Bonnet wont release
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- Joined: Sun 17 May, 2009 15:55
- Posts: 5
- Location: rochdale
Bonnet wont release
Tried pulling the catch in the car but it wont pop, any ideas? ? doesnt feel like the cable is pulling
Try pressing down on the bonnet while someone pulls the lever.
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster , BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster , BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
I had this happen to me. You need to spray a bit of WD40 on the catch inside the engine bay.
First you need to take off one of the grilles, should just pull out but might need a bit of force to do it though or if you might be able just to spray through the grille if you've got one of those red pipe things that come with the can.
After spraying just pull on the bonnet release a few times and it should open up.
Well it worked for me anyway
First you need to take off one of the grilles, should just pull out but might need a bit of force to do it though or if you might be able just to spray through the grille if you've got one of those red pipe things that come with the can.
After spraying just pull on the bonnet release a few times and it should open up.
Well it worked for me anyway
I had a simular thing - When | pulled the lever the bonnet did not pop up
I had to increase the spring tension on the two sprung loaded catches/retainers - do this by using a flat bade screwdriver and wind them in half a turn.
Need to open the bonnet first of course - Get someone else to apply a lifting pressure on the bonnet while you pull the lever.
Was an easy fix
I had to increase the spring tension on the two sprung loaded catches/retainers - do this by using a flat bade screwdriver and wind them in half a turn.
Need to open the bonnet first of course - Get someone else to apply a lifting pressure on the bonnet while you pull the lever.
Was an easy fix
Remember "To become old and wise - First you need to be young and stupid"
Titanium Silver 2.0
Titanium Silver 2.0
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- Joined: Sun 17 May, 2009 15:55
- Posts: 5
- Location: rochdale
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- Joined: Sun 17 May, 2009 15:55
- Posts: 5
- Location: rochdale
I had this from when I bought the car 18 months old - funny the stealer hadn't noticed! Same prob - no lubrication. The stealer said it wasn't listed as a service item. I said it appeared to be very common so why don't they copper grease the mech as a matter of course? "It's not a BMW service item sir" *****s!!!!
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<b>Sport Pack, 18" Elipsoids, Carver Sound System, Bi-Xenons, Rear Spoiler, Auto-Dimming Wing Mirrors, Rain Senor wipers, Wind Deflector, SMG Transmission, Electric Seats (memory on drivers side), 3 stage Seat Heating.</b>
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- Joined: Sat 24 Jan, 2004 16:21
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- Joined: Fri 26 Jul, 2013 09:28
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- Location: Manchester
Re: Bonnet wont lock
Thought it better to revive an old thread..
Ok so my bonnet releases fine.... making it stay closed is another issue - taken me 5 minutes the last few times to get the catch to engage... any thoughts?
Ok so my bonnet releases fine.... making it stay closed is another issue - taken me 5 minutes the last few times to get the catch to engage... any thoughts?
Re: Bonnet wont release
Hi,mine was the other way, was i pig to open you really seemed to have to pull hard on the lever, and then it wouldn't catch sometimes when closing, So I gave both the catches on the slam panel loads of WD40 to dissolve all the old muck and grease, then gave it a bit of a scrubbing with an old tooth brush then more WD40 to wash any remaining muck out then greased with copper grease and gave the lever a few pulls in between and sorted
Simple and cheap just a bit messy
Simple and cheap just a bit messy
Re: Bonnet wont lock
I would say the cable is sticky causing the catch to stay openbertiejaffa wrote:Thought it better to revive an old thread..
Ok so my bonnet releases fine.... making it stay closed is another issue - taken me 5 minutes the last few times to get the catch to engage... any thoughts?
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster , BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster , BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
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- Joined: Fri 26 Jul, 2013 09:28
- Posts: 1733
- Location: Manchester
Re: Bonnet wont lock
Thanks Gazza - I assume by that diagnosis that the cacth itself is very very simple and so it can only be the cable sticking (and probably a new cable?)Gazza wrote:I would say the cable is sticky causing the catch to stay openbertiejaffa wrote:Thought it better to revive an old thread..
Ok so my bonnet releases fine.... making it stay closed is another issue - taken me 5 minutes the last few times to get the catch to engage... any thoughts?
Re: Bonnet wont release
Either that or the return spring doesn't.
Cheers R.
Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
Cheers R.
Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
Re: Bonnet wont release
Spray both catches as previously described, spray some light oil or WD40 up the sleeve of the cable. Pull it a few times. I doubt you will need a new cable
Gazza
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster , BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"
Z3 S54 M roadster , BMW Z1, BMW M3 CSL, Z4M Coupe
Re: Bonnet wont release
Although the WD40 has helped get things working again, it may only provide a temporary solution as WD40 is quite volatile and its lubrication properties will soon be lost - especially on the bonnet catch which gets lots of the environment blasting through it. You can keep things working by regular spraying, but the catch will work longer if you apply some decent grease to the moving parts (say lithium or copper grease - these aren't affected much by temperature etc.) Mine has been fin for over 7 years since I applied some lithium grease!swappy wrote:Hi,mine was the other way, was i pig to open you really seemed to have to pull hard on the lever, and then it wouldn't catch sometimes when closing, So I gave both the catches on the slam panel loads of WD40 to dissolve all the old muck and grease, then gave it a bit of a scrubbing with an old tooth brush then more WD40 to wash any remaining muck out then greased with copper grease and gave the lever a few pulls in between and sorted
Simple and cheap just a bit messy
<b> http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x60/ ... 453a-1.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x60/ ... N4456s.jpg </b>
<b>Sport Pack, 18" Elipsoids, Carver Sound System, Bi-Xenons, Rear Spoiler, Auto-Dimming Wing Mirrors, Rain Senor wipers, Wind Deflector, SMG Transmission, Electric Seats (memory on drivers side), 3 stage Seat Heating.</b>
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x60/ ... N4456s.jpg </b>
<b>Sport Pack, 18" Elipsoids, Carver Sound System, Bi-Xenons, Rear Spoiler, Auto-Dimming Wing Mirrors, Rain Senor wipers, Wind Deflector, SMG Transmission, Electric Seats (memory on drivers side), 3 stage Seat Heating.</b>
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- Joined: Tue 25 Jun, 2013 21:47
- Posts: 263
Re: Bonnet wont release
The bonnet release may not be a service item according to BMW but it definitely needs maintenance.
Over time the system siezes due to lack of lubrication and you end up snapping a cable trying to open the bonnet. Then you really have made a job and a half for yourself!
How do I know that?
When after several days I finally got the bonnet open I replaced both catches and both cables and now keep them in fine fettle and it is a pleasure to operate the release so it was well worth doing and the parts are considerably cheaper than you might think from a franchised stealer.
Over time the system siezes due to lack of lubrication and you end up snapping a cable trying to open the bonnet. Then you really have made a job and a half for yourself!
How do I know that?
When after several days I finally got the bonnet open I replaced both catches and both cables and now keep them in fine fettle and it is a pleasure to operate the release so it was well worth doing and the parts are considerably cheaper than you might think from a franchised stealer.
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- Joined: Fri 26 Jul, 2013 09:28
- Posts: 1733
- Location: Manchester
Re: Bonnet wont release
Thanks all for the advise - Im working away this week (as usual ) so I wont risk doing it till the weekend, but at least I now have another little task to look forward to!!