How to put BMW into neutral with a dead battery or no key (Electronic Shifter)

2013, 2014, 2015 BMW 3 series F30 325i 328i 330i 335i
If your car has a dead battery or can not start it may be hard to get the car onto a tow truck or push it without putting it into neutral. Depending on what year and model your BMW is, there may be a few different ways to do this. This method is specific to BMW models with a Electronic Shifter that we must override.
The first option: you simply pull up the console/boot around the shifter and there is a little lever that has some red paint on it. Push that lever down to bypass the shifter lock and the car can be shifted into neutral to move the car. This is most commonly found on BMW E90 series VIEW THIS METHOD HERE: • How to put a BMW 3 ser...
The second option (BMW F30 series, 2013-2015): Your BMW has a manual override lever on the side of the transmission that needs to be activated in order to put your BMW in neutral. In order to do this, we must first follow a few key steps.
1. Make sure you have tried the first method of checking the shifter area for a release lever - if you are sure that there is nothing there, please proceed with option #2.
2. The next step is to safely jack the car into the air so that you have enough room to slide under the car (please use a second jack as a safety precaution, this is dangerous).
3. Once the car is in the air, please remove the plastic under body panel.
4. Locate the shifter lever and shift lever bolt (located on the driver side of the transmission on this 2013 BMW 328i).
5. Tighten the shift lever bolt all the way as it presses against the metal shifter lever
6. Your car will now be in neutral, congrats, you did it!
7. Tow your car to a trustworthy mechanic nearby.
Option #3
Check your trunk for a bright colored plastic ' key'.
Pick up your cupholder cover.
Use the key with a square slot in it on the provided square hole.
Turn it!
After you've done this, tow your car to Oceanside Motorsports so we can fix it. We guarantee most of our repairs for life. 760-721-5500
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[@paulscrapman]

This is without doubt one of the most ridiculous methods for getting a car into neutral.

[@noorkhadun6332]

Yes paul the worst method existed

[@BoniusRx]

Un-f*kin-believable.. some engineers just need need their @ss kicked! There's alot more Ridiculousness with BMWs. Never again.

[@setiset516]

that means noone cant jack your shit

[@modelo4504]

On the freeway fr with a burn transmission and now I’m fucked

[@augaureliusserious]

Eurotrash-mobile. They look great but..... WOW

[@damionatherton7312]

Thank you so much. You save from saying on the road last night. If I didn't find this video, I don't know how I would get home last night. Sending this message from jamaica 🇯🇲.

[@saryn1829]

Worked perfect for my 2015 328i. Ridiculous car to do even the simplest things. Don’t buy these unless you have a lot of money or a badass garage

[@Sam-fs8sx]

The chances of losing my key is much lower than the chances of some bum trying to steal the car by towing it. Learn to think boi!

[@saryn1829]

@@Sam-fs8sx there are many circumstances that require you tow your car without turning the engine on to cause further damage, or in my case a crunched oil pan from highway debris. How about before being pretentious you do a little thinking yourself big man

[@Sam-fs8sx]

@@saryn1829 Lmao, how often do people have crunched oil pan from highway derbis that requires towing without turning the engine? I don't want my BMW when I buy one to be the same as a Dodge charger that gets stolen everyweek, no thanks.

[@ICEV]

Amazing. They had the absolute perfect release on the 2002 745 with the red strap at the drivers foot. And now, gone.

[@Oceansidemotorsports]

amazing is a great way to put it :)

[@Axrover]

These god damned engineers have to overthink everything. If BMW has a unified grill look across lines, why cant they have a single way of putting a car in neutral that is user convenient? There is no reason we should not be able to put the car in neutral when it is off. This is why manual gears are superior.

[@pri0r_t0_a_weekago...fukwi48]

@@Axrover agreed

[@AJ-yo7rb]

I also have a 745i and came here wondering what everyone was talking about, like dude just pull the tag 😂

[@ansestlouis3057]

Wish I saw this sooner! 😡 My beemer was facing backwards with dead battery. After waiting 12 hours for a tow-truck , driver pulls up and yanked the car right up the ramp in park 😪😪😪😪

[@hmaidhaydari9662]

I can hear the pain in his voive when he said now I have to remove the panel. Any work on bmw is a big work.

[@Nola4Lolajean]

The red tool located in trunk area is to unlock gears u lift the drivers rubber cup & turn clockwise pops out of gear

[@brycepiontek161]

Had a guy I tried to help out today... he drove the car into flood water and it cut out on him with it being in a foot and a half of water there was no getting to the neutral switch under the car

[@thehoboman]

I love my m240i but I think this is my last BMW, even the simplest stuff requires numerous extra steps

[@Doggo_Norse]

My 428xi is lower then the 3 series and if you don't have a jack it's basically impossible to even do this

[@christophergomez1688]

Bro y’all are so easy to learn off of

[@travisebland]

This was spot on for my 2016 320ix. Thank you a million!!!!

[@TaneishaParker-gl3tt]

I will never buy another BMW

[@mi8proxaiomi220]

BMW 330XI 2018 F30 restyling ( ресталинг) аналогичная разблокировка АКПП в нейтральное положение "N". Понадобиться : T 30 шестигранник ключ, головка 10-12. Спасибо)!!! Thank you for the video!

[@abro9598]

Thats why I appreciate my e28 🙂

[@mike-yp1uk]

I left the under cover on and used the slot in it to put a 5mm hex and screws in easy. First time a bolt wasn't too corroded

[@55fyasko]

Thank you this worked perfect had my car stranded for hours until I came across this. Just wanted to know if loosening will undo this.?

[@Frankflexxxx]

Wish someone answered that. I was curious.

[@seftonplayer32]

It will have to be loosened after repairs otherwise it will always be in neutral.

[@thecopperiris]

Thanks for telling us what size torx and other bolts are..

[@user-yj6tk6dx5m]

Right

[@mea687]

Might be a good idea saying what sizes the bolts are

[@andrewkarap]

Very helpful, thank you.

[@Oceansidemotorsports]

Glad it was helpful!

[@benjamincaudillo6367]

This is horrible especially if you put it on neutral while it's on jacks and that's all u have

[@Oceansidemotorsports]

Unfortunately it isn't as simple and easy as we would hope for :(

[@dereksbooks]

The more knowledge engineers gain, the dumber the design choices that they make. Who doesn't miss the days of simple manual gearboxes? No problems finding neutral with them.

[@millertymegrind09]

garbage ass bmw.

[@BezmenovDisciple]

I got stuck in a car wash like this (one of the touchless drive in and park ones). Huge line of cars behind me waiting to use it. I looked like an absolute jackass. Huge BMW fanboy but they really fucked me on this one.

[@user-yj6tk6dx5m]

😂😂😂

[@AJ-yo7rb]

It’s so bmw can sell you there road side assist, but they don’t think about how dangerous it is when the car gets older and people try to do it themselves

[@Mr2468superman]

Anybody know the size sockets for the plastic and the Allen?

[@lennygrossman9821]

Thank you I appreciate your help

[@Oceansidemotorsports]

No problem! Happy to hear this helped :)

[@billrocks6706]

😅

[@ashbev3256]

What happens if you drive with the screw in? I have driven a good few miles with the screw in cause it got towed a few weeks back. Just loosened the screw now.

[@seansmith9196]

It’s easy for thieves to tow away your car, cause you don’t have to open the car to get in, it’s outside hahaha

[@gannonruby1119]

So what if for example I couldn’t get under my car because it’s stuck in 2 feet of mud

[@scysa]

I have 2012 740Li. Dead battery. Does not have gear beneath cupholder for release tool. How do I put in neutral?

[@impairsosa2663]

I have some thieves that attempted to steal my car today at night/morning. They're using this exact method they unscrewed my under tray. :/ I love my car it's gnna be sad to see it go.

[@skhan-ku4qe]

can someone tell me WHY bmw has done this??? if u breakdown car cuts off whilst driving what do u do?? on motorway or main busy road?? kids in car etc think its a very dangerous situation to be in not to mention all the drivers behind u getting psd off, mate mine timing chain broke on mway car stopped jammed in gear cudnt be moved, lorry went into back of it, he nearly died, is there a reason for this 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[@RussellTurman]

What a massive pain. Just going to have to tow truck guy yank it onto the tow truck

[@kelechiumukoro9564]

Watching this after lost my key in the river and paid bmw 500$ to replace key they gave me a new key that won’t program now they want me to tow the car down another 200$ I’m so mad rn

[@tiaf3138]

Tanks !!

[@cyrexccc]

Doesn’t work on xDrive I screwed all the way in and just the rear is in neutral. The font axle still is locked.

[@mascho22]

really!? how do you resolve?? I need to get a dead 328i xDrive to roll!!

[@sarahnei9030]

Tow companies can lift the front

[@dacianbuie7288]

I have olso xDrive 320 gt 2017 , but in the front never is lock just the back🤔🤔

[@drivefly69]

Great 👍🏽

[@lulbadazz]

Hey having this problem now do yall know what size tolls was needed

[@johndeloach503]

Can u crank it in neutral or move it

[@jorgemartinbg]

Have. 2017 bmw 430 I took that off and didn’t see anything

[@xzanitygames6217]

Does the car start at all before nueatrul or does it give you ignition/ starter fault

[@user-yj6tk6dx5m]

I get fault won’t start till I put it in neutral

[@seansmith9196]

I called my aaa they didn’t two it cause they didn’t want go under the car take off the panel with 12 screws

[@salvadorvazquez5423]

Same

[@aarondramitinos5622]

What a joke. Stick to Toyota

[@mascho22]

what about on xDrive? will this unlock both front and rear?

[@dacianbuie7288]

I have 320 gt 2017 xDrive but the front is never lock in parking position, just in the back and also the hand break also in the back hold😜

[@roysampson182]

Peace of mind knowing my car will never be towed if i park in the wrong place.

[@lsearchw]

I’m stuck right now…for the second time in three weeks, third time this year.

[@hellodraketowing2328]

you must not understand how towing works :)

[@stayactive450]

doing way too much lmao I just put dollies on there

[@yoyophy7311]

any idea where can i found this for f20 118i 2012… tq

[@Oceansidemotorsports]

Great question! We will make a video for you next time we get one in the shop :)

[@americanlogisticsfreightll6815]

Thx...now I know I don't want one!

[@millertymegrind09]

lmao this why u dont buy a bmw

[@kuccibutty6852]

Such a tedious process shame on bmw

[@sgtking]

In a midle of road...bmw thinks good 😂😂 pull the car up in a middle of no where.

[@walidzein1]

For real, BMW were drunk when they came up with this solution 😂

[@MapleJokerRofl]

And from now on I’m buying manual cars fml

[@smooth2477]

Just for this reason I won’t ever buy a bmw

[@isaacmugunda8370]

Why not jump-start the battery?😂😂

[@Faisal77822]

What if your car has an accident & front end is missing & car wont start?

[@pfern]

IN my case, the car won't start because of a transmission sensor error. Battery is fine, but the starter will not come on. Ridiculous design.

[@snpxmotionzx3211]

Ideal video for myself, car engine blew a hole in itself, unless I wanna drag the back wheels this is the only way to get it to move

[@ois-jy9kl]

That is dumb!!!!!!

[@johannjohann6523]

I second the comment below. This is really stupid of BMW and enough stupidity to make me not want to buy one because what other nonsense is engineered into the car? Car from 1996-2006 maybe 2010 are the best era of automobiles. The best looking and best designed by all automakers. Not the crap offered in today's "modern" cars.

[@Californiadreamin159]

BMW sucks duck butter balls

[@luispena6217]

If the World Trade Center collapse. What the tells you. I need a name of car company that DON’T Break Down at All. So i can buy one. People pls b real.

[@JnJn-hp6gk]

Omg !! Like I going to be in the middle of the road lifting this piece of junk!! Burned & go home.

[@juanluisbutra-kc8zq]

And that is why i hate bmw

[@philgary3426]

Long story short, don't bother buying this car! BMW stands for "Bring Mechanic With".

[@sgtking]

Bmw...break my wallet.😂🤣