2018 Discovery 5 front driver side door unlocking problems
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4wd Low
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 10
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2018 Discovery 5 front driver side door unlocking problems
I'm having a ( seemingly ) intermittent issue with the front driver side door not unlocking with the key fob. When pressing unlock on the fob, all other doors will unlock apart from the front driver side door. The only way to get it open is to enter through the front passenger side door and open the front driver side door using the handle on the inside. After doing this, you can close that door, lock it using the fob ( which locks all the doors including the front driver side ), then unlock it using the fob and all doors ( including the front driver side door ) will unlock. It will do this ONCE, and then revert back to the behavior where all doors unlock but not the front driver side door.
I've disabled the keyless entry just in case it was something to do with that, but it seems to make no difference. I also can't tell if the intermittent nature of this has anything to do with proximity to the car when the unlock button is pressed on the fob.
Any ideas on this one until I can get it to a dealership?
Thanks in advance!
I've disabled the keyless entry just in case it was something to do with that, but it seems to make no difference. I also can't tell if the intermittent nature of this has anything to do with proximity to the car when the unlock button is pressed on the fob.
Any ideas on this one until I can get it to a dealership?
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by DiscoInTheSun; Jan 18, 2026 at 08:02 PM.
Mudding
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 243
Likes: 143
I'm having a ( seemingly ) intermittent issue with the front driver side door not unlocking with the key fob. When pressing unlock on the fob, all other doors will unlock apart from the front driver side door. The only way to get it open is to enter through the front passenger side door and open the front driver side door using the handle on the inside. After doing this, you can close that door, lock it using the fob ( which locks all the doors including the front driver side ), then unlock it using the fob and all doors ( including the front driver side door ) will unlock. It will do this ONCE, and then revert back to the behavior where all doors unlock but not the front driver side door.
I've disabled the keyless entry just in case it was something to do with that, but it seems to make no difference. I also can't tell if the intermittent nature of this has anything to do with proximity to the car when the unlock button is pressed on the fob.
One other potentially interesting observation - the front driver side door also will NOT unlock using the physical key, the lock doesn't move at all when you try to turn the key.
Any ideas on this one until I can get it to a dealership?
Thanks in advance!
I've disabled the keyless entry just in case it was something to do with that, but it seems to make no difference. I also can't tell if the intermittent nature of this has anything to do with proximity to the car when the unlock button is pressed on the fob.
One other potentially interesting observation - the front driver side door also will NOT unlock using the physical key, the lock doesn't move at all when you try to turn the key.
Any ideas on this one until I can get it to a dealership?
Thanks in advance!
Thread Starter
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4wd Low
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 10
Likes: 2
Do you know if there are any tutorials or videos for this? So far I've been unable to find anything for the Discovery 5.
Thanks again!
Mudding
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 243
Likes: 143
Thanks! One correction from my original post ( in case it makes a difference ), the drivers door WILL unlock with the physical key.
Do you know if there are any tutorials or videos for this? So far I've been unable to find anything for the Discovery 5.
Thanks again!
Do you know if there are any tutorials or videos for this? So far I've been unable to find anything for the Discovery 5.
Thanks again!
https://landroverforums.com/forum/ne...ctions-108356/
You'll then have to remove the inner door access panel/insulation. The door handle has to come off. There's a couple torx screws that hold that on. One of the screws is behind a plastic plug on jamb of the door near the handle.
https://youtu.be/7cJ7OOMbcm0?si=-XiGaoVUMf84uIZ9
Last edited by RyanLR3; Jan 19, 2026 at 12:19 PM.
Mudding
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 137
Likes: 67
Not an expert at all but it does kind of sound like a door lock actuator. Meaning the door will lock + unlock with a physical key but not with the remote. At least in my Disco 2 that was the issue with the same symptoms. I assume it's a similar part on these newer trucks. Replacement would most likely involve taking the door panel off.
2nd Gear
Joined: Dec 2025
Posts: 2
Likes: 2
Software updare
I’ve just got my 2025 back from the dealer where a few squeaks etc were fixed. One of the issues that I wanted to have them look at was an intermittent fault with unlocking. The dealership habve told me that this is a fault which is known to JLR and that a software update is going to be released in June for this issue, so maybe hang off spending any $ and see if June brings a solution
Thread Starter
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4wd Low
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 10
Likes: 2
Just getting back around to looking into this...I installed a new battery in the car, just in case ( the old one was failing anyway ), sadly it didn't fix the issue.
One new development that I hope my help my troubleshooting is the following:
1) unlock the car with the fob
2) try to open the rear driver side door
3) rear driver side door won't open with external handle
4) open rear driver side door from the inside using the interior handle
5) close rear driver side door
6) rear driver side door will now reopen using external handle with no issue
7) this "fix" works for an undetermined amount of time, hours to days, before reverting back to step 3
Any clues based on this new info?
One new development that I hope my help my troubleshooting is the following:
1) unlock the car with the fob
2) try to open the rear driver side door
3) rear driver side door won't open with external handle
4) open rear driver side door from the inside using the interior handle
5) close rear driver side door
6) rear driver side door will now reopen using external handle with no issue
7) this "fix" works for an undetermined amount of time, hours to days, before reverting back to step 3
Any clues based on this new info?
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