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I am in no way responsible for any damage you may do to yourself or your vehicle. Read all the directions first before you attempt to do anything. If this doesn’t sound like something you can handle, leave this for a professional. That being said, lets begin.
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Supplies needed
Trunk Actuator – BMW E36 trunk actuator was used
Rod for Actuator – get from another car's power door or trunk
Mounting Screws for Actuator
Momentary Switch - switch that's on only when held down
Pin/Wire from another harness - one is needed
SPDT/SPST Relay
Lots of Wire – 18 GA was used
Zip Ties
Wiring Connectors
Electrical Tape
Factory Sleeve/Loom
Multimeter
Wire Crimper Tool
Drill
Marker
Introduction to Keyless Entry: Channels
Every time you click your remote you’re activating a channel. You click the unlock button once and the driver’s side door unlocks. That’s a channel. You click it twice and all the doors unlock. That’s another channel. You are going to need a channel to pop the trunk. So you want to pop your trunk with your OEM remote? So did I. Here’s how you can do it.
Before you start
First, your going to need a power trunk. You’ll need to find a spot to mount a switch. I mounted a switch in the accessory switches spot. The EDM cars use all the spots. In the US we have that little coin tray and either one or two blanks depending if you have front fog lights or not. You can get creative on a switch. I made my switch using a 626 hazard switch that I modified to be momentary. I replaced the hazard symbol with a trunk symbol from a MK3 Golf. An off the shelf one will work too.
Get a Trunk Actuator
I used a trunk actuator from a BMW E36. It is small and nicely made. Being used it was not very expensive. You can use whatever actuator you want, as long as it will fit. You may want to get a couple rods in case you mess one up. Then you’ll have another to work with. The rod can be from another car’s power door lock or power trunk, it doesn’t matter. It just needs to be long enough. Let's get started....
Find a Constant 12V+ Wire
Find a constant 12V+ wire. There are several wires to choose from. Check your wire with a multimeter. It should show 12V+ constant. If it tests good, tap this wire and run a new piece of wire to the switch. It would be a good idea to fuse between your tap and the switch. Use the same amp fuse as the wire already has. Next you’ll need to run a wire from the switch all the way to the trunk. This will power the actuator.
Removal of Interior pieces. Which pieces to remove?
To run the wire to the trunk you’ll need to remove several interior pieces. I’m trying to keep this how-to as clean and to the point as possible so this info is not included here. Remove the front side trim where the fuse box is and the driver’s side front and rear door sills. Remove the B-pillar lower trim. Remove the lower part of the back seat. Fold down the upper part. Remove the driver’s side tire house trim. Remove the rear package trim. Now you’re ready to run the wire to the trunk.
Run the wire to the trunk
Run the wire along the driver’s side of the car in the factory loom underneath the door sills. When you get to the driver’s side strut tower split the wire into two wires here. Run one wire to the keyless entry module. Do not connect anything. You will be doing the wiring later. Remove the piece of foam and there’s a big hole to run the wire to the trunk. Run the other wire to the trunk.
I ran the wire through the loom mounted to the trunk lid all the way to the license plate lights and had it come out there. At the end I tucked in a new piece of loom to extend the harness to hold the new wire. Once this is done you can start putting some of the interior back together. You can put back the tire house trim, front and rear door sills, B-pillar lower trim, and the lower back seat.
How the trunk actuator works
An actuator needs just two wires to operate. Since we only need the actuator to “pull”, one wire will be positive and the other wire will be grounded. Do a quick check to verify which wire to make positive and which wire to make negative. Take note of which wire is + when the actuator pulls. This will connect to the wire you ran to the trunk. If you choose to use an actuator from a BMW E36 you will notice there are two harnesses. You only will use the one with the blue and white wire. The white wire will be positive. The blue wire will be negative. The other harness is not used.
You will have to mount the actuator in a location where it has clearance and where the rod can pull the latch. You can get an idea from this pic.
Positioning the actuator
For reference, the rod used here was 7 “ total length after it was bent. One end of the rod should be a small 90 degree bend and the other end should be a hook. Where the glow in the dark pull tab attaches to the latch is a nice spot to attach the rod. Remove the pull tab. Now you’ll have a location for the rod to connect to. Connect the 90 degree end of the rod to where the pull tab used to be connected. Swing the rod around and get a feel for where the actuator needs to be to fully pull the latch. Watch the latch while you pull the rod. Pick a suitable location to mount the actuator where the rod pulls the latch all the way.
This would be a good time to start adjusting the length of the rod. Connect the hook end of the rod into the actuator and connect the 90 degree bend end into where the pull tab was. Hold the actuator and give the rod a few pulls when you’re picking a location to mount it. Verify you have it in a good location before you start drilling.
Drilling holes to mount the actuator
Once you’re satisfied with the location, put the actuator in the fully open position for its resting position and mark approximately where the two holes need to be drilled. Disconnect and move the actuator out of the way. Drill out two holes to mount the actuator. Use the two screws and mount the actuator. Install the rod into the actuator and adjust the length as necessary. When you have it where you think it will work give the switch a try and see if it pops the trunk. You will probably have to adjust it a little to get it to pop just right. Once the actuator is working properly the rest is just wiring.
Modify Your Remote
You're going to have to modify your remote. You need to open it up and remove a little piece of plastic that was put there to keep the button from moving up and down. As soon as you remove the rubber cover/button pad from the circuit board you will see it. It just pops off.
Add New Pin/Wire to the Harness
The channel for popping your trunk is already built into the keyless entry module. You just need to access it. There is no wire in the harness for it. You will have to get a pin/wire from another harness to use. Unbolt the keyless entry module. Unplug the harness. Lift up the orange cover. This will release the lock so the new wire can be added. Add your new pin and wire. The diagram below shows where to add the new pin. Push back the orange cover and plug the harness back in.
Wiring
I have made a wiring diagram that shows all the connections. You can use either a SPDT (Single Pole Double Throw) or a SPST (Single Pole Single Throw) relay because 87a is not used. For a constant 12V+ wire a convenient wire is the trunk light. The two constant 12V+ wires get tapped into this wire. The new wire you added to the harness will be your output pulse. The other wire is positive and is ran to the actuator. Ground the other actuator wire.
Keyless Entry Module
Wire - Output Pulse .... To SPDT relay
Relay
87 - To actuator (+)
86 - Output Pulse
85 - 12V+ .... To trunk light
30 - 12V+ .... To trunk light
Wiring Diagram (where to add the new wire)
Wiring Diagram
New wire installed into harness
Installed.
When you are done here’s how the remote will work.
Lock x 1 - Locks all the doors
Unlock x 1 - Unlocks driver’s side door
Unlock x 2 - Unlocks all doors
Extra Button x 1 - Unlocks trunk
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