Bonnet won't open - again!

bluespit

bluespit

Senior member
 Near Chester
Site Supporter
usual thing, pull the bonnet release and nothing.

quick searching on here and theres a trick of pulling the release and carefully pounding on the bonnet front. Tried it and eventually it worked. Cleaned and sprayed the mechanism with WD40 and grease. Tried it several times and everything free and fine. Closed the bonnet and its stuck again.

OK I can jiggle it open again but is there a more permanent solution?

Thanks
 
bluespit said:
usual thing, pull the bonnet release and nothing.

quick searching on here and theres a trick of pulling the release and carefully pounding on the bonnet front. Tried it and eventually it worked. Cleaned and sprayed the mechanism with WD40 and grease. Tried it several times and everything free and fine. Closed the bonnet and its stuck again.

OK I can jiggle it open again but is there a more permanent solution?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Have you tried adjusting the bonnet stops? Sounds like they may be exerting to high a force on the latches when the bonnets closed, making it difficult to release.
Try winding them in to give a little more clearance.
Rob
 
no I haven't but I will when I get it open again, probably at the weekend now

cheers
 
I was about to buy a new one but decided to have one last go at getting it to work. I took it off and cleaned it thoroughly with a toothbrush and WD40, before coating it in lithium grease and reattaching it.

Touch wood it has worked fine since!
 
When you pull the bonnet release lever, is there any resistance, as in it's trying to release the catch? Or is the lever loose as if it's attached to nothing?

If the latter, I had this issue a couple of years back, was this..........The bonnet release cable is in two parts, first goes from the lever to a small junction box that's located just in front of the water bottle (mines a 2003 2.5), standing at the front looking into the engine bay it's clearly accessible and visible behind the top of the headlight and in front of the water bottle. Within the junction box is a small sliding mechanism to which the release cable attaches to, the second cable to the bonnet is attached to the same mechanism. However, on mine the junction box became detached from the body work and therefore the inner gubbings couldn't work as the whole unit was moving. Simply reattached to the body and all was well again.

Good luck.
 
Thanks Lance,
That's exactly how mine feels, I'll take a look at the weekend and see what's what.
Cheers
 
Scott and lance. Both on the money. Mech full of crap, soaking in cleaner. Cable junction loose. Thinking of belt and braces solution. Cable tie, super glue? Not sure yet.

Will post back later. Enjoying the sunshine now. Romp up model fammau first.
 
Just a couple of pointers that may help once opened

Don't use WD40 at all it's a water dispersant and in time will just solidify and make it even harder to open. Use grease

If you look where the cable comes up to the lock you'll see the outer sheath comes up to a U shaped holder. If you bend the prongs slightly downwards it takes any slack out of the cable and if greased as above will work perfectly forever more

If you have the old style solid rubber adjusters on each side they can be replaced by a fairly cheap later BMW version that is spring loaded. They ensure correct pressure
 
All done, Mech cleaned and lubricated, Tang slightly bent outwards, junction unit refitted and cable tied for extra security.

Bonnet open easily now - its just a bugger to shut instead!
 
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