C3 pluriel central locking fault...

[c3plurielnick]

Hi everyone,
I've currently got an issue with central locking in my 2004 Citroen C3 Pluriel. The doors no longer respond to the key fob/internal (un)lock button. The boot unlocks and locks as it should but the only way to get in through the doors is by manually unlocking the passenger side with the key (there is no key hole on the driver side). This means that we are currently climbing through the passenger door to get to the driver's seat. This is quite inconvenient but not the end of the world, the problem is that the MOT is in a month and if we can't get the driver's door unlocked, it will fail.
I took it to a reliable auto-electrical garage today and he has said that it is 90% likely that it is the BSI that has failed, and the car would need a new one. He said that he wouldn't be able to programme in a new one and this would have to be done at a Citroen garage as they have the right equipment. So I called up the Citroen garage and they said that due to the age of the car, they no longer manufacture the right part (the BSI). They also said that even if I sourced a second-hand one, it wouldn't work as it would already be programmed to a specific car, and therefore they wouldn't be able to reprogramme it to my one (is that true?).
So my question is basically, is there any way of getting the deadlocked driver's door unlocked so that it can pass its MOT. I'm not even bothered about fixing the problem permenantly (although that would be ideal it seems like we won't be able to get a new BSI fitted). Has anyone had experience with a similar issue? I've trawled through Citroen forums looking for answers but none have worked for me so far. The car has only done 82,000miles and is otherwise in good working order so it would be a real shame if it failed an MOT due to this fault.

[wheeler]

The Citroen dealer is correct that they can’t reprogram a used BSI to your car.
There are a few options though. If you get a matching set from the same car BSI, engine ECU & key from the same spec of car these are already a matched set so you shouldn’t have any immobiliser problems. Be aware that if the ‘new’ BSI has a higher milage than yours had then your car will permanently inherit the higher miles.
2nd option is to get a used BSI & send your original & the ‘new’ one to one of the many specialist companies out there who will clone all the security data & milage from your original onto the new unit.
3rd option is to get a used unit & send it to a specialist company to be virginised so it is effectively a blank BSI, you can ten get your dealer to program it in. This may be a better option if you don’t want the car to be sitting dead with the BSI out of it for several days.

[ozvtr]

4th and 5th options?
This all revolves around whether you can find anyone in your area who fixes electrical appliances (TV's, radios and the like).

One of the relays inside the BSI has damaged contacts. Surprisingly the relays are very easy to find. That is; find new ones.

Choice 1. The BSI has 2 large printed circuit boards inside it, stacked one on top of the other. The lower one is the processor board...this board is bound to your car. It must stay. The upper one is the power distribution and relay board. This can be changed from a 'donor' BSI. The boards are pressed together and are not soldered.

Choice 2. Replace just the faulty relay. As I said, these relays are relatively easy to find and they are cheap. But it will require a little bit of electronic knowledge and soldering skill.

[ozvtr]

P.S.
"Virginizing" the BSI will require the purchase of brand new keys!!!! Well the plip (remote locking part) anyway.

[PaulC5]

Before committing to anything I would be getting a second opinion diagnosis of the fault since if for example it is simply a broken wire in a door pillar, then going to the bother of bsi changes the fault would not be fixed. A Citroen dealer might be best placed to do this.

[c3plurielnick]

Thank you all for the replies. I agree PaulC5 I think I will take it to the dealer to get a definitive answer on what exactly the issue is. Then going forward it seems like getting a second hand BSI and having it virginised seems like the best bet here. Any other opinions? Or anything to look out for when doing this?