Window/lock failure on Citroën: causes by model and engine

Documented faults, from most to least important

Severity × frequency. Below each one, the Citroën models it appears in.

- Medium severityFrequency: CommonCitroën C3 IErratic behaviour of the BSI and electronic modules (control unit, wipers, lighting, car radio)The BSI (built-in systems interface) and other electronic modules in the C3 I can cause odd behaviour in the central locking, the wipers, the lighting or the car radio; it is the non-powertrain fault category most cited by owners on fiches-auto.fr, with 62 cases recorded.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën Berlingo IElectric window motor or cable failureAccording to the pages, the electric windows fail frequently: motors, cables, plastic brackets and switches. On the Berlingo page they add up to 40 reports and the glass can drop crooked or stop halfway.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën C2Window motor and BSI module faults on the Citroën C2On the C2, the reports on fiches-auto.fr cite around 28 electrical mentions: window motors, door wiring and BSI module faults, plus false airbag warnings. No public recall is on record.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën C4 IFailure of the electric windows, door locks and bootIt is the most cited problem in a reliability survey with 573 responses on the C4 (2004-2010): the electric windows, locks, door handles and boot add up to 97 cases, the system with the most incidents in the whole sample.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën C4 Picasso IElectric window motor failureThe listing records 49 reports of window failures, between 7,000 and 115,000 km.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën C5 IElectric window regulator motor or cable failure on the Citroën C5According to the reports on fiches-auto.fr, 50 of 447 C5 (2001-2008) owners cite window regulator faults: a failed motor or cable, a jammed window or intermittent operation, with damp and corrosion in the door connectors.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën C8Failure of the rear electric windows and their switchesThe fiches-auto.fr page records 15 C8 owner reports of failing electric windows, mostly the rear ones, with switches that respond poorly, usually from around 80,000 km.
- Low severityFrequency: OccasionalCitroën XsaraElectric window and door cable failure on the Citroën XsaraThe electric windows are a typical fault on the Xsara: around 46 mentions out of 495 owner reports on fiches-auto.fr, with motors, cables and door connectors that fail; one window jammed at around 100,000 km because of a severed wire. No public recall is recorded.
- Low severityFrequency: RareCitroën C1 IIStuck tailgate lockAccording to fiches-auto.fr, two C1 owners (2014-2021), one with the 1.2 VTi engine, cite a stuck tailgate lock that stops it opening.

By Citroën model

Open yours to see only the faults that affect it, by engine and by year.

Frequently asked questions

Window/lock failure in a Citroën: what could it be?

In 9 models from Citroën there are 9 documented faults that cause this symptom (window/lock failure). The most important: erratic behaviour of the BSI and electronic modules (control unit, wipers, lighting, car radio), electric window motor or cable failure and window motor and BSI module faults on the Citroën C2. Each fault has its own page with the affected years and versions, the cause and how to check for it.

Which Citroën models have the most faults with this symptom?

Citroën Berlingo I (1 fault), Citroën Xsara (1 fault), Citroën C5 I (1 fault) and Citroën C3 I (1 fault).