off and on the side of it is a safety pin like device to pull out. Then using a or the screwdriver in your toolkit insert into the slot and pull back to put into neutral. Pulling the screwdriver back out engages the gears.


Ok. I’ll try that & let you know what happens. Thank you so much for the info!


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## LisaJune1230 (Jan 30, 2021)

LisaJune1230 said:


> Ok. I’ll try that & let you know what happens. Thank you so much for the info!





wcr3d said:


> Well to start with, your no issues is an issue.
> It has already warned you once, it needs to be professionally checked.
> As far as the unlocking of the trans you can do the same as he did and look it up on YouTube for visual confirmation.
> You take that trim off and on the side of it is a safety pin like device to pull out. Then using a or the screwdriver in your toolkit insert into the slot and pull back to put into neutral. Pulling the screwdriver back out engages the gears.


Ok , the thing is I tried once in the off chance to try & crank the car one more time & it cranked & engine light went off. I’m taking it to be checked, although I was wondering if you have any insight into the fact that maybe it could be the battery or alternator? I’ve just been racking my brain & that was one of the things that crossed it. Your opinion will be much appreciated. Thanks again !


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## wcr3d (Jul 17, 2012)

Highly doubtful, you really need to have the error codes read to get a better understanding of what is going on.


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